Congratulations to the 2017 ASPIRE Grant Recipients

The Office of the Vice President for Research is pleased to announce the results of the 2017 ASPIRE I, II and III internal funding competitions. ASPIRE grants were initiated in 2012 to fund promising research and shared research infrastructure to help strengthen the University of South Carolina’s competitiveness for external grants and bolster scholarship throughout the USC System. Moreover, the ASPIRE II grants were aimed at promoting interdisciplinary research through faculty collaborations across different schools and colleges of USC.

USC Faculty researchers submitted a total of 161 proposals to the ASPIRE programs this year. The proposals were reviewed by faculty review committees appointed by the Vice President for Research, and 71 were selected for funding.

Prakash Nagarkatti, the Vice President for Research, notes, “In 2012, we founded ASPIRE to boost the research and scholarship at USC across all disciplines, and all system campuses. Now, in our sixth year of ASPIRE funding, it is becoming apparent that we are meeting our goals. We have documented growth in interdisciplinary research across the entire university, and a significant return on investment, totaling about $50 million in extramural funding for lines of research that began with ASPIRE grants. I am so proud of this growth, and of the outstanding researchers who are receiving funding for 2017.”

The 2017 ASPIRE recipients are listed below, by funding track. It is the Office of Research’s pleasure to recognize this distinguished group. Complete details about the ASPIRE program, including criteria for each funding track and sub-track, are available on the program’s home page.

2017 ASPIRE-I: Innovation recipients

Sub-track I, junior faculty development

Principal Investigator	Title	Department	College
Behroozmand, Roozbeh	Understanding the Effects of Neuro-stimulation on Speech and Hand Motor Function in Parkinson's Disease	Communication Sciences & Disorders	Public Health, Arnold School of
Chandrashekhar, MVS	ASPIRE 1: High responsivity solar blind ultraviolet detectors for civilian and military applications using Ultra Wide Bandgap AlGaN materials	Electrical Engineering	Engineering & Computing, College of
Chojnowski, Jena	The effects of the addition of a PAX6 BAC reporter transgene on limbal stem cell characteristics	USC Beaufort - General	USC Beaufort
DebRoy, Swati	Mathematical Model for Predicting Childhood Obesity Trends in a School	USC Beaufort - General	USC Beaufort
Fu, Zhengqing	Screens for non-degradable active salicylic acid analogs to control citrus greening disease	Biological Sciences	Arts and Sciences, College of
Ho, Yen-Yi	Integrating Somatic Mutation and Gene Expression Data to Identify Active Driver Pathways Associated with Cancer Survival	Statistics	Arts and Sciences, College of
Klusek, Jessica	A longitudinal study of maternal mental health outcomes in fragile X syndrome: Biological sensitivity to context and the potential buffering effect of vagal tone	Communication Sciences & Disorders	Public Health, Arnold School of
Li, Zhenlong	Enhancing Situational Awareness by Mining Big Social Media Data in Near-real Time for Disaster Management: A CyberGIS Approach	Geography	Arts and Sciences, College of
Makris, Thomas	Dioxygen-Dependent Mechanisms for Carbon-Carbon Bond Cleavage	Chemistry & Biochemistry	Arts and Sciences, College of
Maskiell, Nicole	"Mistress both of Matter and Form": Slavery and Gender in the Colonial Northeast	History	Arts and Sciences, College of
Monroe, Courtney	Evaluating Columbia Moves: A Social Network Approach Using a Team Competition and Technology to Increase Physical Activity	Health Promotion, Education & Behavior	Public Health, Arnold School of
Pariyadath, Renu	Narrating Disaster: Activist Use of the Right to Information Act to Re-tell the Story of Bhopal	USC Upstate	USC Upstate
Poulain, Fabienne	ChIA-PET identification of transcriptional enhancers for the study of topographic maps in the visual system.	Biological Sciences	Arts and Sciences, College of
Roberts, Kenneth	Anaerobic and Oxygen-Dependent Studies of the Mechanism of the 2,4'-Dihydroxyacetophenone Dioxygenase Reaction	USC Aiken	USC Aiken
Sarzynski, Mark	The Effect of Exercise Training on MicroRNAs Bound to High-Density Lipoproteins	Exercise Science	Public Health, Arnold School of
Vejerano, Eric Warren	A Novel Particle for Capturing and Inactivating the Influenza Virus	Environmental Health Sciences	Public Health, Arnold School of
Werfel, Krystal	Fatigue in Children with Hearing Loss: The Roles of Language Comprehension and Listening Environment	Communication Sciences & Disorders	Public Health, Arnold School of
Xiao, Feifei	Powerful Detection of Genome Structural Change and Its Effect on Cutaneous Melanoma	Epidemiology & Biostatistics	Public Health, Arnold School of
Zhang, Bin	A Deep Learning-based Fault Diagnosis and Prognosis for Health Management	Electrical Engineering	Engineering & Computing, College of

