The Office of the Vice President for Research is pleased to share our monthly report listing new grant awards USC faculty researchers across the university system received between February 1 and February 28. Please note that some awards received toward the end of that period might have missed the reporting cut-off. In such cases, the award will be listed in the next monthly report. Our office is proud to share these successes with the university research community. Please join us in congratulating our excellent researchers on their new grant awards.
Summary of Large February 2026 New Grant Awards |
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PI Name |
PI College/Dept. |
Award Title |
Sponsor |
Total |
| Olatosi, Bankole |
Arnold School of Public Health Health Services Policy & Mgmt |
Investigating and Addressing Modifiable Factors in the HIV Care Continuum for People with HIV (PWH) affected by Substance Use and Mental Health | National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)/NIH | $3,093,665 |
| Whitworth, Brooke |
College of Education Teacher Education |
Building Leadership among Science Teachers in Rural Regions: Designing, Developing, and Implementing a Science Teacher Leadership Academy | National Science Foundation (NSF) | $2,896,658 |
| Donaldson, Bobby |
McCausland College of Arts and Sciences History |
CPF-Center for Civil Rights - FY23 | US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) | $1,500,000 |
| Regalbuto, John |
Molinaroli College of Engineering & Computing Chemical Engineering |
MRI: Track 1 Acquisition of a Near Ambient Pressure X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (NAP-XPS) System for Research and Teaching at the University of South Carolina | National Science Foundation (NSF) | $1,395,900 |
| Donaldson, Bobby |
McCausland College of Arts and Sciences History |
CPF-Center for Civil Rights - FY24 | US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) | $1,050,000 |
| Matthews, Marty |
McCausland College of Arts and Sciences History |
Celebrating the 250th Anniversary of the United States of America: Creating and Sustaining Access to Founding Era / Early Republic Primary Sources | University of Virginia/NEH | $628,325 |
| Nasiri, Adel |
Molinaroli College of Engineering & Computing Electrical Engineering |
Medium-voltage AC-to-DC Versatile Energy Router with Integrated Conversion (MAVERIC) | Battelle Savannah River Alliance, LLC (BSRA)/SRNL/DOE | $558,008 |
| Crawford, Thomas |
McCausland College of Arts and Sciences Physics & Astronomy |
Collaborative Research: Dynamic reversal phenomena in advanced magnetic nanostructures | National Science Foundation (NSF) | $532,285 |
| Wang, Sicheng |
McCausland College of Arts and Sciences Geography |
AI-Driven Burnout Detection in Nursing: A Comprehensive System Integrating Biometric Wearables, Geographic-Environmental Mood Tracking, and Real-Time Chatbot Interventions | USC Educational Foundation/The Duke Endowment | $485,000 |
| Smiley, Cora |
School of Medicine Pharm., Physiology & Neuroscience |
Noradrenergic mechanisms underlying stress-induced opioid reinstatement | National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)/NIH | $384,938 |
February 2026 Awards by College
PI Name |
PI Dept. |
Award Title |
Sponsor |
Total |
| Workman, Lauren | Applied Research & Evaluation (CARE) | Sari Center Evaluation | Sari Asher Center for Integrative Cancer Care | $18,914 |
| Workman, Lauren | Applied Research & Evaluation (CARE) | SC MIECHV FY25 Coordinated State Evaluation (2025-2027) | Children's Trust of South Carolina/HRSA | $178,747 |
| Kanyangarara, Mufaro | Epidemiology & Biostatistics | Foreign Subaward Component (Center for Learning and Childhood Development - Ghana) of 10014311 - Enhancing the Survival of Low Birth Weight Infants in Low Resource Settings using an Implementation Science Approach | National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD)/NIH | $40,068 |
| Bornstein, Marta | Health Prom., Educ. & Behavior | Ohio Policy Evaluation Network (OPEN) | University of Cincinnati/Anonymous (Non-Profit) | $30,279 |
| Ghattas, Hala | Health Prom., Educ. & Behavior | Supplement 2 (to 10014871): Nutrition environment assessment and nutritional status of school-aged children in Jordan | United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) | $11,130 |
| Rebar, Amanda | Health Prom., Educ. & Behavior | Open(ing up) goals in physical activity: What works, when, and for whom? | Southern Cross University/Australian Research Council | $15,621 |
| Andrews, Christina | Health Services Policy & Mgmt | South Carolina Center for Excellence in Addiction | South Carolina Opioid Recovery Fund (SCORF)/DAODAS | $316,050 |
