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Research Launch Award invests in new faculty researchers

Research Launch Award invests in new faculty researchers

Findings Staff Report | Aug. 11, 2020

The UC Office of Research is here to support its researchers from day one, and not just with professional development and networking opportunities but with financial support, as well. 

That’s why, in 2018, the office created the Research Launch Award for first-year full-time faculty. Each researcher can get $2,500 for attending at least 10 OoR Professional Development Series events and $3,500 for attending at least six and serving as an internal reviewer for the Office of Research. 
Last academic year, 15 new faculty completed the requirements. They’re from all across campus. Meet them!
Matthew Bayliss

Matthew Bayliss
Assistant Professor, Department of Physics, College of Arts and Sciences
“My scientific expertise is in observational cosmology and extra-galactic astrophysics with samples of distant galaxies. All of my interactions with Office of Research personnel were excellent, and it was always clear to me that they are dedicated to giving me the tools and information that I need to succeed as a researcher at UC.”

Elizabeth Berryman

Elizabeth Berryman
Assistant Professor, Pharmacy Practice and Administrative Sciences, College of Pharmacy
“As a clinical track faculty member, my research focuses on innovative models of pharmacy practice to promote population health. The Research Launch Award provided me the opportunity to develop my understanding of research within the University of Cincinnati. The educational sessions covered a wide variety of topics that I can apply both immediately and down the road in my research journey.”

Daniel Cuppoletti

Daniel Cuppoletti
Assistant Professor, Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics, College of Engineering and Applied Science
“The objective of my research program is to advance and disseminate knowledge in the area of fluid dynamics and aeroacoustics related to the next-generation of aerospace propulsion systems. The Research Launch Award will contribute towards the initial startup of my experimental laboratory.”

Vincent Fong

Vincent Fong
Assistant Professor, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism, College of Medicine
“My research goals are to elucidate the relationship between bone and fat metabolism. Specific projects include investigating the mechanisms underlying the glucocorticoid induced osteoporosis and obesity, and the role of different sterols in bone development. The faculty development workshops that I attended as part of the Research Launch Award will help my research because many were focused around grant writing and grant budgets, which are necessary for a successful research career.”

Eva Fried

Eva Fried
Assistant Professor, Nurse-Midwifery Program Director, College of Nursing
“In my first year as a program director, one of the opportunities I am faced with (in response to the pandemic) is reimagining an on-campus skills intensive for nurse-midwifery students into a synchronous distance delivery format. My team is in the beginning stages of considering what tools and resources the students will need to have on hand with them and what resources faculty will need in content delivery. The Research Launch Award funds will assist us in acquiring these items.”

Yong-Gyun Ghim

Yong-Gyun Ghim
Assistant Professor, School of Design, College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning
“My research and creativity activities are focused on human-centered design in robotic and intelligent products. Through the past RDSS events, I have acquired a great amount of knowledge and understanding of research. Those events also helped me find collaboration, that eventually enabled me to be funded with Collaborative Research Advancement Grants.”

Beverly Hittle

Beverly Hittle
Assistant Professor, College of Nursing
“My research is focused on sleep and shift work, particularly with nurses in the acute healthcare setting. I am interested in understanding how we can shift the healthcare industry to view sleep as an important safety measure to control, as well as what interventions work best to mitigate sleepiness and fatigue in around‐the-clock healthcare settings. Initially, The Research Launch Award provided an incentive to attend the events, but after attending the first few, the value was clear and signing up for future courses became a priority.”

Liz Hobson

Elizabeth Hobson
Assistant Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences
“Research in the Hobson Lab focuses on social information: what animals know about their social worlds, how they come to know it, and what they do with that information. To address these questions, we integrate aspects of ecology and evolution to determine how the combination of sociality and cognition affect the emergence of group social structures. The professional development training that I received this year has helped me be strategic in thinking about how to effectively start my research group and mentor new lab members, how to recruit, and how to think about turning ideas into strong research proposals.”

Donghoon Kim

Donghoon Kim
Assistant Professor, Aerospace Engineering & Engineering Mechanics, College of Engineering and Applied Science
“My research objective is to support the research area of autonomous systems that include ground, aerial, space, and the combination thereof operations in an intelligent manner. Specifically, the space system is the primary interest of my research and a unique ground platform will be designed and developed to simulate space system operations and validate the intelligent operation methodologies that are under development. The Research Launch Award and the events I attended will help to build a network for near-future research collaboration and publish research accomplishments.”

Daniel Kiracofe

Daniel Kiracofe 
Assistant Professor Educator, Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering and Applied Science
“Broadly speaking, my interest is mechanical vibration and dynamics. I’ve worked on several different application areas over the years. One main focus is Atomic Force Microscopy. As the name implies it is a type of microscope, but instead of looking at a sample, you literally feel it with a tiny vibrating probe. The most helpful event was the session about budgeting. I actually just finished my first NSF proposal and knowing all the ins and outs of the budget spreadsheet and process saved me a lot of time, which I spent instead on writing up the technical part of the proposal.”

Rachel Nolan

Rachel Nolan
Assistant Professor, Public Health Sciences Division, Department of Environmental and Public Health Sciences, College of Medicine
“As a population health specialist and public health prevention science researcher, the goal of my research is to understand the unique social determinants of well-being (e.g. grief) experienced by underserved and medically disadvantaged communities, older adults, LGBTQ* folk, and the differently-abled. Being an early investigator who moved to the Greater Cincinnati area within the last year, the Research Launch Award and the OoR events that I have attended have helped to further my research by: offering opportunities to network and identify future collaborators; to know what research supports are available within UC and the greater SW Ohio/KY area; to better understand UC research infrastructure and compliance systems; as well as identify more ways to have fun and learn something new at work.”

Emma Palmer

Emma Palmer
Associate Professor, Pharmacy Practice and Administration Sciences, College of Pharmacy
“My areas of interest focus around the practice of psychiatric pharmacy and the scholarship of teaching and learning. The Research Launch Award provided much-needed education and guidance on improving the overall research process. Budgeting, developing reproducible research methods, and navigating through the various research and grant related resources were important and useful sessions that I enjoyed attending and will utilize in my future endeavors to improve efficiency and quality of my research.”

Carrie Rountrey

Carrie Rountrey
Assistant Professor, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, College of Allied Health Sciences
“The overarching goal of my research is to inform current clinical practice with immediately applicable research that demonstrates how to efficiently and effectively quantify intelligibility via acoustic correlates of speech intelligibility. The great workshops and activities have been quite valuable for me as a new member of the UC community. As a result, I have submitted one NIH grant application and two pre-applications for national funding.”

Stacey Schutte

Stacey Schutte
Assistant Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering and Applied Science 
“My research program is focused on engineering of soft tissues both for replacement and for use as model systems for studying disease. The events that I attended in order to receive the Research Launch Award were very helpful to improve my grant writing skills and to help me understand the support that is available at UC.”

Gregory Winger

Gregory Winger
Assistant Professor, Political Science Department, College of Arts and Sciences
“My research examines cyber security as an emerging facet of international security. Conflict has long been a prominent feature of international relations, but the growth of information technology as a critical component of modern society has introduced a bevy of new challenges including attacks on critical infrastructure, protracted economic espionage, and information warfare waged via social media. With the support of the Office of Research, I will immediately be able to begin working on two research projects examining the link between terrorism and cyber conflict as well as a larger project on how small states have adapted to the challenges of cybersecurity.”

For more information on the Research Development & Support Series contact Teri Reed, reedtk@ucmail.uc.edu