Skip to Content (Press Enter)

Faculty and Staff Receive Nearly $9 Million in Grants, Contracts in Q1

Share This:

Cal State Fullerton faculty and staff received close to $9 million in funding during the first quarter of the university’s 2020-21 fiscal year. Supported projects ranged from developing a robotic aid system for blinded veterans and documenting the experiences of underrepresented women in California agriculture, to funding CSUF’s GEAR UP and Upward Bound programs.

Dawn Macy, director of the Center for Internships and Community Engagement: $1,780,840 in total funding

  • $951,132 from Tustin Unified School District for the “Titan After School Education and Safety ー TUSD” project
  • $724,996 from the Buena Park School District for “Titan After School Education and Safety ー Buena Park”
  • $104,712 from Jumpstart for Young Children, Inc. for Jumpstart 2020-21

Joshua Bilbrew, director of CSUF’s GEAR UP program: $1,116,440 from the U.S. Department of Education in support of Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP).

Diana Vasquez, director of CSUF Upward Bound: $728,821 in total from the U.S. Department of Education

  • $431,224 for “CSUF Upward Bound”
  • $297,597 in support of “CSUF Upward Bound North” 

David Chenot, professor of social work: $658,279 continuing award from the Health Resources and Service Administration for the Health Careers Opportunity Program.
Related: Program Helps Students See the Opportunities in Allied Health Care

Sadeeka Al-Majid, professor of nursing: $650,000 in first-year funding for a $3.25 million grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration for the project “Scholarships for Disadvantaged Students/Enriching Nursing Representation to Impact Community Health.”
Related: $3.25 Million Grant to Increase Pipeline of Nurses in Underserved Communities

Alyssa Hernandez, director of Educational Talent Search: continuation awards totaling $605,788 from the U.S. Department of Education 

  • $328,413 for the project “CSUF Talent Search ー Anaheim #1”
  • $277,375 for “CSUF Talent Search ー Anaheim #2”

Brady Heiner, associate professor of philosophy: $540,218 in total. He received $50,000 from the North Orange County Public Safety Task Force for the “Project Rebound House Initiative, CSUF Year 4” project, and $490,218 from the State of California

  • $323,495 for “Project Rebound ー CSUF Campus Program”
  • $110,436 for “Project Rebound ー John Irwin Memorial House”
  • $56,287 for “Project Rebound Consortium Administration”

Related: Boundless Opportunity: Project Rebound Opens Doors for the Formerly Incarcerated

Stephanie Vaughn, professor of nursing emeritus: $494,061 continuing grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration for the project titled “EMBRACE: Enrichment Markers of Better Relationship, Academics and Cultural Enhancement.”
Related: EMBRACE Promotes Cultural Sensitivity, Workforce Diversity in Nursing

Nicholas Brubaker, assistant professor of mathematics, and Wylie Ahmed, assistant professor of physics: $364,582 from the National Science Foundation for the project titled “RUI: Active Noise in the Dynamics of Self-Propelled Particles ー Stochastic Modeling and Experiments.”

Gina Passante, associate professor of physics: $347,901 from the National Science Foundation for the project titled “Collaborative Research: Connecting Spins-First Quantum Mechanics Instruction to Quantum Information Science.” 

Kelvin Billingsley, associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry: $319,500 in continuing funding from the National Institutes of Health for the project titled “Hyperpolarized 13C Probes for Imaging Warburg Metabolism in Cancer.”

Joshua Smith, professor of physics: $254,559 in total from the National Science Foundation

  • $159,934 for the project titled “MRI: Acquisition of a Cryogenic Testbed for Advancing Gravitational-Wave Observation Technology”
  • $94,625 continuing funding for the “RUI: Improving LIGO Optics and Data Quality to Increase the Rate and Accuracy of Gravitational-Wave Observations” project

Kiran George, professor of computer engineering: $199,211 from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for “Design and Development of a Teach-by-Showing Paradigm-Based Robotic Aid System for Blinded Veterans.”

Sara Johnson, professor of anthropology: $150,000 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the “U-ACRE Project: Broadening Opportunities for High Impact Service-Learning Experiences in Agroecological Research” project.
Related: Lessons From the Lowly Sweet Potato: U-ACRE Researchers Unearth Knowledge and Cultivate Sustainability

Adam Roberts, assistant professor of psychology: $110,985 from the National Institute of Health for the “Mapping Neural Connectivity in Zebrafish Larvae Using a Photoconvertible Protein” project.

Yinfei Kong, associate professor of information systems and decision sciences: $98,632 continuing award as part of a four-year National Institutes of Health grant for the project “Gender Disparities in Access and Engagement In Medication-Assisted Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder” in collaboration with the University of Chicago. 
Related: Titan Data Scientist to Study Gender Differences in Opioid Treatment

Geoffrey Lovelace, associate professor of physics: $84,668 continuing award from the National Science Foundation for the CAREER project titled “Computational Gravitational-Wave Science and Education.” 

Zair Ibragimov, professor of mathematics: two awards from University Enterprises, Inc., totaling $82,500 for “CSU-LSAMP 2018-2023.” The Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation is a program to increase disadvantaged students’ preparedness, persistence and retention in STEM programs.

Adriana Badillo, program director of the Center for Educational Partnerships: $76,621 continuation award from the City of Anaheim for the College Internship Program.

Jocelyn Read, assistant professor of physics: $67,213 from the National Science Foundation for “RUI: Dense Matter and Gravitational Waves: The Coalescence of Neutron Star Binaries.”

Michael Boytim, assistant director of the nurse anesthesia program: $44,630 from the Health Resources and Services Administration for the Nurse Anesthetist Traineeships project.
Related: Titans Test Use of Anesthesia Machines as Ventilators for COVID-19 Patients

Danielle Zacherl, professor of biological sciences: $33,304 from Orange County Coastkeepers for the project titled “Newport Bay Living Shorelines Project.”

Marcelo Tolmasky, professor of biological science: $24,659 from the San Diego State University Research Foundation for the San Diego-MHRT project.

Natalie Fousekis, professor of history: $24,580 from the U.S. Department of Interior, National Park Service for “Documenting the Experiences of Mexican, Filipina and Chicana Women in California Agriculture.”

Jessica Jaynes, assistant professor of mathematics and Valerie Poynor, assistant professor of mathematics: $19,812 from Los Angeles City College for the “STEM Pathways Program Summer Research 2020” project.

Robert Lockie, associate professor of kinesiology: $19,071 from the National Strength and Conditioning Association Foundation for the project titled “The Effects of Structured Strength and Conditioning Programs on Motor Skills, Movement Competency and Physical Fitness of High School Athletes.”

Jennifer Burnaford, professor of biological science: $16,238 continuing award from UC Santa Cruz for “Assessment of Rocky Intertidal habitats for the California Marine Protected Area Monitoring Program.”

Michael Groves, assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry: $16,005 in first-year funding of a three-year award from the American Chemical Society for the project titled “Calculating Reaction Barriers for Benzene Hydroxylation to Phenol Using Graphene Based Catalysts.”

Dorothy Woolum, professor emeritus of physics: $10,000 from the California Institute of Technology for the project titled “Genesis Samples.”

Do Kyeong Lee, assistant professor of kinesiology: $8,820 continuation award from New York University for the “Play and Learning Across a Year” project.

Bo Y. Park, assistant professor of public health: $8,000 from the University of Southern California for “Planning and Engaging in Advance Care for Health (PEACH).”

Contact: Karen Lindell, klindell@fullerton.edu