| Andrews, Christina | Health Services Policy & Mgmt | South Carolina Center for Excellence in Addiction – General Assembly Continuation | SC Department of Alcohol & Other Drug Abuse Services (DAODAS)/General Assembly | $101,233 |
| Chen, Brian | Health Services Policy & Mgmt | Personalized Auricular Point Acupressure Self-Management for Chronic Pain in Rural Populations | UTHealth at Houston/NCCIH/NIH | $43,852 |
| Crouch, Elizabeth | Health Services Policy & Mgmt | MIECHV Program: FY 2025 Non-Competing Continuation Subaward from Children's Trust of SC | Children's Trust of South Carolina/HRSA | $359,924 |
| Olatosi, Bankole | Health Services Policy & Mgmt | Investigating and Addressing Modifiable Factors in the HIV Care Continuum for People with HIV (PWH) affected by Substance Use and Mental Health | National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)/NIH | $3,093,665 |
| Lubov, Mayra | PASOS | PASOs/Children's Trust- MIECHV Programs Support | Children's Trust of South Carolina/HRSA | $25,000 |
| Lubov, Mayra | PASOS | PASOs Greenwood Genetics- Folic Acid project | Greenwood Genetic Center | $26,000 |
PI Name |
PI Dept. |
Award Title |
Sponsor |
Total |
| Leighton, Elizabeth | Research, Eval., & Measurement | Evaluation of the South Carolina Association of Certified Public Accountants (SCACPA) Educational Fund’s Collaborative Dual Enrollment Program. | South Carolina Association of Certified Public Accountants (SCACPA) | $10,000 |
| Lewis, Ashlee | Research, Eval., & Measurement | Evaluation Partnership with ArtsNOW Arts for Learning (2026) | ArtsNOW (ArtsNOW Learning) | $50,000 |
| Whitworth, Brooke | Teacher Education | Building Leadership among Science Teachers in Rural Regions: Designing, Developing, and Implementing a Science Teacher Leadership Academy | National Science Foundation (NSF) | $2,896,658 |
PI Name |
PI Dept. |
Award Title |
Sponsor |
Total |
| McInnes, Campbell | Drug Discovery & Biomed Sci. | Developing novel LOX inhibitors to target chemotherapy resistant TNBC | Loxigen, Inc./NCI/NIH | $155,371 |
PI Name |
PI Dept. |
Award Title |
Sponsor |
Total |
| Lopez-DeFede, Ana | Families in Society, Institute | An Examination of the South Carolina Health Care Safety Net, Now and in the Future | BCBS of SC Foundation | $150,000 |
PI Name |
PI Dept. |
Award Title |
Sponsor |
Total |
| Von Nessen, Joseph | Moore Sch - Div. of Research | Greenville Area Development Corporation: Economic Impact Analysis | Greenville Area Development Corporation (GADC) | $57,000 |
| Von Nessen, Joseph | Moore Sch - Div. of Research | SCDE - Economic Impact Analysis (2026) | SC Department of Education (SCDE) | $44,000 |
| Von Nessen, Joseph | Moore Sch - Div. of Research | U.S. Performance Center - Economic Impact Analysis | North Carolina World Military Games LOC, LLC | $43,000 |
| Von Nessen, Joseph | Moore Sch - Div. of Research | Midlands Regional Competitiveness Council: 2025-2026 Competitiveness Report | Midlands Regional Competitiveness Council (MRCC) | $25,000 |
PI Name |
PI Dept. |
Award Title |
Sponsor |
Total |
| Rana, Md. Rafiqul Islam | Retailing | Cotton in the Digital Age: Advancing Cotton Sustainability through Technology-Driven Learning | Cotton Incorporated | $23,000 |
PI Name |
PI Dept. |
Award Title |
Sponsor |
Total |
| Black, Shelandra | Children's Law Center | FY26 Safeguarding Our Youth: A Collaborative Blueprint for Deflection and Recovery | Office of Highway Safety and Justice Programs (OHSJP)/SCDPS/DOJ | $375,689 |
| Black, Shelandra | Children's Law Center | FY26 Understanding Section 223(a)(11)(B) of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA) and its Compliance in South Carolina | Office of Highway Safety and Justice Programs (OHSJP)/SCDPS/DOJ | $107,582 |
| Law - Dean's Office | McGough, Maureen | Building Officer Resilience to Trauma and Improving Mental Health Outcomes: The Reqire4 Training Program for South Carolina Law Enforcement – Program Expansion | Office of Highway Safety and Justice Programs (OHSJP)/SCDPS/DOJ | $307,580 |
PI Name |
PI Dept. |
Award Title |
Sponsor |
Total |
| Terracio, Nathan | Koger Center | South Carolina Arts Commission General Operating Support | SC Arts Commission | $29,889 |
PI Name |
PI Dept. |
Award Title |
Sponsor |
Total |
| LoPresti, Eric | Biological Sciences | (PI: Kiley Stoj) Population demography of the last populations of the Yellowstone sand verbena (Abronia ammophila) | Meg and Bert Raynes Wildlife Fund | $2,582 |
| Speiser, Daniel | Biological Sciences | Shock Wave Damping Helmets of Snapping Shrimp: Microstructure, Dynamic Responses, and Cellular-level Protection | University of Tulsa/AFOSR/DOD | $151,480 |
