Selective Externally Funded Research

The School of Data Science’s portfolio of funded research is extremely dynamic. Since our establishment in 2020, SDS’s funding for research has averaged more than 15 million dollars.

  • Scott Tonidandel,  2024-2027, US. Army Research Institute, “Enhancing leader and team effectiveness in an online environment”, $675,000
  • George Banks, WenWen Dou, Janaki Gooty, Scott Tonidandel, 2024-2025, National Science Foundation, “Leading and following with emotion: An investigation of emotional expressions in virtual meetings”, $149,746
  • Rajib Paul, Dongsong Zhang, Lina Zhou, 2024-2025, American Public Health Association and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Classification and Nowcasting of Homicide Using Natural Language Processing and Machine Learning Techniques”, $167,365.00 
  • George Banks, WenWen Dou, Eric Heggestad, Scott Tonidandel, 2024, Army Research Institute, “Enhancing leader and team effectiveness in an online environment”, $692,881
  • Michael Schuckers, 2024, Mathematical Association of America Tensor Women & Mathematics Grants, “Inspiring College Math Study and Careers in Northern NY, $6,000
  • Shreyes Melkote, David Rosen, Gaurav Ameta, Matthew Gombolay, Mahmoud Dinar, 2022-2024, National Science Foundation “FMRG: Manufacturing USA: Cyber: Data-Driven Methods for Future Cyber Manufacturing as a Service”, $3,000,000
  • Minwoo Lee, 2023-2026, National Science Foundation, “Collaborative Research: MoDL: Graph-Optimized Cellular Connectionism via Artificial Neural Networks for Data-Driven Modeling and Optimization of Complex Systems”, $499,993
  • Yinghao Pan, 2023-2025, National Science Foundation, “LEAPS-MPS: Flexible Semiparametric Transformation Models with Applications to Personalized Medicine” $229,710
  • Bao-Hua Song, Sixue Chen, 2023-2028, National Science Foundation, “RESEARCH-PGR: Uncover new molecular mechanisms of cyst nematode resistance in wild soybean with systems biology and genome editing”  $2,816,109
  • Lina Zhou, Dongsong Zhang, 2022-2024, North Carolina Partnership for Cybersecurity Excellence, “Spear Fishing Detection Training with Gamification, Behavior, and Inclusiveness Design” $100,000
  • Michael Schuckers, 2022, National Science Foundation, “SCORE with Data: Building a sustainable national network for developing and disseminating Sports Content for Outreach, Research, and Education in data science”, $1,100,000
  • Michael Schuckers, 2022,  Center for Identification Technology Research, Evaluation of Equity in Remote Identity Proofing Solutions” $50,000
  • Bao-Hua Song, 2022-2025, NIH (NICIH), “Unraveling molecular basis of phytochemical accumulation toward improved human health”, ($446,364
  • Victor Z. Chen, 2022, HEI Private Scholarship, “Global tech launch”, $80,000
  • Gabriel Terejanu, Siddharth Krishnan, Shannon Reid, 2022-2024, Army Research Office, “Characterizing Online Right-Wing Radicalization through Social Media”, $480,000
  • Mona Azarbayjani, Hamed Tablkhi, 2022-2023, National Science Foudation, “STTR Phase I: Camera-Based Multimodal AI for Health Monitoring”, $255,992
  • Victor Z. Chen, Wenwen Dou, David Woehr, Wlodke Zadrozny, 2022-2023, National Science Foundation, “PFI-TT: Artificial Intelligence System for Enterprise Performance Management that Integrates Causal”, $250,000
  • Catrine Tudor-Locke, Laura Gunn, 2022-2027, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, “The SKyRoCKeT Study: Surface-Knit and Reformulate CADENCE-Kids for Translation”, $2,896,873
  • Shan Yan, 2022-2027, National Institutes for Health/National Cancer Institute, “Stimuli-responsive mucin1-specific nanoparticles for efficacious combinatorial chemotherapy of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma”, $2,072,993
  • Shan Yan, 2022-2023, North Carolina Biotechnology Center, “Charlotte Biology and Biotechnology Exchange Group”, $4,500
  • Wenwu Tang, Wei Fan, Eric Delmelle, Shen-En Chen, 2021-2023, North Carolina Department of Transportation, “Geo-FRIT: A web-based geospatial analytics tool for quantifying freight risk and resilience in transportation”, $323,065
