Health Science Center faculty awarded T3 funding

Texas A&M University recently awarded grants to more than 30 faculty members at the Texas A&M University Health Science Center for its T3, or Triads for Transformation, program. T3 provides funding to groups of three faculty members (the triads in T3’s name) to stimulate and support innovative interdisciplinary research.

“Texas A&M researchers working together have the imagination, vision and creativity to contribute significantly to solving many of the world’s most pressing challenges,” said Carol Fierke, PhD, provost and executive vice president at Texas A&M University. “We believe that this unique seed-grant program will prove to be a valuable resource by transcending academic boundaries and propelling our research initiatives in powerful new directions.”

T3 grants foster new research and scholarships by moving the best ideas from a vision to proof-of-concept. This program enables interdisciplinary teams to develop long-term research and scholarship collaborations.

Faculty members from across the Health Science Center are members of interdisciplinary triads that have received funding. They will work to accomplish the proposed projects and present their work thus far at the President’s Excellence Fund Symposium this fall.

“This is only the beginning,” said Mark A. Barteau, PhD, Texas A&M’s new vice president for research. “We look forward to the exciting discoveries, innovations and partnerships that these awards will catalyze.”

Read more about this year’s T3 Program here. A list of this year’s Health Science Center recipients include:

3D investigation of neuroskeletal interactions with a new tissue clearing technique

College of Dentistry: Hu Zhao, DDS, Assistant Professor

College of Medicine: Xu Peng, PhD, Associate Professor; Gregory, Carl A., PhD, Associate Professor

A unique liquid-spray dual-layer system for oral ulceration treatment

College of Dentistry: Xiahoua Liu, PhD, Assistant Professor; Cheng, Yi-Shing L, DDS, PhD, Professor

Achieving cross-cultural medication adherence in South Texas

College of Pharmacy: Michael J. Miller, RPH, DrPH, FAPhA, Associate Professor

Acute health effects of occupational exposure to nanoparticles on cardiopulmonary functions

School of Public Health: Xiaohui Xu, PhD, Associate Professor

At the intersection of health and place: barriers to health service utilization among men

School of Public Health: Matthew Smith, PhD, MPH, CHES, Adjunct Assistant Professor

Are microbes controlling criminal behavior

School of Public Health: Virender K. Sharma, PhD, Professor

Can emergency contraception prevent PTSD following sexual assault

College of Nursing: Nancy Downing, PhD, RN, SANE-A, Associate Professor

Developing a clinically relevant mouse model for translation research of migraines

College of Dentistry: Feng Tao, PhD Associate Professor; Chunlin Qin, PhD, DDS, Professor

College of Medicine: Koichi Kobayashi, MD, PhD, Professor

Developing a tool for measuring landscape performance on public health

School of Public Health: Jennifer A. Horney, PhD, MPH, CPH, Department Head/Associate Professor

Do blood substitutes alter the permeability of the blood brain barrier?

College of Medicine: Ashok Shetty, PhD, Professor

Exosomes as mechanistic model for developing drug resistance in prostate cancer patients

College of Pharmacy: Zakaria Elmageed, PhD, Assistant Professor; Srinath Palakurthi, PhD, Professor

Exploiting drosophila genetics to understand mosquito taste perception

College of Medicine: Hubert O. Amrein, PhD, Professor

EZH2 and endometrial cancer

College of Dentistry: Xiaofang Wang, BDS, MDS, PhD, Assistant Professor

Genetic testing: Views from pregnant Hispanic women

College of Nursing: Robin L. Page, PhD, RN, CNM, Assistant Professor; Nora Montalvo-Liendo, PhD, RN, FAAN, Assistant Professor

Genetically encoded photoscrosslinking techniques to profile the HDAC8 interactome

College of Medicine: Hongbin Wang, PhD

Health promotion through green and affordable housing

School of Public Health: Moudouni McMaughan Darcy K, PhD, Assistant Professor, Director

Hostile intent prediction based on Gaze movement trajectory in indoor navigation

School of Public Health: Gang Han, PhD, Associate Professor

Influence of genetic background on vascular function

College of Medicine: Emily Wilson, PhD, Professor

Interferon tau and arginine: a therapeutic combination for treating obesity and type 2 diabetes

School of Public Health: Dwele C. Tekwe, PhD, Assistant Professor

College of Medicine: Joseph M. Rutkowski, PhD, Assistant Professor

Impact of immigration enforcement on border health in Texas: A triangulated perspective

School of Public Health: Jane Bolin, BSN, JD, PhD, Professor

New trends bring new challenges: consumption of raw milk and the reemergence of brucellosis in the US

School of Public Health: Gilbert Ramirez, DrPH, MPH, CPH, Professor

College of Medicine: Allison R. Ficht, PhD, Regents Professor

Nanoemulsion-mediated delivery of citrus terpenoids for neuroprotection: A potential bioactive

College of Medicine: Doodipala S. Reddy, PhD, RPh, Professor

Novel dental self-restorative material

College of Dentistry: Lynne A. Opperman, PhD, FAAA, Regents Head and Professor

Opioid epidemic’s impact on older adults

School of Public Health: Marcia Ory, PhD, MPH, Associate Dean, Regents & Distinguished Professor

College of Pharmacy: Lixiang Zhong, PhD, Assistant Professor

Optogenetic tools for dissecting cell signaling in cancer metabolism synergy

College of Dentistry: Yongbo Lu, PhD, Assistant Professor

Patient-provider communication in the digital era

School of Public Health: Yan Hong, PhD, MS, associate professor

Podosome Biogenesis

College of Medicine: Andreea Trache, PhD, associate professor

Renal nanoparticle enhances lymphatic expansion and reduces hypertension

College of Medicine: Brett Mitchell, PhD, FAHA, Associate Professor

College of Pharmacy: Dongin Kim, PhD, Assistant Professor

Small molecule inhibitors of RAS SOS

College of Pharmacy: Hamed Alyismail, PhD, Assistant Professor

Smart Opiate-withdrawal symptoms (SOS) System

School of Public Health: Ranjana K. Mehta, PhD, MS, Assistant Professor

College of Pharmacy: Ayman K. Hamouda, BPharm, PhD, Assistant Professor

The global history of health project – oral health in iron age populations from northern China

College of Dentistry: Qian Wang, PhD Associate Professor

The impact of preconception male alcohol exposure on postnatal growth and metabolic programming

College of Medicine: Rajesh C. Miranda, PhD, Professor

The mechanistic characterization of peptide Lv on angiogenesis and vascular physiology

College of Medicine: Lih Kuo, PhD, Professor; Travis W. Hein, PhD, Professor

Tracking the source of contaminant lead in children’s blood as a means for environmental remediation

School of Public Health: Leslie H. Cizmas, PhD, Assistant Professor; Han Daikwon, PhD, Associate Professor

Using global yeast genetic profiling to uncover eukaryotic targets of bacterial virulence factors

College of Medicine: Robert O.Watson, PhD, MPH, Assistant Professor; James E. Samuel, PhD, Regents Professor