Sub-track IIA, research faculty development

Principal Investigator	Title	Department	College
Kloot, Robin	Effects of Agricultural Land Management Practices on the Soil Microbiome and their Relationship to Crop Health and Yield	Environmental Health Sciences	Public Health, Arnold School of
Mitchell, Monique	Enfranchising Children's Grief in Foster Care: Exploring and Explaining the Impact of an Innovative Intervention (E3GFC)	Social Work, College of	Social Work, College of
Samadi, Seyedehzahra	APROPOS: Advancing flash floods PRedictiOn in POorly gauged and ungauged catchments using bayeSian algorithm	Civil & Environmental Engineering	Engineering & Computing, College of
Wen, Cun	Spectroscopic and Kinetic Studies of Single-site Cobalt Catalysts for CO2 Hydrogenation	Chemical Engineering	Engineering & Computing, College of

Sub-track IIB, postdoctoral scholar development

Principal Investigator	Title	Department	College
Bam, Marpe	Regulation of immune response in Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) by epigenetic mechanisms.	Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology	Medicine, School of
Chang, Ming	A pathogen type III effector targets a key protein complex in plant immunity to cause disease	Biological Sciences	Arts and Sciences, College of
Chen, Jian	Unravel the function of NPR1 interacting La-related proteins in plant defense response	Biological Sciences	Arts and Sciences, College of
Choi, Seul Ki	Health information seeking behaviors among caregivers of individuals with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias: Are caregivers taking care of their own health?	Health Promotion, Education & Behavior	Public Health, Arnold School of
DeMello, Molly	Identifying Ways to Reduce Sedentary Behavior through Wearable Technology Among Breast Cancer Patients	Nursing	Nursing, College of
Floyd, Sarah	Measuring Patients' Willingness-to-Pay for Normal Knee Function	Health Services Policy and Management	Public Health, Arnold School of
Gao, Peng	Basins-Level Heavy Rainfall and Flood Analyses	Geography	Arts and Sciences, College of
Kingston, Alexandra	Co-evolution of complex traits associated with a key innovation: Weaponry, armor, vision, and predator avoidance in the snapping shrimp, Alpheus heterochaelis	Biological Sciences	Arts and Sciences, College of
Li, Ning	Processing Satellite Images for Measuring Ground Displacements	Mechanical Engineering	Engineering & Computing, College of
McDermott, Martina	The role of STAT1/STAT3 in the therapeutic response of HER2 positive breast cancer to dual CDK8/HER2 inhibition	Drug Discovery and Biomedical Sciences	Pharmacy, SC College of
Ontiveros, Jorge	Assessing high frequency fluctuations in the eastern tropical north Pacific oxygen minimum zone during the past two millennia	Earth and Ocean Sciences	Arts and Sciences, College of
Saylor, Rachel	A Combined Voltammetric and Microscopic Investigation of Serotonin Neurochemistry	Chemistry & Biochemistry	Arts and Sciences, College of
Shi, Dexin	A Comparison of Modern Missing Data Techniques in Item Response Modeling	Psychology	Arts and Sciences, College of
Sweeney, Allison	Developing Brief Motivational Interventions to Enhance Engagement in Physical Activity Among Inactive African Americans	Psychology	Arts and Sciences, College of
Verreet, Tine	In vivo role of Mitofusin-2 mutations in Charcot-Marie-Tooth neuropathy-dependent optic atrophy	Biological Sciences	Arts and Sciences, College of
Zhang, Yao	An Evaluation of Health Literacy in Mental Health among Youth involved in the South Carolina Juvenile Justice System	Health Promotion, Education & Behavior	Public Health, Arnold School of