  • Shan Yan, 2021-2023, National Institutes of Health/ National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, “ATM activation by DNA single-strand breaks” $415,250
  • Shan Yan, 2021-2026, Cleveland Clinic/National Institutes of Health “New mouse model of cisplatin-induced AKI and development of prevention therapy”, $384,341
  • Wenwen Dou, 2021-2022, National Science Foundation, “FW-HTF-P: Collaborative Research: Innovating the Development of Future Leaders with Artificial Intelligence”, $114,096
  • Wenwen Dou, 2021-2021, National Science Foundation, ”Knowledge Graph-Embeddings based Explainable Artificial Intelligence for Enterprise Performance Management”, $50,000
  • Wenwen Dou, 2021-2022, British Academy, “Mapping and visualising intersections of social inequalities, community mistrust, and vaccine hesitancy in online and physical spaces in the UK and US”, $55,000
  • Scott Tonidandel, 2021-2022, National Science Foundation, “Collaborative Research: Artificial Intelligence-Supported Development of Future Organizational Leaders”, $114,000
  • Victor Z. Chen, 2021-2022, IMA Research Foundation, “Text-to-Graph Machine Reading”, $5,000
  • Leila Hajibabai, 2020-2022, North Carolina State University Office of Research Innovation and Economic Development, “NCHRP 13-06A Guide for the Formulation of Long-Range Plans and Budgets for Replacement of Highway Operations Equipment,” $34,997
  • Frederico Batista Pereira, 2020-2021, Facebook Research, “Political Elites and the Appeal of Fake News in Brazil,” $74,970
  • Shi Chen, 2020-2021, NCBC, “An Interpretable Multimodal Data Mining and Machine Learning Pipeline for COVID-19 Clinical Stage Diagnosis Decision Support,” $19,203
  • Jose Franck Diaz (Garelli) Vasquez, 2020-2021, Wake Forest University, “Leveraging Complex Systems Modeling Techniques to Increase Data Reliability and Secondary Data Analysis Trustworthiness in our Academic Learning Healthcare System,” $109,541
  • Mike Dulin, 2020-2021, Mecklenburg County Health Department, “Academy for Population Health Operational Funding,” $276,980
  • Mike Dulin, 2020-2021, Carolinas Healthcare System, “Implementing Best Practice Care for Sepsis Survivors to Reduce Morbidity and Mortality,” $36,165
  • Mike Dulin, 2020-2020, Mecklenburg County Health Department, “Strategic Partnerships & Planning to Support Ending the HIV Epidemic in the U.S.,” $21,129
  • Mike Dulin, 2020-2022, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, “Health Policy Training to Address Inequalities Driven by Artificial Intelligence and Climate Change,” $165,000
  • Travis Hales, 2020-2021, Mecklenburg County Health Dept., “Academy for Population Health Operational Funding,” $276,980
  • Gordon Hull, 2020-2021, NCBC, “Models for Equitable Minority Inclusion in Institutional Research,” $3,400
  • Jake Minwoo Lee, 2020-2023, NSF, “MLWINS: Democratizing AI through Multi-Hop Federated Learning Over the Air,” $446,667
  • Jake Minwoo Lee, 2020-2023, Intel Corp., “MLWINS: Democratizing AI through Multi-Hop Federated Learning Over the Air,” $74,444
  • Matthew Phillips, 2020-2021, Office of the Director of National Intelligence, “UNC Charlotte Intelligence Community Center of Academic Excellence,” $297,532
  • Matthew Phillips, 2020-2023, NSF, “REU Site: UNC Charlotte Crime Analytics – Research Experiences for Undergraduates,” $313,025
  • Beth Racine, 2020-2021, DHHS/HRSA, “Charlotte Regional Integrated Behavioral Health Scholars,” $451,482
  • Beth Racine, 2020-2021, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, “Developing and Implementing Healthy Food Guidelines for UNC Charlotte Fast Food Vendors,” $50,000
  • Beth Racine, 2020-2021, Cabarrus Partnership for Children, “Building Healthy Lifestyles from All Directions,” $104,035
  • Beth Racine, 2020-2021, Cabarrus Health Alliance, “Improving Access and Healthier Food Choices through Daycare Take Home Dinners,” $60,638
