The Office of the Vice President for Research is committed to supporting USC’s researchers at every level through a slate of internal funding programs targeting students and faculty. One of the most impactful programs, ASPIRE, is designed to fund promising research, shared research infrastructure and sought-after interdisciplinary research projects to help strengthen the University of South Carolina’s competitiveness for external grants and bolster scholarship throughout the USC System.

The returns on the Vice President for Research’s ASPIRE investments are excellent. The ASPIRE seed funding invested since 2012 has resulted in $120 million in new external sponsored award dollars, as reported by the faculty recipients.

“The ASPIRE program has been so successful, it’s really very impressive,” said USC Vice President for Research, Prakash Nagarkatti. “I have to credit the outstanding USC faculty members who have received ASPIRE grants and used them to build up research data and interdisciplinary relationships they needed to successfully garner external funding dollars later. I have confidence that the 2018 ASPIRE recipients will continue this pattern of accomplishment, and I congratulate them on their success.”

For the 2018 ASPIRE cycle, USC faculty researchers submitted a total of 185 proposals to the ASPIRE programs this year. The proposals were reviewed by a faculty review committee appointed by the Vice President for Research, and 78 were selected for funding.

The 2018 ASPIRE recipients are listed below, by funding track. It is the Office of Research’s pleasure to recognize this distinguished group. Complete details about the ASPIRE program, including criteria for each funding track and sub-track, are available on the program’s home page.

2018 ASPIRE-I: Innovation recipients

Sub-track I, junior faculty development

Principal Investigator	Title	Department	College
Augustine, Jennifer	Improving Children's Skill Development and Reducing Inequality: Is Promoting Higher Education for Lower Educated Mothers the Answer?	Sociology	Arts and Sciences, College of
Eberth, John	Preconditioning of Coronary Artery Bypass Grafts	Cell Biology & Anatomy	Medicine, School of
Egbue, Ona	Energy Management Strategy for Microgrids Considering Plug-In Electric Vehicles	USC Upstate	USC Upstate
Ehlers, Diane	The effects of aerobic exercise on executive function in breast cancer survivors: A pilot randomized trial	Exercise Science	Public Health, Arnold School of
Gay, Gregory	Investigating the Relationship between Real and Synthetic Software Faults	Computer Science & Engineering	Engineering & Computing, College of
Gregory, Karl	A nonparametric bifurcation point estimator for bifurcated response data	Statistics	Arts and Sciences, College of
Greytak, Andrew	Aspire: Patterned photochemical doping of semiconductor nanowires	Chemistry & Biochemistry	Arts and Sciences, College of
Karami, Amir	Knowledge Discovery in Sexual Discrimination and Harassment Experiences	Library & Information Sciences, School of	Information and Communications, College of
Koh, Ho-Jin	The Role of Tribbles 3 on Exercise Training-induced Beige Fat Formation	Exercise Science	Public Health, Arnold School of
Kubinak, Jason	How Primary Antibody Deficiency Drives Chronic Inflammation: Disease Risks and Potential Therapeutic Opportunities	Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology	Medicine, School of
Lane-Cordova, Abbi	Physical activity, sedentary behavior, and placental health	Exercise Science	Public Health, Arnold School of
Lee, Dongkyu	Factors Governing Oxygen Reduction Reaction on Epitaxial Layered Oxide Thin Films for Oxygen Electrocatalysis	Mechanical Engineering	Engineering & Computing, College of
Luo, Lannan	Vulnerability Discovery and Test Input Generation for Android System Services	Computer Science & Engineering	Engineering & Computing, College of
Mann, Emily	Navigating Conflicting Narratives of Risk: Exploring the Experiences of Women of Advanced Maternal Age	Health Promotion, Education & Behavior	Public Health, Arnold School of
Paul, Titan	Nanoparticles Size Effect on Thermophysical Properties of Ionic Liquids Based Nanofluids	USC Aiken	USC Aiken
Pellegrini, Christine	Promoting Physical Activity via Physical Therapist Following Knee Replacement	Exercise Science	Public Health, Arnold School of
Poulain, Fabienne	Generation of topographic transgenic lines for the study of retinotopy in the visual system.	Biological Sciences	Arts and Sciences, College of
Qian, Yu	Railroad 4.0: intelligent Risk Assessment and Prediction System (i-RAPS)	Civil & Environmental Engineering	Engineering & Computing, College of
Sasanakul, Inthuorn	Centrifuge modeling of unsaturated soil slope under cyclic transient flow	Civil & Environmental Engineering	Engineering & Computing, College of
Sasmaz, Erdem	Design and Implementation of flame spray pyrolysis for nanomaterial synthesis	Chemical Engineering	Engineering & Computing, College of
Sockalingam, Subramani	Dynamic Impact Mechanics of Novel Non-conventional Fiber-reinforced Composite Laminates	Mechanical Engineering	Engineering & Computing, College of
Welton, Sheldon	The States that Opted Out: Contextualizing Energy Governance in the Southeast	Law, School of	Law, School of
Wise, Julie	Lyric Form and Temporality in Michael Field's Underneath the Bough	USC Aiken	USC Aiken
Zhang, Xiaomei	PeerCould: Enhancing Mobile Edge/Cloud Computing with Device-to-Device Offloading	USC Beaufort - General	USC Beaufort