| Shustova, Natalia | Chemistry & Biochemistry | SMART-U: Stimulus-adaptive Materials Advancing Research Training for Undergraduates | SC EPSCoR | $24,648 |
| Simoska, Olja | Chemistry & Biochemistry | From Pulsed Electrodeposition to Pedagogical Impact: Advancing Nanomaterials Science and Research-Based Learning in Electrochemistry | Research Corporation for Science Advancement (RCSA) | $120,000 |
| Thibault, Annie | Colorectal Cancer Prevention Network | Collaboration with SC DPH to Increase Colorectal Cancer Screening Rates | SC Department of Public Health (DPH)/CDC/HHS | $180,000 |
| Alpert, Geoffrey | Criminology & Criminal Justice | Evaluating the Effects of Pursuit Policy Changes - Planning Grant | Clemson University/Arnold Ventures, LLC | $58,492 |
| Wang, Sicheng | Geography | AI-Driven Burnout Detection in Nursing: A Comprehensive System Integrating Biometric Wearables, Geographic-Environmental Mood Tracking, and Real-Time Chatbot Interventions | USC Educational Foundation/The Duke Endowment | $485,000 |
| Donaldson, Bobby | History | CPF-Center for Civil Rights - FY23 | US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) | $1,500,000 |
| Donaldson, Bobby | History | CPF-Center for Civil Rights - FY24 | US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) | $1,050,000 |
| Matthews, Marty | History | Celebrating the 250th Anniversary of the United States of America: Creating and Sustaining Access to Founding Era / Early Republic Primary Sources | University of Virginia/NEH | $628,325 |
| Crawford, Thomas | Physics & Astronomy | Collaborative Research: Dynamic reversal phenomena in advanced magnetic nanostructures | National Science Foundation (NSF) | $532,285 |
| Kulkarni, Varsha | Physics & Astronomy | Unique insights into the chemical composition of interstellar silicate dust grains in the Milky Way | Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI)/NASA | $62,932 |
PI Name |
PI Dept. |
Award Title |
Sponsor |
Total |
| Regalbuto, John | Chemical Engineering | MRI: Track 1 Acquisition of a Near Ambient Pressure X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (NAP-XPS) System for Research and Teaching at the University of South Carolina | National Science Foundation (NSF) | $1,395,900 |
| Ritter, James | Chemical Engineering | Evaluation of Adsorbents for Hydrocarbon Adsorption | Coldstream Energy, LLC | $230,000 |
| Imran, Jasim | Civil & Environmental Eng. | RII Track 2 FEC: A Scalable Digital Twin for Urban Flood Infrastructure Resilience | SC EPSCoR | $7,500 |
| Bakos, Jason | Computer Science & Engineering | Data Analysis and Modeling by Machine Learning | Battelle Savannah River Alliance, LLC (BSRA)/SRNL/DOE | $174,999 |
| Nasiri, Adel | Electrical Engineering | Medium-voltage AC-to-DC Versatile Energy Router with Integrated Conversion (MAVERIC) | Battelle Savannah River Alliance, LLC (BSRA)/SRNL/DOE | $558,008 |
| Downey, Austin | Mechanical Engineering | EXCELLENCE in RESEARCH: Real-Time Monitoring and Structural Validation for Continuous Fiber Printing | Benedict College/NSF | $125,000 |
| Downey, Austin | Mechanical Engineering | Real-Time Topology-Aware Artificial Intelligence for Tire Health Monitoring Systems with Soft Sensor Array | NC Agricultural & Technical State University/FMCSA/DOT | $300,000 |
| Sockalingam, Subramani | Mechanical Engineering | DURIP Robotic Automated Fiber Placement for Fabrication of Next Generation Meso-Architectured Composite Armor Materials | Department of Defense (DOD) | $309,364 |
PI Name |
PI Dept. |
Award Title |
Sponsor |
Total |
| LeBlanc, Kevin | MSC Nurse Anesthesia | Nurse Anesthesia Program Florence Campus Expansion | Pee Dee Medical and Health Science Education Consortium (PDMHSEC)/SCDHHS | $197,750 |
| Stephenson, Kathryn | Pediatrics | Strengthening the Carolina's Collaborative to Address Disparities in Child Mental Health Across the Carolinas | Prisma Health - Midlands/Institute for Child Success | $20,000 |
| Smiley, Cora | Pharm., Physiology & Neuroscience | Noradrenergic mechanisms underlying stress-induced opioid reinstatement | National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)/NIH | $384,938 |
PI Name |
PI Dept. |
Award Title |
Sponsor |
Total |
| Beck, Judy | AK School of Education | ATE Faculty Fellowship | Association of Teacher Educators (ATE) | $3,000 |
PI Name |
PI Dept. |
Award Title |
Sponsor |
Total |
| Shinn, James | BFT History | SC State Historical Records Advisory Board Grant | SC Department of Archives & History (SCDAH)/NHPRC/NARA | $1,000 |
To request a PDF copy of this report, please contact Elizabeth Renedo at renedoe@mailbox.sc.edu