by Ann Comer-Woods, USF Research
The University of South Florida is proud to announce the recipients of its Spring 2026 internal grant awards, reflecting a continued commitment to advancing research, scholarship and creative activity across the university. This year marked a milestone for the newly formed Council on Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity (CReSCA), which oversaw six internal award competitions. Collectively, these programs represent a $1.7 million investment supporting 60 principal investigators across 12 colleges, strengthening USF’s research enterprise at every stage from early-career investigators to internationally recognized scholars.
“These internal awards represent a powerful return on investment for the university," said CReSCA Chair Richard Heller, a professor in the Department of Medical Engineering. "By providing targeted support for new ideas, infrastructure and collaboration, we are positioning our faculty to compete successfully for major external funding and to deliver meaningful societal impact. CReSCA’s coordinated approach ensures that these resources are leveraged in ways that build long-term research capacity and elevate USF’s national and global standing.”
The Spring 2026 awards span a diverse portfolio of funding mechanisms designed to foster innovation, collaboration and impact:
- Interdisciplinary Center Preparation Grants (ICPG): $600,000
- Multi-User Research Capital Investment Awards (MuRCIA): $550,000
- New Researcher Grants (NRG): $356,469
- Publications Subvention Grants (PSG): $12,725
- Proposal Enhancement Grants (PEG): $112,779
- Faculty International Travel Grants (FITG): $38,026
Supporting Innovation Across Disciplines
The funded projects represent a wide range of disciplines and initiatives, including the development of interdisciplinary research centers addressing critical global challenges, acquisition of state-of-the-art research infrastructure and shared-use equipment, support for early-career faculty launching innovative research programs, international engagement to expand USF’s global research footprint and publication support to disseminate groundbreaking scholarship Together, these awards enhance USF’s ability to drive innovation, attract external funding, and deliver solutions that benefit society.
By supporting researchers at every career stage and across all colleges, the CReSCA’s internal awards program plays a vital role in building a robust and collaborative research ecosystem. These investments not only accelerate individual projects but also foster interdisciplinary connections and long-term research capacity across the university. The Spring 2026 recipients exemplify the breadth and depth of talent at USF, contributing to the university’s growing national and global reputation for research excellence.
| Recipient | Department | College | Project |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ahmmad, Md Roungu | Nursing | College of Nursing | Association Between Age-Specific Sleep Sufficiency and Autism Spectrum Disorder in U.S. Children |
| Aliaga Abanto, Oscar | Leadership, Policy, and Lifelong Learning | College of Education | Strengthening Workforce Readiness: Evidence on Work-Based Learning in U.S. Higher Education Cybersecurity Programs |
| Bartesaghi, Mariaelena | Communication | College of Arts and Sciences | The Dialogues of the Clinic |
| Cheng, Feng | Pharmaceutical Sciences | Taneja College of Pharmacy | Cardiovascular Risks of COVID-19 Therapeutics: Integrated Analysis of FAERS, Electronic Health Records, and Transcriptomics |
| Latowsky, Anne | World Languages | College of Arts and Sciences | History’s Missing Chapter: Pseudo-Turpin and the Invention of Charlemagne (monograph) |
| Lesley, Elena | Anthropology | College of Arts and Sciences | Testimonies for the Dead: Voice, Violence, and Rebirth in Postwar Cambodia |
| O'Connor, Adrian | History | College of Arts and Sciences | Assassination: On Concepts and Killings |
| Stuart, Amy | Global, Environmental, and Genomic Health Sciences | College of Public Health | Improving usability of sensor-based measurements for community monitoring: Long-term performance and classification of data quality |
| Tejada-Martinez, Andres | Civil and Environmental Engineering | College of Engineering | Influence of Turbulence Modeling on CFD-Based Prediction of Vehicle Hydroplaning Speed |
| Volinsky, Alexei | Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering | College of Engineering | Reinforcement of Skin Flap Tracheal Reconstruction with Porous Titanium Nickelide Implants: A Novel Approach to Persistent Tracheal Defect Closure |