Sub-track IIA, research faculty development

Principal Investigator	Title	Department	College
Harrington, Shana	Early Rehabilitation Program within a Regional Health System for Women with Breast Cancer to Improve Upper Extremity Strength, Arm Volume, Upper Extremity Function, and Pain: A Pragmatic Clinical Trial	Exercise Science	Public Health, Arnold School of
Kar, Amar	Identifying the molecular mechanisms regulating axon dieback in Parkinsons disease.	Biological Sciences	Arts and Sciences, College of
Lackstrom, Kirsten	Drought Planning in the Southeast United States: Constraints and Opportunities for Intra- and Interstate Coordination	Geography	Arts and Sciences, College of
Raynor, Phyllis	P.A.R.E.N.T.S.S. Project - Parents Adopting Recovery-management through Enhanced New Technology for Self-care and Support (for Parenting)	Nursing	Nursing, College of
Tasseva-Kurktchieva, Mila	The shape of the bilingual mental lexicon: Testing the diversity of cognates	Linguistics Program	Arts and Sciences, College of
Wirth, Michael	Qualitative Exploration of Future and Current Nurses Perceptions and Experiences on the Transition into the Nursing Workforce	Epidemiology & Biostatistics	Public Health, Arnold School of

Sub-track IIB, postdoctoral scholar development

Principal Investigator	Title	Department	College
Chakrabarti, Mrinmay	Role of TGFbeta ligands in cardiac fibrosis	Medicine, School of  - (Dean)	Medicine, School of
Chen, Huan	A Cooperation of Essential Activators of Salicylic Acid Signaling NPR1 and EDS1 in Plant Immunity	Biological Sciences	Arts and Sciences, College of
Davis, Catherine	Tracking Deglacial Changes in the Eastern Tropical Pacific Oxygen Minimum Zone	Earth, Ocean, and Environment	Earth, Ocean, and Environment
Deming, Michelle	Health Care Providers' Knowledge, Attitudes, and Delivery of Postexposure Prophylaxis (PEP) for the Prevention of HIV after Sexual Assault	Health Promotion, Education & Behavior	Public Health, Arnold School of
Ingram, Ladrea	A life course approach to examining the intersections of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), race/ethnicity and intergenerational trauma in young African American women living with HIV	Health Promotion, Education & Behavior	Public Health, Arnold School of
Tavakoli Mehrabadi, Bahareh Alsadat	Preparation and evaluation of PT-Ru/CNTs catalysts for direct methanol fuel cell	Chemical Engineering	Engineering & Computing, College of
Tengco, John Meynard	Well-dispersed Pt-based supported metal catalysts with alloy nanoparticles using electrostatic adsorption and electroless co-deposition synthesis methods	Chemical Engineering	Engineering & Computing, College of
Wang, Jingjing	Investigation of size-dependent toxicity, uptake, and stability of platinum nanoparticles in Daphnia magna	Environmental Health Sciences	Public Health, Arnold School of
Weaver, Cory	Generating new zebrafish mutant lines to study PACT functions in neurodevelopment	Biological Sciences	Arts and Sciences, College of

