Skip to main content

From NSF to Industry, SLU Faculty Are Tapped to Lead Groundbreaking Research   

This Fall, SLU Researchers Have Received Numerous Grants and Awards

In recent weeks, Saint Louis University researchers have received grants and awards from federal agencies, industry partners, and philanthropic organizations to further innovative research in medicine, science, and the humanities.

As a Carnegie Foundation R1 research university, the highest classification that universities can attain for research activity, SLU is part of an elite group of fewer than 190 universities nationwide. The University’s prestigious research distinction reflects not only its commitment to groundbreaking discovery but also its ongoing commitment to excellence in teaching, carrying forward the Jesuits’ rich tradition of intellectual rigor and scientific inquiry.

Researchers’ grant funding reflects deep expertise in their fields, strong research vision and the confidence of grant-awarding organizations.

“I’m extremely proud of our SLU researchers,” said Ellen Barnidge, Ph.D., interim vice president for research at SLU. “Our most recent grants will support research with the potential to positively impact society and improve lives in so many ways, with areas of inquiry that span quantum dynamics to antibiotic resistance to human trafficking.

“These researchers are advancing SLU’s trajectory of research excellence, continuing to place us in elite company. More importantly, they are living SLU’s mission.”

Fall 2025 Research Grants and Awards

This news story will be updated throughout the fall semester and will run in Newslink at the end of the term. Individual grants will be shared in Newslink throughout the semester.

College of Arts and Sciences

Wenyan Xiao, Ph.D.
  • Principal Investigator
  • Wenyan Xiao, Ph.D.
  • professor of biology
  • Grant: $385,000 from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences
  • Study: To understand the function and mechanism of epigenetic regulation in plant and mammalian growth and development
Dapeng Zhang, Ph.D.
  • Principal Investigator
  • Dapeng Zhang, Ph.D.
  • associate professor of biology
  • Grant: $416,625 from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
  • Study: To develop machine learning–based bioinformatics methods and resources for the systematic genome mining and analysis of highly divergent, rapidly evolving molecular systems in bacteria that mediate interactions among bacteria, with phages, and with diverse eukaryotic hosts.

College for Public Health and Social Justice

SLU Logo
  • Principal Investigator
  • Rene Dulle
  • director of the Center for Environmental Education and Training
  • Grant: $500,000 from the Environmental Protection Agency
  • Study: To provide unemployed and underemployed residents of the St. Louis Metro area job training for critical environmental fields.   
Leslie McClure, Ph.D.
  • Principal Investigator
  • Leslie McClure, Ph.D.
  • dean of the College for Public Health and Social Justice and professor of epidemiology and biostatistics
  • Grant: $320,865 from the Department of Defense via Drexel University
  • Study: To understand how tele-health-administered exercise can promote movement in people who have experienced spinal cord injuries.

School of Education

Collin Hitt, Ph.D.
  • Principal Investigator
  • Collin Hitt, Ph.D.
  • executive director of the PRiME Center in the School of Education
  • Grant: $1,297,375 from the Walton Family Foundation
  • Study: To fund the operations of the PRiME Center, translating education research into briefs, publications and meetings to provide to teachers and policymakers
Collin Hitt, Ph.D.
  • Principal Investigator
  • Collin Hitt, Ph.D.
  • executive director of the PRiME Center in the School of Education
  • Grant: $426,776 from the State of Missouri
  • Study: To provide research and data support to the Office of the Treasurer for the MO Scholars program

School of Medicine

Edwin Antony, Ph.D.
  • Principal Investigator
  • Edwin Antony, Ph.D.
  • professor of biochemistry and molecular biology
  • Grant: $2,515,361 from the National Cancer Institute
  • Study: Research focuses on uncovering the mechanisms of action of proteins like BRCA2 and RAD52 that function to protect genomic integrity.
Kyle McCommis, Ph.D.
  • Principal Investigator
  • Kyle McCommis, Ph.D.
  • assistant professor of biochemistry and molecular biology
  • Grant: $1,925,000 from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences
  • Study: To uncover the molecular mechanisms that govern the mitochondrial pyruvate carrier protein complex, a key protein that researchers believe may hold answers to treating diabetes, fatty liver disease, cancers and neurodegeneration
John Walker, Ph.D.
  • Principal Investigator
  • John Walker, Ph.D.
  • associate professor of pharmacology and physiology and chemistry
  • Grant: $1,481,420 from the National Institute of Health via the University of Oklahoma
  • Study: To develop new tools and resources to facilitate the development of new antibiotics that are effective against Gram-negative bacteria, which cause infections that are difficult to treat and can lead to drug resistance.   

