11 research projects receive College’s first seed grants
College of Arts and Science scholars will collaborate on studies about food waste, knee arthritis, hip-hop history, language models and more.
Eleven research projects will receive the first round of seed funding from the UNC College of Arts and Sciences for groundbreaking work across disciplines.
The Seed Funding Program in the Office of Research and Innovation supports projects across the College’s academic departments — and beyond — that are creative and bold and not only push boundaries but also yield tangible benefits for communities and society at large.
Of the 90 applications received, 11 will receive funding.
“We are grateful for the overwhelming interest in the Seed Funding Program,” said Jim White, Craver Family Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. “I want to thank the College’s research and innovation team for its work to launch this important initiative.”
Learn more about the inaugural seed grant recipients’ projects below:
Reducing food waste: Kelly Alexander, American studies department, and co-principal investigator Lindsey Smith Taillie, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. This project will create a national model with scalable solutions to reduce surplus food and redirect it to those in need.
Emotional regulation in acting: Tracy Bersley, dramatic art department, with co-PIs Steven Knotek, UNC School of Education, and Abigail Panter, psychology and neuroscience department. A new interdisciplinary study will investigate the impacts of acting on the nervous system, uncovering how performers regulate stress after emotionally intense performances.
African American hip-hop media history: Samba Camara, African, African American and diaspora studies department, with Joanneke Fleischauer, University Libraries, and Kolby Oglesby, communication department. A new pilot project in Senegal will develop an open-access multimedia website and digitized archives housed in the Carolina Digital Repository.
Fish antibiotics: Jocelyn Chua, anthropology department, with co-PIs Luther Bartelt and Heather H. Henderson, UNC School of Medicine, and Brandie Ehrmann, chemistry department. An interdisciplinary project will investigate the practice of self-medication with over-the-counter fish antibiotics in southern North Carolina.
Protecting knee cartilage: Jason Franz, Lampe Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering with co-PIs David Lalush and Jeffrey Spang, UNC School of Medicine, and Brian Pietrosimone, exercise and sport science department. An innovative pilot study will investigate how everyday walking patterns may accelerate joint damage in people with knee osteoarthritis.
Detecting microbes from space: Scott Gifford, Earth, marine and environmental sciences department, and co-PIs Amanda DelVecchia, geography and environment department, and John Gardner, Nathan Hall and Tamlin Pavelsky, all of the Earth, marine and environmental sciences department. The project will generate scalable, predictive tools to help detect harmful algal blooms and assess ecosystem health across North Carolina’s freshwater reservoirs with greater accuracy.
Complementary feeding decision-making: Morgan Hoke, anthropology department, with co-PI Michelle Graf, UNC School of Nursing, and Melissa Salm, anthropology department. The pilot study will examine the influence of social media on shaping parental decision-making during a critical window for infant development.
Genetic variation in malaria parasites: Parul Johri, biology department and UNC School of Medicine. Johri’s lab seeks to identify parasitic drug-resistant gene patterns to improve global efforts to track, treat and control the spread of malaria.
Cytoskeleton-membrane coupling, Amy Maddox, biology department, with Jenna Perry, Larry Rivenbark and Sid Sankaranarayanan, all of the biology department, and Rick Baker, UNC School of Medicine. The project aims to answer long-standing questions in cell biology and open new avenues for diagnosing and treating diseases such as cancer and infertility.
Deconstructing deception in language models: Katya Pertsova, linguistics department, and co-PI Snigdha Chaturvedi, computer science department. Researchers will harness the power of advanced AI language models to decode hidden tactics behind propaganda and deceptive speech.
Using ancient DNA: Karin Pfennig, biology department, with co-PIs Xiao Feng and Bryan Stuart, both of the biology department. Researchers will pioneer a groundbreaking method to derive animal behavior using genetic markers linked in living animals.
