Eleven new interdisciplinary research projects were selected for the University of Georgia’s 2025 Presidential Interdisciplinary Seed Grant cohort and will receive boosts of up to $100,000.

The seed grant program, sponsored by UGA President Jere W. Morehead, has funded new project cohorts every other year since 2017 through a partnership between the offices of Research and Public Service and Outreach. The success of this program is reflected in the value of external grants that cohort teams have won with work started from this seed grant funding. Across all cohorts, the grants have resulted in an average five-year return of $50 for every $1 awarded.

“The ongoing success of the interdisciplinary seed grant program highlights the excellence of our faculty and speaks directly to the innovative work being conducted across our campus,” said President Morehead. “Fueled by the University of Georgia’s land-grant and sea-grant mission, faculty are harnessing the collective expertise of these collaborative teams to address the most pressing obstacles facing communities throughout the state and beyond.”

Presidential Interdisciplinary Seed Grants are the largest internal seed grant program funded by the university and have become highly competitive. In 2025, there were a record 161 proposals from across the university. Fewer than 7% of proposals received funding.

“We use a rigorous review process,” said Nate Nibbelink, associate vice president for strategic research growth in the Office of Research. “Our process is modeled after the National Science Foundation’s, with three reviews for each proposal followed by multiple panel discussions to efficiently prioritize proposals and support final decisions.”

The competition is intended to help teams solidify collaborations, generate strong preliminary data and position themselves competitively for external funding, Nibbelink said.

“These projects not only represent the spectrum of expertise at the University of Georgia but also provide a vivid example of how our faculty embrace the challenges and opportunities of interdisciplinary research,” said Chris King, interim vice president for research. “In tackling challenges such as cancer and brain disease, sustainability and food supply, our investigators maximize their impact by combining their strengths and addressing these problems from more integrated perspectives.”

Artificial intelligence was a recurring theme across several proposals, serving either as the project’s central focus or as a tool to facilitate it. Extreme weather and health were also common areas of focus.

“The Presidential Interdisciplinary Seed Grant program reflects the power of intentional collaboration,” said Stacy Jones, vice president for public service and outreach. “By aligning research excellence with public service and outreach, we are strengthening the university’s ability to turn discovery into solutions. Leveraging this collaborative expertise to confront complex challenges that directly affect our communities demonstrates the power and purpose of higher education.”

The 2025 awardees are:

“One-Two Punch Therapy for Refractory Cancer in Human and Canine.” Lei Zhang (primary investigator, College of Pharmacy); Eugene Douglass (College of Pharmacy); Khaled Rasheed (Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, School of Computing); and Jonathan Mochel (College of Veterinary Medicine).

“Incentivizing Prevention: A Research Agenda for Reducing Health Risks in Global Livestock Systems.” Ellen McCullough (primary investigator, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences); Susana Ferreira, Anna Perry, Aaron Bodie, Rami Dalloul and Casey Ritz (College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences); John Drake (Odum School of Ecology); Andrew Park (Odum School of Ecology and College of Veterinary Medicine); Lorenzo Villa-Zapata (College of Pharmacy); Andreas Handel and Erin Lipp (College of Public Health); Tatum Mortimer and Mekala Sundaram (College of Veterinary Medicine); and Sonia Hernandez (College of Veterinary Medicine and Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources).

“Targeting the Creativity Brain Network Using Behavioral and Neural Intervention Methods to Improve Rehabilitative Outcomes in Diverse Neurological Populations.” Jing Xu (primary investigator, Mary Frances Early College of Education); Anna Abraham (Mary Frances Early College of Education); Joseph Peragine (Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, Lamar Dodd School of Art); Rebecca Atkins and Ellyn Evans (Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, Hugh Hodgson School of Music); Billy Hammond (Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, department of psychology); Lisa Renzi-Hammond and Stephen Correia (College of Public Health); Richard Ivry (University of California, Berkeley); and Babs McDonald (retired, consultant).

“Resilient Agricultural Landscapes Initiative.” Brian Bledsoe (primary investigator, College of Engineering and Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems); Lynn Abdouni, Todd Bridges, Luke Li and Don Nelson (Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, department of anthropology, and College of Engineering, Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems); Whitney Pagan and WenZhan Song (College of Engineering, Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems and Institute for Integrative Precision Agriculture); Angel Jackson (Archway Partnership); George Vellidis (College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and Institute for Integrative Precision Agriculture); Jennifer Jo Thompson (College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences); Liang Dong (College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, College of Engineering and Institute for Integrative Precision Agriculture); Christopher Weatherly (School of Social Work); Dan Johnson (Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources and Odum School of Ecology); Stephen Kinane (Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources); Mark Masters (Albany State University); and Gerrit Hoogenboom (University of Florida).

