Discovery Fund awards support multidisciplinary research

Researchers Jennifer Brier (from left), Julie Flohr and Matthew Wizinsky are among winners of awards from the Chancellor’s Discovery Fund. Photo: Jenny Fontaine/UIC Public Affairs

Proposals from five research teams were selected from among 33 applications to receive awards from the Chancellor’s Discovery Fund for Multidisciplinary Research, which supports new multidisciplinary collaborations by emerging researchers.

The teams and their projects are:

• Jennifer Brier, associate professor of gender and women’s studies, Julie Flohr, clinical assistant professor of architecture, and Matthew Wizinsky, information architect at the Innovation Center – “History Moves: How to Design a Community-Engaged Public History Project on Wheels”

• Sriram Ravindran, research assistant professor of oral biology, Jun Cheng, assistant professor of bioengineering, and Yong Wang, assistant professor of surgery –“Biomimetic Tissue Engineering to Improve Life and Functionality of Transplanted Islets”

• Michelle Kominiarek, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology, Pauline Maki, professor of psychiatry, and Leah Rubin, assistant professor of psychiatry – “Enhancing Perinatal Mental Health: A Feasibility Study of a Collaborative, Translational Research Approach”

• Ursula Perez-Salas, assistant professor of physics, and Mark Rasenick, professor of physiology and biophysics – “Action Mechanism of Antidepressants: Probing Their Effect on Artificial Neural Membranes”

• Mansha Mirza, assistant professor of occupational therapy, Hui-Ching Chang, associate professor of communication, and Dina Birman, associate professor of psychology – “Lost in Translation: Role of Language Translators in Cross-Cultural Substance Abuse Communication with Refugee Communities.”