Outstanding Research

Through research, UAlbany faculty are advancing discovery in a wide range of fields. Virtually every research project underscores the power and value of connections. UAlbany faculty collaborate with partners on campus, in the community and around the world. In 2009-2010, UAlbany faculty attracted $122 million in research funding.

Some research highlights of the last year include: 

• UAlbany School of Public Health faculty and centers were awarded more than $12 million in public health grants for research and training which focused on topics ranging from cancer to aging to obesity, cardiac outcomes and public health leadership training.

• The College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering and Novellus Systems, Inc., a Silicon Valley-based provider of advanced process equipment for the global nanoelectronics industry, announced a $20-million partnership to conduct next-generation research and development in sub-22nm semiconductor manufacturing technology.

• Dianna Newman (principal investigator) and Deborah Kundert (co-principal investigator) of the Department of Educational and Counseling Psychology, were awarded $1.3 million from the U.S. Department of Education to determine the effectiveness of a supplemental literacy intervention program on student achievement in literacy.

• The Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government, which for 30 years has conducted research and published on state fiscal issues, education, federalism, intergovernmental relations, urban issues, health care reform and social welfare policies, became a part of UAlbany’s Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy.

• The College of Arts and Sciences, which has significantly increased its research profile, surpassed the $15 million mark in external funding.  Researchers whose funding exceeded $500,000 for the year included: Lance Bosart, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences; Kristin Christodulu, Center for Autism and Related Disabilities; Cheryl Frye,  Psychology; Melinda Larson,  Biological Sciences;  Igor Lednev,  Chemistry;  John Molinari, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences;  Li Niu, Chemistry;  Lawrence Schell ,  Anthropology/Center for Elimination of Minority Health Disparities;  Hua Shi, Biological Sciences; and Edelgard Wulfert,  Psychology .

• Information Studies Professor Ozlem Uzuner received a $500,000 Strategic Health IT Advanced Research Projects grant as a partner in a Mayo Clinic study on “Secondary Use of Electronic Health Records Data.”
• School of Social Welfare Professor Carolyn Smith was awarded a $435,000 subcontract grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for the investigation of “The Developmental and Intergenerational Paths to Partner Violence and Child Maltreatment.”

• Rockefeller College professors Victor Asal, Political Science, and R. Karl Rethemeyer, Public Administration & Policy, received funding for their research on international terrorist networks: Asal from the National Science Foundation on the ecology of terrorist organizations; Rethemeyer from the Department of Homeland Security’s Center of Excellence on how networks affect the use of various forms of terrorism; and as joint researchers from the Office of Naval Research examining counter-insurgency efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

• UAlbany's College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering and the SUNY Institute of Technology (SUNYIT) established the Computer Chip Hybrid Integration Partnership to develop the Mohawk Valley region’s physical and intellectual capital and result in a state-of-the-art high tech business incubator/technology accelerator at SUNYIT.

• The Center for International Development extended its global reach with new projects to strengthen national legislatures and promote economic growth in Jamaica, Bangladesh, Lebanon, Serbia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

• Computer Science Professor Siwei Lyu won a prestigious National Science Foundation CAREER award to develop new methods for detecting altered digital images.

• Professor Ronald Toseland of the School of Social Welfare (SSW) was inducted as a fellow of the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare in April 2010 at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. for excellence in the field of social work and social welfare through high impact work that advances social good. Dr. Toseland has been the director of the SSW’s Institute of Gerontology since 1990.

Additional examples of UAlbany’s academic  excellence and outstanding research  are highlighted in the “Milestones” of 2009-2010 Year in Review..