VCU Quest Fund provides grants to 21 faculty-led projects that target society’s biggest challenges

By Emily Komornik
Office of the Vice President for Research and Innovation

Faculty-led research projects ranging from developing therapies for cancer and opioid withdrawal symptoms to creating artificial wetlands for sewage treatment in urban settings are among the 21 projects that have been awarded funding from the 2024 Virginia Commonwealth University Quest Fund.

The fund, administered by VCU's Office of the Vice President for Research and Innovation, addresses major societal challenges through the support of transdisciplinary pilot and existing projects led by university researchers.

The Quest Fund was developed to afford VCU faculty an internal funding opportunity to support new, emerging or continuing research. Since 2014, when it was originally named the Presidential Research Quest Fund, it has supported more than 100 projects, with past recipients continuing their projects and applying for additional funding beyond VCU so their work can expand, with the eventual goal of translation to practice or market. With Quest Fund investments reaching over $3 million, its supported projects have garnered millions more in state, federal, private and industry funding.

"The VCU Quest Fund mechanism has transformed to one of the OVPRI's largest internal funding opportunities, with 10 years of investments and projects funded," said P. Srirama Rao, Ph.D., vice president for research and innovation. "The impact of these projects has the potential to truly save millions of lives and benefit our society for future generations."

The 2024 grant recipients/principal investigators from the VCU Quest Fund and their research projects are:

• Courtney Holmes, Ph.D., associate professor of rehabilitation counseling in the College of Health Professions, and Tiffany Kimbrough, M.D., co-PI and associate professor of pediatrics in the School of Medicine, for the project "Project Thrive: A Needs Assessment of Families in the Complex Care Clinic."
• William Song, Ph.D., professor of radiation oncology in the School of Medicine, for the project, "Enhancing Precision and Safety in Brachytherapy for Cancer Treatment: In-Vivo Dosimetry Using Novel Scintillation Detectors."
• Sarah Braun, Ph.D., assistant professor of neurology in the School of Medicine, for the project, "C-SMART for Patients with Primary Brain Tumors: A Feasibility and Acceptability Pilot of a Novel Neuropsychological Intervention."
• Todd Kitten, Ph.D., professor of oral and craniofacial molecular biology in the School of Dentistry, for the project, "Characterization of a Novel Circular RNA Element in Streptococcus Sanguinis."
• Robin Everhart, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology in the College of Humanities and Sciences, for the project, "Using EMA to Identify Targets of a Tobacco Prevention Program for Black Youth with Asthma."
• Christine Cynn, Ph.D, associate professor of women's studies in the College of Humanities and Sciences, and Michael Dickinson, Ph.D., co-PI and associate professor of history in the College of Humanities and Sciences; for the project, "Afterlives of Medical Racism: East Marshall Street Well Oral History and Memorialization Project."
• Brooke Dexheimer, Ph.D., assistant professor of occupational therapy in the College of Health Professions, and Dean Krusienski, Ph.D., co-PI and professor of biomedical engineering in the College of Engineering, for the project, "Altering Sensory Perception in Virtual Reality to Elicit Naturalistic Movements."
• Tracye Proffitt, Ph.D., assistant professor of adult health and nursing systems in the School of Nursing, for the project, "Tracking the Trajectory of Physical Recovery: A Study Examining Physical Impairment in Survivors of Critical Illness."
• Paul Kline, Ph.D., assistant professor of physical therapy in the College of Health Professions, for the project, "The Role of Visual Attention and Environmental Complexity in Real-World Mobility for People with Lower Limb Amputation."
• Christopher Whyte, Ph.D., assistant professor of homeland security in the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs; David Webber, Ph.D., co-PI and associate professor of homeland security in the Wilder School; and Ugochukwu Etudo, Ph.D., co-PI and assistant professor of information systems in the School of Business, for the project, "Finding Fair Weather Foes: Using Ontology-Based Deep Learning Models to Map the Interaction of White Supremacists and Malign Foreign Information Operations."
• Maysaa Al-Mumin, assistant professor at VCUarts Qatar, for the project, "Shubak: A Short Animated Film."
• John Freyer, associate professor of photography and film in the School of the Arts, for the project, "Recovery in Practice."
• Helena Fetter Filippini, Ph.D., assistant professor of endodontics in the School of Dentistry, and Sidney Negus, Ph.D., co-PI and professor of pharmacology and toxicology in the School of Medicine, for the project, "Development and Validation of a Model of Dental Pain-Induced Behavioral Depression in Mice."
• Hamid Akbarali, Ph.D., professor of pharmacology and toxicology in the School of Medicine, and Paul Whiteaker, Ph.D., co-PI and professor of pharmacology and toxicology in the School of Medicine, for the project, "Role of Lynx1 Prototoxin in Opioid Withdrawal."
• Joshua Rodenberg, head of Innovative Media Studios at VCUarts Qatar, for the project, "Arctic Resonance: Exploring Oceanic Oscillations through Sonic Artistry."
• Shruti Syal, Ph.D., assistant professor in the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs, for the project, "ACWUS: Artificially Constructed Wetlands for Urban Sewage Treatment."
• Martin Safo, Ph.D., professor of medicinal chemistry in the School of Pharmacy, for the project, "Novel Nitric Oxide Releasing Antisickling Aromatic Aldehydes for Sickle Cell Disease Therapy."
• Tawnya Pettiford-Wates, Ph.D., professor of theatre in the School of the Arts, for the project, "Developing a Certification Framework for Performers and Practitioners in Ritual Poetic Drama (RPD): A Community Engaged Approach."
• Christine Spence, Ph.D., assistant professor of early childhood special education in the School of Education, for the project, "Investigating the Unique Balance Between Fidelity and Flexibility in Early Intervention Service Delivery."
• Hongsheng Zhou, Ph.D., associate professor of computer science in the College of Engineering, for the project, "Scalable Private Set Union with Best Possible Security."
• Thomas Cropp, Ph.D., professor of chemistry in the College of Humanities and Sciences, for the project, "Genetic Encoding of AGE Modifications."

To learn more about the VCU Quest Fund as well as additional internal funding opportunities under the One VCU Research Strategic Priorities Plan, visit the plan website.

To find external funding supporting knowledge creation in and across all disciplines, visit the OVPRI funding page.

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