| Yin, Dezhi | School of Information Systems | Muma College of Business | Bots with Empathy: Reactance Against Emotion-Aware AI Agents in Customer Service |
| Recipient | Department | College | Project |
|---|---|---|---|
| Breslin, Jerome | Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology | Morsani College of Medicine | Florida Center for Lymphatic Education and Research (CLEAR) |
| Leahy, James | Chemistry | College of Arts and Sciences | AI-Assisted Obesity Drug Discovery and Development |
| Tejada-Martinez, Andres | Civil and Environmental Engineering | College of Engineering | Sustainable Adaptation for Flood and Emergency Resilience (SAFER) Engineering Research Center |
| Zhang, Yu | Civil and Environmental Engineering | College of Engineering | Center for Advanced Multimodal Mobility Integration (CAMMI) |
| Recipient | Department | College | Project |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alfenas Reis, Dayane | Bellini College of Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity, and Computing | Bellini College of Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity, and Computing | SP-HD: Stochastic Projection-Based HyperDimensional Architecture for Near-Sensor Image Classification |
| Biswas, Dipayan | School of Marketing & Innovation | Muma College of Business | EMAC-2026 |
| Bugos, Jennifer | School of Music | College of Design, Art, and Performance | Music Training on Neural Processing and Executive Functions from Infancy to Young Adulthood |
| Buzzanell, Patrice | Communications | College of Arts and Sciences | FITG for the International Communication Association conference, to be held in Cape Town, South Africa, June 2026 |
| Carnaghi, Benedetta | History | College of Arts and Sciences | Anti-Fascist Teaching in Europe and the United States: A Comparative Case Study |
| Fung, Victor | School of Music | College of Design, Art and Performance | 37th ISME World Conference--Unity in Music Education: Building Bridges for All |
| Goswami, D. Yogi | Chemical Biological and Materials Engineering | College of Engineering | International Travel Grant for Keynote lecture at IEEE SeFeT 2026 |
| Ivanov, Svetozar | School of Music | College of Design, Art and Performance | Summer Music Festivals in Prague, Czechia and Derry, Northern Ireland - Artist-Faculty |
| Ko, Eun Mi | School of Music | College of Design, Art and Performance | IntAct Festival (Bangkok, Thailand) |
| Kruzel, Marleah | Communications | College of Arts and Sciences | International Association for Communication in Healthcare (ICCH) |
| Moreno, Wilfrido | Electrical and Computer Engineering | College of Engineering | Advancing USF Global Engagement, Research Collaboration, and Graduate Recruitment through Strategic Participation in LACCEI 2026 |
| Parkinson, John | Integrative Biology | College of Arts and Sciences | 2026 FITG Application For 16th International Coral Reef Symposium (New Zealand) |
| Piracci, Tina | Judy Genshaft Honors College | Judy Genshaft Honors College | Request for two engagement opportunities in Exeter and London |
| Santiago Alarcon, Diego | Integrative Biology | College of Arts and Sciences | Avian parasites ecological dynamics across scales and the nurturing of an interdisciplinary mind |
| Scharm, Heike | World Languages | College of Arts and Sciences | Invited Conference Presentation at the University of Olomouc, Czech Republic, May 7-9 2026 |
| Schotter, Elizabeth | Psychology | College of Arts and Sciences | Presentation at the European Conference on Eye Movements |
| Recipient | Department | College | Project |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manawadu, Ayumi | Civil and Environmental Engineering | College of Engineering | Concrete 3D Printing System for an Interdisciplinary Construction Research Hub |
| McCrae, Christina | Nursing | College of Nursing | CEED: Circadian Equipment Elevating New Avenues for Discovery, Transdisciplinary Collaboration, and Training at USF |
| Reed, Kyle | Mechanical Engineering | College of Engineering | Cognitive Load Modulation and Multimodal Human Performance Platform for Next-Generation Research |
| Shevenell, Amelia | Academic Affairs | College of Marine Science | Acquistion of a Microwave Digestion System for Preparation of Deological and Biological Materials for High Resolution Mass Spectrometric Analysis of Metals in the Environment |
| Simmons, David | Chemical, Biological, and Materials Engineering | College of Engineering | Automated Peptide Synthesizer to Empower Collaborative Research in Drug Discovery, Materials Engineering, and AI-Powered Molecular Design |
| Recipient | Department | College | Project |