  • Zbigniew (Zbyszek) Ras, 2020-2021, Department of Education, “CIS GAANN Fellows,” $302,220.00
  • Shannon Reid, 2020-2023, National Science Foundation, “REU Site: UNC Charlotte Crime Analytics – Research Experiences for Undergraduates,” $313,025
  • Samira Shaikh, 2020-2022, Department of Defense DA (Army Research Office), “What Feeds Firestorms of Emotion? Emotion Regulation, Emotion Contagion, and Collective Behavior in Socio-Political Events,” $3,900
  • Samira Shaikh, 2020-2021, Department of Defense DN (Office of Naval Research), “Engaging Future Generation War Fighters and Civilians in Research to understand Cyber and Electronic Warfare, Cyber Defense, and Data Driven Modeling Tools,” $150,000
  • Yanqing Sun, 2020-2021, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, “Statistical Methods for Efficacy Trials of Vaccines and Monoclonal Antibodies Against Genetically-Diverse Pathogens,” $99,997
  • Wenwu Tang, 2020-2021, North Carolina State University Water Resources Research Institute, “GastonWaterMap: A webGIS to inform private well owners in Gaston County of groundwater quality,” $60,000
  • Wenwu Tang, 2020-2021, Electric Power Research Institute, “Subgrade Corrosion Mapping of Steel, Zinc, and Copper in the United States,” $46,254
  • Jean-Claude Thill, 2020, Department of Education, “Solution for Curbside-Charging Electric Vehicles for Planned Urban Growth,” $354,380
  • Michael Thompson, 2020-2021, Mecklenburg County Health Department, “Academy for Population Health Operational Funding,” $276,980
  • Jim Walsh, 2020-2021, Office of the Director of National Intelligence, “UNC Charlotte Intelligence Community Center of Academic Excellence,” $297,532
  • Chris Blanchette, 2020-2021, Carolinas Healthcare System, “Implementing Best Practice Care for Sepsis Survivors to Reduce Morbidity and Mortality,” $36,165
  • Victor Chen, 2020, National Science Foundation, “Knowledge Graph Embeddings-based Explainable Artificial Intelligence for Enterprise Performance Management,” $50,000
  • Franck Diaz-Garelli, 2020-2021, NHLBI PRIDE, “Quantifying the Impact of Electronic Health Record Data Quality and Bias to Support Reliable Personalized CVD Risk Prediction for Patients with Diabetes,” $10,800
  • Franck Diaz-Garelli, 2020-2021, UNC Charlotte Faculty Research Grant Pilot Award, “Uncovering Sources and Diffusion Mechanisms of Accurate Information in Electronic Health Records to Support Learning Healthcare and Population Health Research,” $7,812
  • Franck Diaz-Garelli, 2020-2024, National Institutes of Health/National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, “Leveraging Complex Systems Modeling Techniques to Increase Data Reliability and Secondary Data Analysis Trustworthiness in Our Academic Learning Health System,” $462,086
  • Mary Lou Maher, 2019-2022, National Science Foundation, “CHS: SMALL: Promoting Unexpected Information Discovery: An Interactive Framework for Computational Serendipity,” $197,416
  • Tianca Crocker, 2019-2020, Mecklenburg County Dept of Social Services, “SHIP at Hampton Creste Program Evaluation,” $25,000
  • Tianca Crocker, 2019-2020, Inlivian, “SHIP at Hampton Creste Program Evaluation,” $12,500
  • Tianca Crocker, 2019-2020, Salvation Army of Greater Charlotte, “SHIP at Hampton Creste Program Evaluation,” $5,000
  • Liyue Fan, 2019-2021, National Science Foundation, “EAGER: SaTC: Early Stage Interdisciplinary Collaboration: Privacy-Preserving Mobile Data Collection for Social and Behavioral Research,” $315,997
  • Xi (Sunshine) Niu, 2019-2021, University of North Carolina System Office, “Funds to Finish Index and Intervention: Identifying Students with Financial and Academic Planning Risk and Intervening to Promote Timely Graduation,” $215,000
  • Xi (Sunshine) Niu, 2019-2022, National Science Foundation, “CHS: SMALL: Promoting Unexpected Information Discovery: An Interactive Framework for Computational Serendipity,” $197,416
  • Rajib Paul, 2019-2022, National Athletic Trainers’ Association, “External versus Internal Feedback on Biomechanics and Self-Reported Function in Patients with Chronic Ankle Instability,” $57,458