Sub-track III, bridge funding

Principal Investigator	Title	Department	College
Smith, Deanna	Examining the role of the Lissencephaly protein, Lis1, in dynein-dependent transport	Biological Sciences	Arts and Sciences, College of
Wethey, David	Changes in Competitive Interactions Driven by Climate Change	Biological Sciences	Arts and Sciences, College of

Sub-track IV, senior faculty exploration

Principal Investigator	Title	Department	College
Bizimis, Michael	High precision Iron - isotope ratio analytical capabilities on geological samples at the University of South Carolina.	Earth and Ocean Sciences	Arts and Sciences, College of
Chen, Hexin	Development of miR-489 as a novel therapeutic target in breast cancer	Biological Sciences	Arts and Sciences, College of
Geraci, Marco	BiPe Charts - Bivartiate percentiles for anthropometric charts in preterm infants	Epidemiology & Biostatistics	Public Health, Arnold School of
Hilbish, Thomas	Evolutionary Genomics of Adaptation to Climate Change	Biological Sciences	Arts and Sciences, College of
Leier, Andrew	Did an ancient transcontinental river flow across northern North America?	Earth and Ocean Sciences	Arts and Sciences, College of
Liu, Jihong	Evaluating South Carolina Birth Outcome Initiative's Impact on Reducing Early Term Elective Inductions and Saving Health Care Costs	Epidemiology & Biostatistics	Public Health, Arnold School of
Mandal, Krishna	Ultra-Fast Bright Scintillator for High Resolution Wearable Positron Emission Tomography (PET) for Brain Imaging	Electrical Engineering	Engineering & Computing, College of
McInnes, Campbell	Exploring the KRAS- AGO2 interface as a potential drug target in mutant RAS driven cancers.	Drug Discovery and Biomedical Sciences	Pharmacy, SC College of
Nagel, Caroline	Mapping the Social Geography of Jim Crow-Era Columbia: An Historical GIS Project	Geography	Arts and Sciences, College of
Pittman, Douglas	Deciphering the Architecture of the RAD51D Protein Complex	Drug Discovery and Biomedical Sciences	Pharmacy, SC College of
Ritchie, Kimberly	Beneficial Bacterial Associates of the Great White Shark, Carcharadon carcharias	USC Beaufort - General	USC Beaufort
Tarr, Simon	VRchive: Prototyping Virtual and Augmented-Reality Integration for Media Archives	Art	Arts and Sciences, College of
Waldman, Alan	The Influence of Progerin on the Integrity of DNA Repair	Biological Sciences	Arts and Sciences, College of
Wiskur, Sheryl	Synthesis and Initial Testing of Triphenylsilyl Reagents for Trifluoromethylation	Chemistry & Biochemistry	Arts and Sciences, College of
Yu, Lingyu	Virtual Inspection of Inaccessible Areas through Piezo-AirCoupled Sensing and Wavenumber Analysis	Mechanical Engineering	Engineering & Computing, College of
Zhu, Jun	The role of microRNA221 in vulnerability to nicotine dependence	Drug Discovery and Biomedical Sciences	Pharmacy, SC College of

