Grants | 2025

Grants received by Ƶ faculty and staff during the 2024-2025 academic year


Dr. Robert N Agnello

Assistant Professor
Family Medicine/Family Medicine
Jerry M. Wallace School of Osteopathic Medicine 

Status Quo Award

Awarded the Status Quo Award from Ƶ (with Leslie Chao, MPH and David Tillman, PhD, MEd, MPH) to support the following:

  • Enhance naloxone awareness, training, and accessibility within the Ƶ community. The initiative aims to equip students, employees, and faculty with knowledge and resources to recognize and respond to opioid overdoses, ultimately reducing opioid-related mortality.

R. Brian Bowman 

Assistant Professor of Communication Studies 
College of Arts & Sciences 

  • $10,000 In-kind donation of professional studio lights, monitors and other production gear from WTVD ABC-11 News, Raleigh-Durham, NC.

Sharon Boyd

Instructor of Nursing 
College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences 

Funded Grant 

  • Awarded a research grant from Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing’s Beta Nu Chapter for the research proposal: “The Lived Experiences of Black Nursing Students with Nursing School Retention: A Phenomenological Pilot Study.”

Dr. Adam Foster

Associate Professor of Anatomy 
Jerry M. Wallace School of Osteopathic Medicine 

Funded Grant 

  • Leakey Foundation: The allometric scaling of sensorimotor control in human evolution (S202510608; $23,630)

Dr. Michele Miller

Associate Dean of Engineering
School of Engineering

Funded Grant

KEEN Annual Support Grant, July 2024 to June 2025, $25,000.

  • The grant promotes entrepreneurial minded learning (EML). Activities include teaching workshops, mini-grants to faculty, and a student innovation challenge.

Dr. Victor M. Pulgar 

Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences 
College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences

Grant Reviewer 

Member of the following American Heart Association (AHA) Review Committees:

  • 2025 Fellowship Vascular 3 (pre and Post Doctoral Applications)
  • 2025 Career Development Award (CDA) Vascular 3

Funded Grant 

  • Title: Apelin receptor axis and long-term consequences of preeclampsia. PI: Liliya Yamaleyeva (Wake Forest School of Medicine). Aim: to understand the role(s) of Apelin in the physiological effects of preeclampsia. Role: Consultant. Funder: National Institute of Health
  • Title: The influence of upwelling on tissue biomolecules and thermal performance of coastal species, as modulators of trophic interactions in a warming ocean. Aim: To examine the combined influence of nutrients and temperature on the performance and interactions of relevant species in the Chilean Coast. Role: International Collaborator Funder: National Agency for Research & Development-ANID, Chile.

Dr. Nicole C. Rushing

Assistant Professor of Psychology
School of Education & Human Sciences

Internal Grant 

  • Rushing, N., Parker, P., McNamara-Clement, L., Zermeno, J., & Rich, L. (2025, May). “Well-being Curriculum Infusion in PE 185 Pilot.” Ƶ Hallmarks of Character Education Mini-Grant, $500

Dr. Jordan Womick

Associate Professor of Chemistry 
College of Arts & Sciences

Funded Grant 

  • Dr. Jordan Womick was awarded a 2025 Pittsburgh Conference Memorial National College Grant in the amount of $9996 for his proposal entitled “Enhancing the Chemistry Curriculum with pH Electrodes Designed for Easy Data Collection.” This grant improves analytical instrumentation in the Chemistry & Physics department’s undergraduate teaching programs.