“Exploiting Prescribed Fire Aerosol Emissions to Study Cloud and Weather Modification.”Gabriel Kooperman (primary investigator, Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, department of geography); Anna Harper (Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, department of geography); Amanda Frossard (Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, department of chemistry); Rawad Saleh (College of Engineering); Fei Dou (Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, School of Computing); Doug Aubrey (Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources and Savannah River Ecology Laboratory); and Marcus Williams (U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Center for Forest Health).

“Polymerizing Synergies Across Georgia’s Commodity Sectors for Bioeconomic Growth.” Joseph Usack (primary investigator, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences); Ben Campbell and James Gratzek (College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences); Mark Eiteman and Brahm Verma (College of Engineering); Jason Locklin (College of Engineering; Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, department of chemistry; and New Materials Institute); Gajanan Bhat (College of Family and Consumer Sciences); Chad Bolding (Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources); Robert Baldwin (U.S. Department of Energy’s National Bioenergy Center); Christopher Butts (Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association); Tim Fairley-Wax (Argone National Laboratory); Juliano Souza Dos Passos (DOE’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory); and Fred Rayfield (Georgia Department of Agriculture).

“Disaster Education and Risk Communication Using Artificial Intelligence and Immersive Technologies.” Sun Joo “Grace” Ahn (primary investigator, Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication); Prashant Doshi (Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, School of Computing); Kyle Johnsen (College of Engineering); Austin Dobbs, Curt Harris and Morgan Taylor (College of Public Health); Ben McGarr, Shana Jones, James Byars, Scott Pippin, Dessa Benson and Leigh Elkins (Public Service and Outreach); Chester “Beau” Bradley and Jennifer Peterson (U.S. Army Fort Stewart); and Randall Mathews (Chatham Emergency Management).

“AI-Driven Decision Support Platform for Smart Disaster Resilience Planning.” Qiong Wang (primary investigator, College of Environment and Design); Jon Calabria (College of Environment and Design); Geng Yuan (School of Computing); Charles van Rees (Odum School of Ecology); Curt Harris and Suhang Song (College of Public Health); Mark Risse and Jessica Brown (Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant); Yao Wang and Traci Birch (Louisiana State University); Jun-Whan Lee (University of Texas at Austin); John Anagnost (City of Savannah Planning Department); and Yunzhi Chen (National Renewable Energy Laboratory).

“Engineered Plant Extracellular Vesicles as a Next-Generation Therapeutic Platform.” Jin Xie (primary investigator, Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, department of chemistry); Li Yang and Yao Yao (College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences); and Xianqiao Wang (College of Engineering).

“Improving Outcomes for Catastrophic Cervical Spine Injured Athletes.” Ron Courson (primary investigator, University of Georgia Athletic Association); Robert Lynall (Mary Frances Early College of Education); Aimee Martin and Kurt Horst (School of Medicine); MaryBeth Horodyski and Cong Chen (University of Florida); Jim Kyle (The Kyle Group); Glenn Henry (Northeast Georgia EMS Training Inc.); Crystal Shelnutt (Georgia Trauma Commission); Kim Walpert (Piedmont Athens Neurosurgery); Chris Bostdorff (Georgia Emergency Medicine Specialists); Jim Ellis (NFL Emergency Medical Director); and Robb Rehberg (NFL Senior Medical Advisor).

“Unlocking the Ecological ‘Black Box’ of Green Stormwater Infrastructure for More Resilient and Sustainable Cities.” Charles van Rees (primary investigator, Odum School of Ecology); Scott Carver and Seth Wenger (Odum School of Ecology); Geng Yuan (Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, School of Computing); Brock Woodson and Alysha Helmrich (College of Engineering); Qiong Wang (College of Environment and Design); Franklin Leach (Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, department of chemistry); Steffney Thompson (School of Law); Jessica Brown (Public Service and Outreach); Rhett Jackson (Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources); Hunter Howell (City of Atlanta Watershed Management); Mason Ailstock (Rowen Foundation); Kyle McKay (Woolpert); and Paula Marcinek (The Nature Conservancy in Georgia).