ASPIRE-II: Integration recipients

Principal Investigator	Title	Department	College
Britton, Jeanne Michael Gavin, English Andrew Graciano, Art	The Digital Piranesi	University Libraries	University Libraries
Decker, Scott Suzanne Adlof, Communication Sciences and Disorders Kenn Apel, Communication Sciences and Disorders Stacy-Ann January, Psychology Mitchell Yell, Educational Studies	Interdisciplinary Collaboration for Improving Dyslexia Identification and Reading Outcomes in South Carolina Schools: Development and validation of the Carolina Automated Reading Assessment	Psychology	Arts and Sciences, College of
Fairchild, Amanda Christopher Church, Children’s Law Center Tia Anderson, Criminology and Criminal Justice Joshua Gupta-Kagan, School of Law	Investigating the impact of juvenile court intake structures on decision-making outcomes and inequities in juvenile justice: An interdisciplinary collaboration to promote the integration of empirical inquiry into policy analysis and reform	Psychology	Arts and Sciences, College of
Frongillo, Edward Angela Liese, Epidemiology and Biostatistics Anwar Merchant, Epidemiology and Biostatistics Christine Blake, Health Promotion, Education & Behavior Heather Brandt, Health Promotion, Education & Behavior Courtney Monroe, Health Promotion, Education & Behavior James Thrasher, Health Promotion, Education & Behavior Gabrielle Turner-McGrievy, Health Promotion, Education & Behavior Debra Krotish, Internal Medicine David Simmons, Anthropology Bethany Bell, Social Work Seung Jang, Journalism and Mass Communications Donaldson Conserve, Arnold School of Public Health Julia Lopez-Robertson, Instruction and Teacher Education Ronit Elk, Nursing	Positioning USC for Global Prominence in Research on Prevention and Management of Chronic Disease	Health Promotion, Education & Behavior	Public Health, Arnold School of
Khan, Asif Morgan Stefik, Chemistry and Biochemistry MVS Chandrashekhar, Electrical Engineering	Next Generation High-Voltage and High-Temperature Power Electronics using AlGaN and ALD Insulator Layers	Electrical Engineering	Engineering & Computing, College of
Montie, Eric Matthew Kimball, Baruch Institute Yiming Ji, USC Beaufort	Building a USC Interdisciplinary Team to Study the Impacts of Anthropogenic Noise on the Behavior of Marine Organisms	USC Beaufort - Academic Affairs	USC Beaufort
Moore, Spencer Alexander McLain, Epidemiology and Biostatistics Rekha Patel, Biological Sciences Jason Stewart, Biological Sciences Sue Heiney, Nursing Monique Lyle, Institute for Public Service and Policy Research	Chronic social stress and accelerated aging among South Carolina women: Investigating the social, behavioral, and biological influences on aging processes	Health Promotion, Education & Behavior	Public Health, Arnold School of
Wang, Qian Guiren Wang, Mechanical Engineering Thomas Makris, Chemistry and Biochemistry	Center for Chemical Innovation (CCI) for Multi-Enzyme Assemblies for Efficient Catalysis	Chemistry & Biochemistry	Arts and Sciences, College of

ASPIRE-III: Infrastructure recipients

Principal Investigator	Title	Department	College
Greytak, Andrew	Acquisition of isothermal titration calorimeter for Biochemistry and Nanoscience research development	Chemistry & Biochemistry	Arts and Sciences, College of
Leverette, Chad	Acquisition of a Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometer (LC/MS) for Materials Science and Biochemical Applications	USC Aiken	USC Aiken
Mathew, Sajish	Acquisition of nanoliter dispensing robot for protein crystallography	Drug Discovery and Biomedical Sciences	Pharmacy, SC College of
Price, Robert	Acquisition of Logos X-ClarityTM Tissue Clearing System and Confocal Microscopy Objective for the USC Instrumentation Resource Facility	Cell Biology & Anatomy	Medicine, School of
Sudduth, Elizabeth	SMART Overhead Book Scanner	University Libraries	University Libraries

28 April 2017

Office of the Vice President for Research