Pilot Awardees

See our awardees' Impact in the News

2024 - 2026 Pilot Project Awardees Heading link

PI: Fady Charbel, MD, Professor, Department of Neurological Surgery, UIC College of Medicine

Collaborators:  Jennifer Lim, MD, Professor, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, UIC College of Medicine; Xincheng Yao, PhD, Richard & Loan Hill Chair in Biomedical Engineering, Department of Biomedical Engineering, UIC College of Medicine; Syed Khalid, MD, Resident Physician, Department of Neurological Surgery, UIC College of Medicine

PI: Hananeh Esmailbeigi, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, UIC College of Engineering

Collaborators: James Patton, PhD, Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, UIC College of Engineering; Edna Babbitt, PhD, Research Speech-Language Pathologist, Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, Research Assistant Professor, Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine; Leila Ahmadian, DDS, Assistant Professor, Department of Restorative Dentistry, UIC College of Dentistry

PI: Katherine Merrill, PhD, Assistant Professor, Center for Dissemination and Implementation Science, Department of Medicine, UIC College of Medicine

Collaborators: Sarah Messmer, MD, Assistant Professor, Departments of Medicine and Pediatrics, UIC College of Medicine; Susana Salgado, Centro Romero; Angela Sedeno, Expanded Mental Health Services of Chicago; Vanessa Melgoza, Corazon Community Services; Meghan Morgan, Girls in the Game; David Flynn, Center for Healing and Justice through Sport

PI: Neelu Puri, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Biomedical Science, UIC College of Medicine Rockford

Collaborators: Odile David, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Pathology, UIC College of Medicine; Robert Hillwig, MD, Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Health Sciences Education, UIC College of Medicine; Mohammed Alam, PhD, Research Scientist, Department of Biomedical Sciences, UIC College of Medicine-Rockford; Bhavin Patel, Senior R&D Manager, Mass Spectrometry Reagents, Thermo Fisher Scientific; Weihai Zhan, PhD, Biostatistician, Office of Research, UIC College of Medicine-Rockford

PI: Michael Ragozzino, PhD, Professor, Department of Psychology, UIC College of Liberal Arts & Sciences

Collaborators: Jun Sun, PhD, Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Micrbiology and Immunology, UIC College of Medicine; Beatriz Penalver Bernabe, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, UI College of Medicine; Pauline Maki, PhD, Professor, Department of Psychology, UIC College of Liberal Arts & Sciences

PI: Sekhar Reddy, PhD, Professor, Department of Pediatrics, UIC College of Medicine

Collaborators: Steven Garzon, MD, Associate Professor of Clinical Pathology, Department of Pathology, UIC College of Medicine; Carlos Murga-Zamalloa, MD, Assistant Professor of Clinical Pathology, Department of Pathology, UIC College of Medicine

PI: Mohan Zalake, PhD, Research Assistant Professor, Department of Biomedical and Health Information Sciences, UIC College of Applied Health Sciences

Collaborators: Sobia Bilal, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Pediatric Dentistry, UIC College of Dentistry; Nikita Soni, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science, UIC College of Engineering; David Avenetti, DDS, MSD, MPH, Associate Professor and Head, Department of Pediatric Dentistry, UIC College of Dentistry; Amy Slep, PhD, Professor, Center for Oral Health Policy and Management, New York University College of Den

2023-2024 Implementation Research Heading link

PI: Abigail Elmes, PharmD, Visiting Clinical Assistant Professor, College of Pharmacy
Co-Investigators: Antonio Jimenez, Jordan Vold, Jennifer Jarrett, Sarah Messmer, and Niranjan Karnik
Meeting Patients Where They Are: Expansion of Mobile Low-Threshold Buprenorphine and Van-Based Harm Reduction Services into Nonurban Settings

PI: Marwah Farooqui, MD, Assistant Professor, College of Medicine
Co-Investigators: Lewis Hsu, Gelila Goba
Adaptation and Implementation of Sickle Cell Specific Menopause Screening Tool

PI: Mary Khetani, ScD, Professor, College of Applied Health Sciences
Co-Investigators: Julie Thompson Bobitt
Preparing to test implementation of an electronic assessment option for early intervention service plan quality

PI: Randi Singer, PhD, CNM, Assistant Professor, College of Nursing
PI: Natasha Crooks, PhD, RN, Assistant Professor, College of Nursing
Co-Investigators: Geri Donenberg, Karen Cotler
Centering Black Women: Development of a Group PrEP Care Model

2023-2025 Heading link

PI: Guy Adami, PhD, Associate Professor, College of Dentistry
Co-Investigators: Zhengjia Chen, Nicholas Callahan, and Joel Schwartz
Photonic Resonator Absorption Microscopy Detection of those at High Risk for Oral Cancer

PI: Alice Hemenway, PharmD, MPH, Clinical Assistant Professor, College of Pharmacy – Rockford
Co-Investigator: Mark Biagi
Association of race or ethnicity with extended-spectrum beta-lactamase production in E.coli

PI: Liang Hong, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, College of Medicine
Co-Investigator: None
Translational studies of ethnic-specific SCN5A mutations linked with long QT syndrome in African-Americans

PI: Julie Maslowsky, PhD, Associate Professor, School of Public Health
Co-Investigator: Karen Bernstein and Jonathan Klein
Improving statewide adolescent health and healthcare in Illinois

PI: Ece Mutlu, MD, MBA, Professor of Medicine, College of Medicine
Co-Investigator: Pradeep Dudeja
Steroid hormone metabolism by intestinal bacteria

PI: David Tofovic, MD, Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine, College of Medicine
Co-Investigator: Dawood Darbar, Hua Yun Chen, Brenikki Floyd, Jalees Rehman, and Salman Khetani
The Role of Health Disparities in Dilated Cardiomyopathy