The Vice President for Research is pleased to announce the 2016-2017 recipients of the SPARC Graduate Research Grant. These 54 graduate students from 9 academic units worked with faculty advisors to prepare and submit competitive proposals, earning valuable grant-writing experience, as well as funds to support their research and scholarly projects.
2016-2017 SPARC Graduate Research Grant Recipients
| Recipient Name | Department or Program | Proposal Title |
| Hessamaldin Abdollahi | Electrical Engineering | Implementation of an Online Adaptive Impedance-Based Control Scheme for Power Converters in DC Distribution Systems |
| Adewale Adeluyi | Pharmaceutical Sciences | Glia Transcriptome Correlates of Oxidative Stress in Nicotine Dependence |
| Nadia Al-Sammarraie | Biomedical Science | Cell Specific Role of TGFbeta2 in Heart Valve Development |
| Oluwole Babatunde | Epidemiology & Biostatistics | Racial Disparities in Diagnosis-to-Treatment Waiting Time and Receipt of Adjuvant Hormonal Therapy among Patients Diagnosed with Breast Cancer in South Carolina |
| Darun Barazanchy | Mechanical Engineering | Detecting Failure Mechanisms in Fiber Steered Panels Using Non-Destructive Evaluation |
| Megan Bennett | History | Cold War Orphans |
| Alycia Boutte | Health, Promotion, Education & Behavior | Diet Quality and Mental Health in Pregnancy Study |
| Michael Brown | Music Performance | Delphine Ugalde: 'Having It All' in Late 19th Century Paris |
| Coleman Calva | Biomedical Science | Localization and Effects of Intranasal Orexin A Delivery in an Aged Rat Model |
| Yoojin Cho | Health, Promotion, Education & Behavior | Novel Tobacco Products with Characterizing Flavors |
| Towhid Chowdhury | Electrical Engineering | Solid-State Position-Sensitive Neutron Detectors for Bio-Crystallography |
| Gregory Clark | Mathematics | A Mathematical Model of Dark Net Markets |
| Garner Cochran | Mathematics | Diameter of Orientations of Graphs Given Minimum Degree and Girth |
| Ekaterina Dolgopolova | Chemistry & Biochemistry | Metal-Organic Frameworks as a Versatile Platform for Efficient Energy Transfer |
| Zhuo Feng | Comparative Literature | Digesting Gender: The Pleasure of Eating in Late Qing and Republican Chinese Liter |
| Roel Feys | Philosophy | The Ethics of Health Care Commons Institutions |
| Miranda Fisher | Pharmaceutical Sciences | The Role of NRG3-ErbB4 Pathway in Mediating Nicotine Withdrawal Induced Anxiety-like Behaviors |
| Keith Fuller | Biological Sciences | Using Satellite Telemetry to Track Environmental and Geographic Preference of a Juvenile Scalloped Hammerhead Shark (Sphyrna lewini) |
| Stephanie Gray | History | Restoring America: Historic Preservation and the New Deal |
| Mark Guinter | Epidemiology & Biostatistics | Development and Application of an Estrogen-Related Dietary Pattern to Predict Postmenopausal Breast Cancer Risk |
| Claire Hann | Biological Sciences | Modeling Plant Responses to Multiple Stressors |
| Adam Harrison | Exercise Science | Measuring Error Detection during a Continuous Motor Task |
| Melinda Hersey | Biomedical Science | The Role of Serotonin in Comorbid Depression and Obesity |
| Tanya Hundal | Chemistry & Biochemistry | Correlation of Metastatic Potential with Sialic Acid Content in Human Colon Cell Lines to Investigate Binding with Synthetic Lectins: Towards a Cancer Diagnostic |
| Tiffany Jones | Anthropology | Exploring the Socialization and Authentication Practices of Spoken Word Poetry |
| Rasha Karakchi | Computer Science & Engineering | A Special Purpose Compiler and Processor for Pattern Recognition |
| Antony Keane-Dawes | History | Reimagined Community: Imperial Occupation and Liberation in Santo Domingo, 1818-1844 |
