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PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas – Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU) and Texas A&M University (TAMU) are coming together in a new way to help solve some of our society’s complex challenges. The two institutions have set aside $300,000 to support 30 faculty members who will try to solve the world’s problems, together.

It’s all a part of the Panther Research and Innovation for Scholarly Excellence (PRISE) Grant Program, which was initiated in the fall by PVAMU’s Division of Research & Innovation (R&I) and Office of Academic Affairs. PRISE supports PVAMU faculty in their inter-institutional scholarly research projects with faculty at TAMU.

“The initiative is rooted in the fact that federal funding agencies are increasingly supporting large-scale, multidisciplinary research projects to solve national and global problems that require a convergence of diverse resources and expertise. Through PRISE, collaborating institutions can become more competitive when seeking external funding opportunities for research and innovation,” said Magesh Rajan, PVAMU’s vice president for R&I.

The Award Process

Ramaswamy Krishnamoorthi, Ph.D.

Ramaswamy Krishnamoorthi, Ph.D.

So, here’s how the award process for faculty works – PRISE awards a $10,000 grant to a selected PVAMU faculty member. Two TAMU faculty members also receive $10,000 apiece to work with the PVAMU faculty member. Together, the triad investigator team works with a total of $30,000 to execute the proposed scholarly, creative, or research project.

“The PRISE Grant Program will enable our faculty to tap into the resources and expertise of TAMU faculty, and as triads, collect strong preliminary data and submit competitive grant proposals to funding agencies,” explained Ramaswamy Krishnamoorthi, Ph.D., director of the Office of Research Advancement at PVAMU. “It is an attractive mechanism to expand the research capacity of not only individual faculty members but also that of the university.”  

The Application Process

The PRISE program is open to tenured and tenure-track faculty from all disciplines at PVAMU and TAMU.

Magesh Rajan

Magesh Rajan, Ph.D.

“The PRISE initiative is an example of how inter-institutional scholarly research projects build relationships to discover ongoing professional and research opportunities,” said Rajan. “There is an emergent acknowledgment of the essential value of inter-institutional collaboration, which is made increasingly more attainable by the evolution of current technologies­.”

The PRISE initiative requires participants to submit a collaborative proposal for external funding by the end of the year. Rajan added, “We expect this investment in collaborative research to have a significant return by impacting the development of ongoing research relationships, possibilities of commercialization, and an increase in funded projects.” 

Since the PRISE announcement in October, R&I received 29 proposals, and a faculty panel, including one person from PVAMU and two from TAMU, reviewed the submissions. Because the applications were so competitive, the PRISE committee doubled the initially planned five awards, which meant ten faculty research groups or 30 researchers earned grants. 

And the Winners Are…

The following triads and projects have been selected for the Panther-RISE Grant Awards:

  • “Analyzing Impact of COVID-19 on Student Learning and Persistence: A Multi-Dimensional Study.” Camille Burnett, PVAMU College of Education, with Texas A&M colleagues Bimal Nepal, College of Engineering, and Karen Rambo-Hernandez, College of Education & Human Development.
  • “Understanding the Response to USDA Food Aid among Minority Residents and Farmers in COVID-19.” Noel M. Estwick, PVAMU College of Agriculture & Human Sciences, with Texas A&M colleagues Michelle Annette Meyer, College of Architecture, and Rebekka Dudensing, College of Agriculture & Life Sciences.
  • “Diversity of Grass Shrimp (Palaemon Sp.) and Their Parasites (Microphallus Spp.) in Gulf of Mexico Wetlands.” Noushin Ghaffari, PVAMU College of Engineering, with Texas A&M colleagues, Anja Schulze, Department of Marine Biology, Mary Wicksten, Department of Biology.
  • “An Interdisciplinary Team for Investigating a Machine Learning Framework for Predicting Outdoor Thermal Comfort to Reduce Energy Needs of Future Urban Development.” Rania Labib, PVAMU School of Architecture, with Texas A&M colleagues Mark J. Clayton and Robert Brown, both in the College of Architecture.
  • “Preclinical Development and Emerging Strategies for Design of Selective Kinase Inhibitors Targeting Brain Metastasis of Resistant HER2+ Breast Cancer.” Victoria Mgbemena, PVAMU College of Arts & Sciences, with Texas A&M colleagues Hamed Ismail and Mahua Choudhury, both in the Irma Lerma Rangel College of Pharmacy.
  • “Resilience in Black College Students: Consequences of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Student Success.” Oluwagbemiga Ojumu, PVAMU College of Business, with Texas A&M colleagues Kalena Cortes, Bush School of Government & Public Service, and Catherine Eckel, College of Liberal Arts.
  • “Nursing in the Puerperium: A Virtual Home Visiting Intervention for Women at Risk for Severe Maternal Morbidity and Mortality.” Gloria Rose, PVAMU College of Nursing, with Texas A&M colleagues Robin L. Page and Cynthia Weston, both in the College of Nursing.
  • “Examining the Mental Health Impacts and Coping Strategies of the COVID-19 on Aging Racial/Ethnic Minorities in Texas: A Pilot Study.” Yuki Shigemoto, PVAMU College of Juvenile Justice & Psychology, with Ping Ma, Texas A&M School of Public Health, and Lei-Shih Chen, Texas A&M College of Education & Human Development.

Both PVAMU and Texas A&M are members of The Texas A&M University System.

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