The Research Office

Amid challenges, OU’s grant funding sees tremendous growth

External funding for research and sponsored programs has more than doubled in the past two years

icon of a calendarOctober 4, 2022

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Amid challenges, OU’s grant funding sees tremendous growth
Dr. Xiangqun Zeng

In the face of a pandemic that forced a nearly three-month shutdown of laboratories and research facilities, Oakland University has seen a dramatic rise in the amount of grant funding awarded for its research and sponsored programs over the last two years. Current funding now far exceeds pre-pandemic funding levels. 

Between Fiscal Years 2020 and 2022, grant funding for all sponsored programs, including research programs, rose from $9,663,583 to $25,211,069, a more than 250% increase. Over the same time span, OU’s research funding doubled, rising from $7,696,442 to $15,331,396.

“We’re hitting on all cylinders,” said OU’s Vice President for Research, Dr. David Stone. “Despite all of the challenges posed by the pandemic, our growth in funded research and programs is up across the board. This speaks to the talent and persistence of our faculty, as well as to the commitment shown by all of the staff who have worked tirelessly to support this dramatic increase in activity.”

Dr. Stone attributes this positive trend to initiatives that were implemented after the President’s Research Retreat and “culture changes” that have been developing over the past few years. Those initiatives include hiring mid-career faculty with an established record of securing research funding; building on the university’s new Research Development capacity and the PI Academy mentoring program for junior faculty; and seeking funding for non-research programs, such as grants for academic programs and student scholarships.

Dr. Mohamed Al-Shabrawey

Dr. Mohamed Al-Shabrawey

 Amany Tawfik

Dr. Amany Tawfik

Dr. Marouane Kessentini

Dr. Marouane Kessentini

For the 2022 fiscal year, success came from each of those new efforts.  Among the mid-career hires over the last year, Dr. Mohamed Al-Shabrawey, director of the Eye Research Institute and Dr. Amany Tawfik, new faculty in the Eye Research Center in the School of Medicine each brought in over $1 million in awards for their work on diabetic retinopathy and age-related macular degeneration, respectively. Dr. Marouane Kessentini, new faculty and interim chair in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, came to OU from UM-Dearborn and brought with him five awards and added two once he arrived totaling over $3 million. Dr. Kessentini’s work centers on the development of intelligent software bots that can detect and fix quality and security issues, even in real time. 

Dr. Xiangqun Zeng

Dr. Xiangqun Zeng

Dr. Huirong Fu

Dr. Huirong Fu

Among OU’s existing senior investigators, Dr. Xiangqun Zeng in the Department of Chemistry received three grants to develop biosensors and one to develop a wearable sensor for exposure to hazardous aerosols. These awards totaled over $1.5 million. And Dr. Huirong Fu, in OU's Computer Science and Engineering Department, received two awards totaling over $3 million to support her nationally recognized programs in training students in cybersecurity and cyber defense.

Dr. Geoffrey Louie

Dr. Geoffrey Louie

Dr. Colin Wu

Dr. Colin Wu

Successful PI Academy graduates this year included Dr. Geoffrey Louie in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, whose work assisting the U.S. Army in using virtual and augmented reality to help develop inexpensive prototypes of their new ground vehicles saw him awarded over $1.5 million. Additionally, Dr. Colin Wu in the Department of Chemistry received the prestigious National Science Foundation CAREER award for work on environmental stress on the DNA of cells in the heart, and a grant from the American Heart Association to study gene mutations and cardiovascular risk. These awards totaled just short of $1 million.

"Research is at the core of our mission, and the extraordinary, inspiring work of our faculty, chairs, and deans gives encouragement for the continued growth of research and scholarship that has a transformative impact in a range of disciplines and on our communities," said OU’s Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost, Dr. Britt Rios-Ellis. "We are extremely grateful to our many scholars and the Research Office for shepherding through these numerous globally and nationally significant proposals."

Geraldine Graham

Geraldine Graham

Another recommendation that came out of the 2019 Retreat was to more actively engage administrators to seek grant funding to support instructional programs and student services. Exemplars of that work include $1.6 million received from the Health Resources and Services Administration to fund equipment needed to launch the new Physician Assistant Science program and $3.5 million for continued support of OU’s longstanding Upward Bound program, which assists under-resourced middle and high school students in preparing for college. Since 1996, Project Upward Bound’s Director, Geraldine Graham, has secured grant renewals totaling over $17 million. 

Along with those achievements, seven OU departments secured over $1 million in new research awards for fiscal year 2022:

  • Chemistry – $3,366,886
  • Engineering and Computer Science – $3,183,391
  • Biological Sciences – $1,690,073
  • Electrical and Computer Engineering – $1,654,804
  • Mechanical Engineering – $1,243,541
  • School of Medicine – $1,292,647
  • Eye Research Institute – $1,202,826

The 93 new grants awarded to OU in Fiscal Year 2022 came from a variety of sources, including the federal government (56), state and local government (13), corporate sponsors (3) and public/nonprofit sponsors (21). 

For more information, view Oakland University’s 2022 Research Report or visit oakland.edu/research.

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