| Kristen Larsen | Biomedical Science | The Role of Interleukin 33/ST2 Axis in Growth and Metastasis of Colorectal Cancer |
| Jamie Levitt | Hotel, Restaurant & Tourism Administration | An Analysis of Food Tourist Perceptions of Restaurant Authenticity |
| Min Li | Biological Sciences | NPR1 Interacts with TCP15 to Negatively Regulate Salicylic Acid Accumulation in Plant Defense |
| Guangfang Li | Chemistry & Biochemistry | Selective Electrocatalytic Glucose Oxidation on Dealloyed Nanosponge Particles |
| Yue Liu | Sociology | When Are Differences Between Members Beneficial – Versus Detrimental – To Group Solidarity? |
| Junyu Lu | Geography | Spatial Patterns of Future Drought Risks in the United States |
| Sara Matherly | School Psychology | Effects of Anxiety on Independence in Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders |
| Patrick O'Brien | History | What Difference Does a Revolution Make? Reconsidering Loyalty in Eighteenth Century Nova Scotia |
| Erik Palmer | Mathematics | Mathematical Modeling of Multi-Responsive Polymer Gels |
| Kinjal Pandya | Clinical-Community Psychology | Toward Developing and Validating a Tool to Assess Exposure to Ethnic and Gender Focused Campus Microaggressions Among Female Faculty of Color |
| Christopher Perry | Exercise Science | Eye-Hand Coupling Within Predictable Movements |
| Shannon Romagnolo | Counselor Education | A Social Justice-Focused School Counselor Education Curriculum:Trainee Knowledge and Perceived Implementation Efficacy |
| Stephen Ruxton | Political Science | Representation and Democratic Legitimacy: The New Constructivist Role of American Public Opinion in the Creation of Representation and Democratic Legitimacy” |
| Michaela Schenkelberg | Exercise Science | Patterns of and Influences on Physical Activity of Preschoolers with Developmental Disabilities |
| Andrew Schramm | Clinical-Community Psychology | Internalized Homophobia as a Risk Factor for Intimate Partner Violence among Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Adults |
| Holly Smith | Geography | Narrating Social Changes through the Experiences of Ammani Youth Caught in the Middle of a Regional Palimpsest |
| Joshua Sparks | Exercise Science | Adaptations in Glucose Metabolism Following a Chronic Aerobic Exercise Training Protocol in a Sedentary, Overweight or Obese Population |
| Olivia Spead | Biomedical Science | Specific Roles of GPC3 in Axon Guidance and Topographic Map Formation during Nervous System Development |
| Melanie Sutherland | Epidemiology & Biostatistics | Longitudinal Trajectories of Depressive Symptoms among Adolescents with Type 1 Diabetes |
| Elizabeth Wakefield | Anthropology | Assessing the Accuracy, Validity, and Application of a New Method for Sex Determination Using Compositions, Concentrations, and Isotopic Variations of Iron (Fe) and Copper (Cu) in Human Bone |
| Clorissa Washington-Hughes | Chemistry & Biochemistry | Enterobactin Biosynthesis: A Potential Target for Treating Pathogenic and Nickel-Resistant Bacteria |
| Jane Weatherred | Mass Communications | Redevelopment of the Child Sexual Abuse Myth Scale |
| Jillian Weber | English | Female Athleticism in American Literature |
| Farzana Yasmeen | Mechanical Engineering | Assessment of Methodologies for Compensation of Out-of-Plane Rotation Error in 3D Digital Image Correlation |
| Samantha Yaussy | Anthropology | The Intersections of Health and Wealth: Socioeconomic Status, Frailty, and Mortality in Industrial England |
| Jingsheng Zhang | Comparative Literature | Re-Reading the Intellectual Turn in 1980s Chinese Poetic Field: A Study of Unofficial Poetry Journals After 1985 |
| Jiali Zheng | Epidemiology & Biostatistics | Association between Inflammatory Potential of Diet and Pancreatic Cancer Risk in Two Prospective Cohorts |