05/19/2025
By Anne Maglia

The Office of Research Development is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2025 UMass Lowell Internal Seed Grants. This year, they are awarding more than $115,000.

The goal of this program is to support faculty in:

  • developing multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary collaborative efforts leading to sustainable research and scholarship and
  • generating preliminary results, innovative ideas, and high-quality scholarship or creative works that grow UMass Lowell’s research portfolio and capacity.
If you have any questions about specific projects or ideas for collaboration, please contact the PI directly or email RD@uml.edu.


Congratulations to the nine awarded teams:

  • PI: Romy Guthier, Assistant Professor, Physics and Applied Physics, Kennedy College of Sciences
    Co-PI: Kwok-Fan Chow, Associate Professor, Chemistry, Kennedy College of Sciences
    Co-PI: Erno Sajo, Professor, Physics and Applied Physics, Kennedy College of Sciences
    Project Title: Understanding Nanoparticle Dynamics to Enhance the Predictability and Efficacy of Radiotherapy
    Award Amount: $15,000
  • PI: Teresa Lee, Assistant Professor, Biological Sciences, Kennedy College of Sciences
    Co-PI: Jennifer Fish, Associate Professor, Biological Sciences, Kennedy College of Sciences
    Project Title: A translational pipeline for SATB2-associated syndrome and neurodevelopment
    Award Amount: $15,000
  • PI: Anita Li, Assistant Professor, Psychology, College of Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
    Co-PI: Rocio Rosales, Associate Professor, Psychology, College of Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
    Co-PI: Hsien-Yuan Hsu, Associate Professor, School of Education, College of Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
    Co-PI: Yanfen Li, Assistant Professor, Biomedical Engineering, Francis College of Engineering
    Co-PI: Robai Werunga, Assistant Professor, School of Education, College of Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
    Project Title: Bridging Pathways: A Multidisciplinary Mentoring Program to Empower Underrepresented High School Students in Psychology, Education, and Engineering
    Award Amount: $14,800
  • PI: Sunny Ruggeri, Assistant Professor, Solomont School of Nursing, Zuckerberg College of Health Sciences
    Co-PI: Cynthia Russell Lippincott, Professor, School of Nursing and Health Studies, University of Missouri-Kansas City
    Project Title: Feasibility and Acceptability of a SystemCHANGE™ Intervention Compared to an Attention-control Educational Intervention to Improve Oral Endocrine Therapy Medication Adherence in Older Women with Breast Cancer: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial
    Award Amount: $15,000
  • PI: Jana Sladkova, Associate Professor, Psychology, College of Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
    Co-PI: Amber Horning Ruf, Associate Professor, Criminology and Justice Studies, College of Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
    Co-PI: Wilson Palacios, Associate Professor, Criminology and Justice Studies, College of Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
    Co-PI: Maria de los Angeles Cerda Gonzalez, Ph.D. Candidate, Global Studies, College of Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
    Project Title: Children on the move through Mexico to the US: Creating a framework to understand trafficking risks and mitigating danger
    Award Amount: $9,699
  • PI: Rudy Valentine, Associate Professor, Physical Therapy and Kinesiology, Zuckerberg College of Health Sciences
    Co-PI: Fanfei Meng, Assistant Professor, Biomedical and Nutritional Sciences, Zuckerberg College of Health Sciences
    Project Title: Nanomedicine-based metabolic therapeutics to protect against cancer cachexia
    Award Amount: $15,000
  • PI: Joy Winbourne, Assistant Professor, Environmental, Earth, and Atmospheric Sciences, Kennedy College of Sciences
    Co-PI: Yanfen Li, Assistant Professor, Biomedical Engineering, Francis College of Engineering
    Project Title: Impact of sustainable mulch alternatives on plant-soil dynamics
    Award Amount: $14,700
  • PI: Weile Yan, Associate Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Francis College of Engineering
    Co-PI: Saifur Rahaman, Visiting Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Francis College of Engineering
    Project Title: Investigating PFAS and Fluoropolymer-based Microplastic Release from PVDF Membranes in Water Treatment Applications
    Award Amount: $14,500

Honorable Mention

  • PI: Matthew Gage, Professor, Chemistry, Kennedy College of Sciences
    Co-PI: Rudy Valentine, Associate Professor, Physical Therapy and Kinesiology, Zuckerberg College of Health Sciences
    Project Title: Validation of urinary biomarkers for assessing muscle health
    Award Amount: $2,500