Sub-track III, bridge funding

Principal Investigator	Title	Department	College
Matta, Fabio	Cement Composites with Advanced Graphitic Nano-amendments for Nuclear Waste Storage	Civil & Environmental Engineering	Engineering & Computing, College of
Meade, Douglas	MYMA Calculus	Mathematics	Arts and Sciences, College of

Sub-track IV, senior faculty exploration

Principal Investigator	Title	Department	College
Chen, Fanglin	ASPIRE-I Track IV: Novel Direct CO2 to Methanol Synthesis using an Integrated Hydrogen and Oxygen Pump	Mechanical Engineering	Engineering & Computing, College of
Chen, Hexin	Interleukin 1α promotes tumor progression via induction of myeloid-derived suppressor cells differentiation and inhibition of B lymphopoiesis	Biological Sciences	Arts and Sciences, College of
Eberth, Jan	Implementation of Shared Decision Making for Lung Cancer Screening: A Pilot Study	Epidemiology & Biostatistics	Public Health, Arnold School of
Fadel, Jim	Intranasal insulin administration increases hippocampal acetylcholine levels	Pharmacology, Physiology & Neuroscience	Medicine, School of
Goldsmith, Edie	Fibroblast Activation Protein (FAP) as a Novel Mediator of post-MI Remodeling	Cell Biology & Anatomy	Medicine, School of
Herzberg, Tina	The Impact of Professional Development for Teachers of Students with Visual Impairments to Support Them in Increasing Students’ Literacy Efficiency	USC Upstate	USC Upstate
Hoover, Ann	When Power is Precarious: Investigating Powerlessness as a Masculinity Threat	USC Upstate	USC Upstate
Kuenzli, Elisabeth	Jockeying into Position: Race, Ethnicity, and the Rise of the Latino Jockey in the American South	History	Arts and Sciences, College of
Mandal, Krishna	Bandgap engineered innovative contacts on pixilated CdZnTe gamma-ray detectors for nuclear waste characterization	Electrical Engineering	Engineering & Computing, College of
Murphy, Elizabeth	Targeting Macrophages to Increase Efficacy of 5-Fluorouracil Chemotherapy in Colorectal Cancer	Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology	Medicine, School of
Osokina, Elena	AMTORG – An Agent of Soviet Influence in America, 1920s-1930s	History	Arts and Sciences, College of
Patel, Rekha	Investigate the involvement of eIF2alpha signaling pathway in the neuromuscular movement disorder dystonia 16.	Biological Sciences	Arts and Sciences, College of
Pershin, Yuriy	Hybrid Memcomputing: A Novel In-Memory Computing Approach	Physics & Astronomy	Arts and Sciences, College of
Robillard, Alyssa	HIV Stigma-Related Trauma in African-American HIV-Positive Women: A Mixed Method Approach to Measure Development	Health Promotion, Education & Behavior	Public Health, Arnold School of
Rudisill, Anne	The Clinical and Economic Impact of a Lifestyle Medicine-Based Wellness Program to Treat Severe Obesity	Health Promotion, Education & Behavior	Public Health, Arnold School of
Scott, Patrick	Investigating Robert Burns's First Book: Variants in Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect (1786)	University Libraries	University Libraries
Shervette, Virginia	Application of the Bomb Radiocarbon Chronometer for Validating Age Estimates of Queen Snapper, a Data-poor Caribbean Fisheries Species	USC Aiken	USC Aiken
Simpson, Brent	How Discrimination Affects Effort and Performance	Sociology	Arts and Sciences, College of
Sixta Rinehart, Christine	The Fiscal Costs of American Drone Warfare	USC Union	USC Union
Steward, Rodney	An Illegal Violence: The Story of Confederate Sequestration	USC Salkehatchie	USC Salkehatchie
Wang, Cuizhen (Susan)	Rapid Flood Mapping by Enhancing Near Real-Time Satellite Imagery with Real-Time Gauge and Tweeter data	Geography	Arts and Sciences, College of
Yang, Xiaofeng	Modeling, algorithm developments and simulations for two-phase ferrofluid flows	Mathematics	Arts and Sciences, College of
Yoon, Yeomin	Preliminary Evaluation of Graphene Oxide Coated Membrane Filtration for Water Treatment	Civil & Environmental Engineering	Engineering & Computing, College of
zur Loye, Hans-Conrad	Top-Seeded Solution Crystal Growth Instrument for the Synthesis of Single Crystals of Novel Oxyfluoride Scintillator Materials	Chemistry & Biochemistry	Arts and Sciences, College of