|---|---|---|---|
| Al-Hraishawi, Hayder | Electrical Engineering | College of Engineering | Quantum-Enabled Optimization: Approximate Computing for Resource-Efficient 6G Systems |
| Griffin, Lucas | Integrative Biology | College of Arts and Sciences | Temperature-Specific Metabolic Calibration and Swimming Performance in Spotted Seatrout: Applications to Fisheries Management |
| Guo, Zongqi | Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering | College of Engineering | Scalable Cryopreservation with Laser-Induced Rapid Rewarming for Biorepository |
| Kim, Byeol | Department of Medical Engineering; Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation | Morsani College of Medicine | A Surgeon-Centered Virtual Reality Platform for Constraint-Aware Preoperative Planning of Customized Maxillofacial Fixation Plates |
| Kim, Youjung | School of Urban Affairs | College of Arts and Sciences | Evaluating the Effectiveness of Elevation-Based Flood Mitigation in a Coastal Neighborhood |
| Kwon, Soonhyung | School of Social Work | College of Behavioral and Community Sciences | Augmented Reality Physical Activity for Cardiovascular Health in Older Adults |
| Le, Trung | Industrial and Management Systems Engineering | College of Engineering | AI-Enabled Longitudinal Endophenotyping of Sleep in Healthy and Obstructive Sleep Apnea Populations |
| Manawadu, Ayumi | Civil and Environmental Engineering | College of Engineering | Predicting Interface Failure in Concrete Infrastructure through Nonlinear Fracture Mechanics |
| Marshall, Jocelyn | School of Art and Art History | College of Design, Art, and Performance | Opening Up Space: Gabrielle Civil’s Interventions in Black Feminist Performance |
| Parrino, Rosalia | School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences | Morsani College of Medicine | Impact of Virtual Power Yoga on Changes in Cognition in Older Adult Women: A Pilot Study |
| Qiao, Fengchun | Bellini College of Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity and Computing | Bellini College of Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity and Computing | Compositional Learning for Interpretable Seafloor Mapping and Coastal Resilience |
| Rodriguez Enriquez, Alejandra | School of Geosciences | College of Arts and Sciences | Seasonal to Interannual Variability in Coastal Water Levels |
| Samanta, Avik | Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering | College of Engineering | Scalable UV-Laser-Enabled Single-Photon Additive Manufacturing of Bioinspired Hydrogels for Adaptive and Programmable Camouflage |
| Shchurko, Tatsiana | Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies | College of Arts and Sciences | Taut Rope Dialogues: Developing a Transnational Research Framework through Expert Roundtables |
| Sujka, Joseph | Surgery | Morsani College of Medicine | Tracking the Lost Pacemaker: Longitudinal Mapping of Gastric Electrical Dysfunction in Diabetic Gastroparesis |
| Tabatabaei, Abbas | School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences | Morsani College of Medicine | Chronic Low Back Pain in People with Multiple Sclerosis |
| Tricker, Andrew | Chemical, Biological, & Materials Engineering | College of Engineering | Engineering Interfacial Conditions to Enable Levulinic Acid-to-Octane Electrochemical Pathways |
| Perez, Vanessa | School of Interdisciplinary Global Studies | College of Arts and Sciences | The New Puerto Rican Electorate: Race, Partisanship, and Turnout |
| Yen, Yu-Chen | Molecular Bioscience | College of Arts and Sciences | Mechanistic Insights into Allosteric Modulation of γ-Secretase for Alzheimer’s Disease Therapy |
| Recipient | Department | College | Project |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daughrill, Gary | Molecular Biosciences | College of Arts and Sciences | Proposal Enhancement Grant for Regulation of transcriptional activation by protein disorder |
| McHale, James | Psychology | College of Arts and Sciences | Agency implementation of preventive coparenting intervention in home visiting programs serving pregnant and parenting families |
| Scott, Kathleen | Integrative Biology | College of Arts and Sciences | Adaptations to environmental CO2 and HCO3- supply in bacteria using the reductive citric acid cycle for autotrophic CO2 fixation |
| Tu, Yicheng | Bellini College of AI, Cybersecurity, and Computing | Bellini College of AI, Cybersecurity, and Computing | Automata-Based Approach for De Novo Genome Assembly |
| Yao, Fangfang | School of Geosciences | College of Arts and Sciences | Assessing reservoir storage capacity losses using a new NASA mission |