  • Samira Shaikh, 2019-2022, Department of Defense DA (Army Research Office), “What Feeds Firestorms of Emotion? Emotion Regulation, Emotion Contagion, and Collective Behavior in Socio-Political Events,” $5,700
  • Yanqing Sun, 2019-2022, National Science Foundation, “Dynamic Modeling of Recurrent Events and its Applications,” $139,868
  • Jean-Claude Thill, 2019-2021, North Carolina State University, “Economic Impacts of Transit Investments, Social Challenges, and Strategies for Sustaining High Ridership,” $127,856
  • Wlodek Zadrozny, 2019-2022, Department of Defense DA (Army Research Office), “What Feeds Firestorms of Emotion? Emotion Regulation, Emotion Contagion, and Collective Behavior in Socio-Political Events,” $5,700
  • Mirsad Hadzikadic, 2018-2022, National Science Foundation, “Phase II IUCRC UNC Charlotte Site: Center for Visual and Decision Informatics (CVDI),” $301,670
  • Mary Lou Maher, 2018-2021, National Science Foundation, “Broadening Participation with the STEM Ecosystem: Developing a Scalable Model Using an RPP Approach,” $502,822
  • Wlodek Zadrozny, 2018-2021, Department of Defense DA (Army Research Office), “What Feeds Firestorms of Emotion? Emotion Regulation, Emotion Contagion, and Collective Behavior in Socio-Political Events,” $598,680
  • Wenwen Dou, 2018-2022, National Science Foundation, “Phase II IUCRC UNC Charlotte Site: Center for Visual and Decision Informatics (CVDI),” $355,796
  • Mike Dulin, 2018-2022, National Science Foundation, “Phase II IUCRC UNC Charlotte Site: Center for Visual and Decision Informatics (CVDI),” $301,670
  • Travis Hales, 2018-2020, Mecklenburg County Criminal Justice Services, “The Mecklenburg Opioid System Response Plan,” $107,321
  • Zbigniew (Zbyszek) Ras, 2018-2022, National Science Foundation, “Phase II IUCRC UNC Charlotte Site: Center for Visual and Decision Informatics (CVDI),” $301,670
  • Shannon Reid, 2018-2022, National Science Foundation Computer and Information Science and Engineering, “SCC: Building Safe and Secure Communities Through Realtime Edge Video Analytics,” $1,897,466
  • Samira Shaikh, 2018-2021, Department of Defense DA (Army Research Office), “What Feeds Firestorms of Emotion? Emotion Regulation, Emotion Contagion, and Collective Behavior in Socio-Political Events,” $598,680
  • Wenwu Tang, 2018-2021, North Carolina Department of Transportation, “DeepHyd: A Deep Learning-Based Artificial Intelligence Approach for the Automated Classification of Hydraulic Structures from LIDAR and Sonar Data,” $398,189
  • Jean-Claude Thill, 2018-2022, National Science Foundation, “Phase II IUCRC UNC Charlotte Site: Center for Visual and Decision Informatics (CVDI),” $301,670
  • Jean-Claude Thill, 2018-2021, Department of Defense, “Displace, Return and Reconstruct: Population Movement and Resilience to Instability,” $1,343,907
  • Jim Walsh, 2018-2021, Department of Defense, “Displace, Return and Reconstruct: Population Movement and Resilience to Instability,” $1,343,907
  • David Casey Wilson, 2018-2021, National Science Foundation, “REU Site: Making Future Communities: Infrastructure and Interaction Design for Cyber-Physical Systems,” $332,997
  • Dongsong Zhang, 2017-2021, National Science Foundation, “SaTC: CORE: Medium: Implicit One-handed Mobile User Authentication by Induced Thumb Biometrics on Touch-screen Handheld Device,” $718,185
  • Lina Zhou, 2017-2021, National Science Foundation, “SaTC: CORE: Medium: Implicit One-handed Mobile User Authentication by Induced Thumb Biometrics on Touch-screen Handheld Device,” $718,185
  • Shannon Reid, 2016-2021, Department of Justice Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, “Evaluating TARGET Trauma-informed Juvenile Program in Community Corrections,” $493,488
  • Franck Diaz-Garelli, 2010-2023, National Institutes of Health/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, “Pride Summer Institute in Cardiovascular Disease Comorbidities, Genetics and Epidemiology,” $466,309