School of Science and Engineering

Nan Cen, Ph.D.
  • Principal Investigator
  • Nan Cen, Ph.D.
  • assistant professor of computer science
  • Grant: $199,976 from the National Science Foundation
  • Study: To develop an AI-defined integrated sensing and communication based underwater optical networking system to enable next-generation wireless communication
Flavio Esposito, Ph.D.
  • Principal Investigator
  • Flavio Esposito, Ph.D
  • associate professor of computer science
  • Grant: $900,000 from the National Science Foundation, in collaboration with Northeastern University.
  • Study: The project links SLU and Northeastern's programmable wireless labs to safely stress-test the AI that helps run next-generation open radio (O-RAN) cellular networks. By simulating realistic attacks and failures, the team will spot risky behavior before and after systems go live, and develop ways to remove tainted data or faulty logic without having to retrain the AI from scratch
Jie Hou, Ph.D.
  • Principal Investigator
  • Jie Hou, Ph.D.
  • associate professor of computer science
  • Grant: $555,000 from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, in collaboration with Brent Znosko, Ph.D., professor of chemistry
  • Study:  To develop better tools for predicting the structures that RNA molecules form by studying their stability and common structural patterns, which could help scientists better understand how RNA works and how it can be used in medicine.
Malkanthi Karunananda, Ph.D.
  • Principal Investigator
  • Malkanthi Karunananda, Ph.D.
  • assistant professor in chemistry
  • Grant: $556,651 from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences
  • Study: To develop multimetallic photosensitizers with earth-abundant metals to complement the reactivity of noble metal photosensitizers to aid in drug development and photodynamic therapies aimed at reducing illness.
R. Scott Martin, Ph.D.
  • Principal Investigator
  • R. Scott Martin, Ph.D.
  • professor of chemistry
  • Grant: $535,733 from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Strokes, in collaboration with Michigan State University and Texas A&M Universit
  • Study: To develop enhanced analytical measurement tools that can be applied to the study the factors influencing the onset of Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
Sahin Ozdemir, Ph.D.
  • Principal Investigator
  • Sahin Ozdemir, Ph.D. 
  • professor of electrical and computer engineering 
  • Grant: $1,399,277 from the U.S. Army Reserve Office, via Michigan Technological University
  • Study: To develop mid-IR single photon sources and detectors that measure the number of photons in a quantum light without destroying the photons
Alex Reiter, Ph.D.
  • Principal Investigator
  • Alex Reiter, Ph.D.
  • assistant professor of biomedical engineering
  • Grant: $1.5 million from the U.S. Department of Defense
  • Study: To use wearable sensors to better understand tendon loading during recovery from injury and inform future treatment plans
Abby Stylianou, Ph.D.
  • Principal Investigator
  • Abby Stylianou, Ph.D..
  • associate professor of computer science
  • Grant: $599,998 from the National Science Foundation
  • Study: NSF CAREER Award to make image search systems more intuitive, guided by how humans recognize visual detail. These advances will strengthen TraffickCam, a tool created by Stylianou to support the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in identifying locations linked to human trafficking and child sexual abuse
Vasit Sagan, Ph.D
  • Principal Investigator
  • Vasit Sagan, Ph.D.
  • professor of geospatial science
  • Grant: $500,000 from the National Science Foundation, in collaboration with The Ohio State University and Purdue University
  • Study: To create the Center for Accurate Georeferencing of the Environment (CAGE) to assign accurate real-world geographic coordinates to digital spatial data
Brent Znosko, Ph.D.
  • Principal Investigator
  • Brent Znosko, Ph.D.
  • professor of chemistry
  • Grant: $555,000 from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, in collaboration with  Jie Hou, Ph.D., associate professor of computer science
  • Study:  To develop better tools for predicting the structures that RNA molecules form by studying their stability and common structural patterns, which could help scientists better understand how RNA works and how it can be used in medicine.

Written by the public relations and internal communications staff in the Division of Marketing and Communications, with grant and award information provided by the Office of the Vice President for Research. Do you have a recent grant you’d like to share with the SLU community? Reach out to newslink@slu.edu to let us know.