2018 ASPIRE-II: Integration recipients

Principal Investigator	Title	Department	College
Chen, Donna John Monnier, Chemical Engineering Natalia Shustova, Chemistry and Biochemistry	Bimetallic Metal-Organic Frameworks as Heterogeneous Catalysts for Gas Phase Hydrogenation Reactions	Chemistry & Biochemistry	Arts and Sciences, College of
Donaldson, Bobby Ron Cox, USC Lancaster Graham Duncan, South Caroliniana Library	Briggs v. Elliott Digital Archive	History	Arts and Sciences, College of
Heckman, Heather Beth Bilderback, University Libraries Fabio Matta, Civil and Environmental Engineering Paul Ziehl, Civil and Environmental Engineering	Alternative Vault Designs for Storage of Cellulose Nitrate Heritage Materials	University Libraries	University Libraries
Hughes, Ronda John Brooks, Health Services Policy and Management Neset Hikmet, IIT, College of Engineering and Computing Ben Schooley, IIT, College of Engineering and Computing Stacey Mumbower, Darla Moore School of Business	An Integrated Approach to Reducing Post-Discharge Utilization	Nursing	Nursing, College of
Norman, Robert Shamia Hoque, Civil and Environmental Engineering Susan Richardson, Chemistry and Biochemistry	Temporal Dynamics of Antibiotic and Antibiotic Resistance Bacteria Emissions From Municipal Sewage	Environmental Health Sciences	Public Health, Arnold School of
Ortinski, Pavel Jeff Twiss, Biological Sciences Jill Turner, Drug Discovery and Biomedical Sciences Marlene Wilson, Pharmacology, Physiology, and Neurology	Identifying molecular substrates of motivation in health and disease	Pharmacology, Physiology & Neuroscience	Medicine, School of

2018 ASPIRE-III: Infrastructure recipients

Principal Investigator	Title	Department	College
Chruszcz, Maksymilian	Access to the 3rd generation synchrotron X-ray source through SER-CAT at the Advanced Photon Source. Renewal of membership	Chemistry & Biochemistry	Arts and Sciences, College of
Ellison, Phyllis	Wireless Physiological Sensors to Explore the Pathophysiology and the Effects of Innovative Treatments for Traumatic Stress, Head Injuries and Emotional Dysregulation in Military Veterans, Student Athletes and Adults with ADHD: Out of the Laboratory and into the Field	USC Aiken	USC Aiken
Frizzell, Norma	Acquisition of State-of-the-Art Nanospray Ion Sources to Expand the Proteomics Capabilities of the USC Mass Spectrometry Core	Pharmacology, Physiology & Neuroscience	Medicine, School of
Monnier, John	In situ high temperature and variable gas environment X-ray Diffractometer for study of effects of temperature and gas environment on stability of catalysts and other novel materials	Chemical Engineering	Engineering & Computing, College of
Montie, Eric	Building USCB Infrastructure for Marine Soundscape and Noise Pollution Research and Other Coastal Ecology and Conservation Programs	USC Beaufort - Academic Affairs	USC Beaufort
Price, Robert	Acquisition of HyVolution Super Resolution Microscope Upgrade for the Instrumentation Resource Facility Leica SP8 Confocal Microscope	Cell Biology & Anatomy	Medicine, School of
Ritchie, Kimberly	Acquisition of a Real-Time PCR machine for Natural Sciences and Biomedical Research Development	USC Beaufort - General	USC Beaufort

27 April 2018