Awards & Honors

College of Arts and Sciences 

• Cheryl Andam – Associate Professor, Biology
  "Genetic determinants that shape the dissemination of bacterial resistance against last-resort antibiotics"
• Zai Liang – Distinguished Professor, Sociology
  "Social Media and International Migration: The Application of Large Language Model (LLM)"
• Li Niu – Professor, Chemistry
  "Testing potentiating RNA aptamers in animal models"
• Heather Sheridan – Associate Professor, Psychology
  "Integrating Sight and Sound During Visual Search: Evidence from an Eye-EEG Co-registration Study"
• Christopher Wolff – Associate Professor, Anthropology
  "Colonial Impact on the Beothuk During the Little Ice Age: A View from Stock Cove"

College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security, and Cybersecurity

• Samantha C. Penta – Associate Professor, Emergency Management and Homeland Security
  "Disasters as Destabilizers: An Examination of Dissensus and Instability Following Extreme Events"

College of Nanotechnology, Science, and Engineering

• Petko Bogdanov – Associate Professor, Computer Science
  "Machine learning models for molecular representations with applications to PFAS removal and replacement"

College of Arts and Sciences

• Sean Rafferty – Professor, Anthropology
  "Documentation and cataloguing of artifacts from the Helme Site"
• Walter Little – Professor, Anthropology
  "Maya Fashion and Textile Political Economies in Guatemala"
• Annalisa Scimemi – Associate Professor, Biology
  "Neuronal glutamate transporters shape dopamine corelease"
• Benjamin Griffy – Assistant Professor of Economics, Economics
  "MyQL: Pedagogically-Sound AI in the Classroom through Experiential Learning"
• Richard Barney – Associate Professor, English
  "Roads of France"
• Andrei Lapenas – Professor, Geography, Planning, and Sustainability
  "CoolPath: Development of an Adaptive Thermal-Safe Routing Application for Urban Mobility and Community Heat Resilience"
• Xinyu (Joey) Li – Lecturer, Geography, Planning, and Sustainability
  "An AI-Based Framework for Hyperlocal Urban Weather Prediction and Climate Downscaling"
• Tse-Chuan Yang – Professor, Sociology
  "Healthy Aging and Social Engagement Among Chinese Older Adults in New York City Chinatown"
• Barbara Sutton – Professor, Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies
  "Feminist Activism in the Context of Political Change"

College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity

• Md Nour Hossain – Assistant Professor, Information Sciences and Technology
  "Cost-Effective Sensor–Algorithm Integration for Real-Time 3D Pothole Detection and Predictive Road Surface Monitoring."

College of Integrated Health Sciences

• Sridar Chittur – Research Associate Professor, Biomedical Sciences
  "Nanopore Surveillance and qPCR Assays for Freshwater Invasives in Upstate New York: A Genomic Toolkit for Rapid Response"

Massry School of Business

• Hillary Weiner – Associate Professor, Marketing
  "Words on Trial: The Impact of Legal Language on Compliance and Recidivism in a Mental Health Misdemeanor Diversion Court"

Rockefeller College of Public Affairs & Policy

• Justin Zimmerman – Assistant Professor, Political Science
  "Fading Democracy: Black Youth and their Fight to Establish Black Counterpublics"
• Luis Luna-Reyes – Professor, Public Administration and Policy
  "Defining and Operationalizing Administrative Capacity: Integrating Conceptual Approaches from the Perspective of Municipal Governments"

School of Education

• Tammy Ellis-Robinson – Associate Professor, Educational & Counseling Psychology
  "Voices of Special Education: An Intersectional Critical Disability Exploration"

"New York City Urban Integrated Field Laboratories (IFL)" 

Team Leader: Jorge Gonzalez-Cruz – Atmospheric Sciences Research Center 

Team: 

• Chris Thorncroft – Atmospheric Sciences Research Center 

• Jeff Freedman – Atmospheric Sciences Research Center 

• Shao Lin – Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health 

"Super-enhancer regulation of cancer metabolism" 

Team Leader: Jason Herschkowitz – Biomedical Sciences, Cancer Research Center, School of Public Health 

Team: 

•  Douglas Conklin– Biomedical Sciences, School of Public Health 

• JoEllen Welsh – Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health 

• Ramune Reliene – Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health 

• BK Lee – Biomedical Sciences, School of Public Health 

"Proposal to establish the Institute for Microbial Stress Response" 

Team Leader: Cheryl Andam – Biological Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences 

Team: 

• Thomas Begley – Biological Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences 

• Alex Valm – Biological Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences 

• Marlene Belfort – Biological Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences 

• Alexander Ciota – Biomedical Sciences and Wadsworth Center 

• Nicholas Mantis – Biomedical Sciences and Wadsworth Center 

• Yanna Liang– Environmental & Sustainable Engineering, College of Engineering & Applied Sciences 

• Mathias Vuille – Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences 

"Center for Integrated Sensors, Screening, and Security (CIS3)" 

Team Leader: John Petrucelli – Physics, College of Arts and Sciences 

Team: 

• Alexander Khmaladze – Physics, College of Arts and Sciences 

• Benjamin Yankson – College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security & Cybersecurity 

• Brandon Behlendorf – College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security & Cybersecurity 

• Carolyn MacDonald – Physics, College of Arts and Sciences 

• DeeDee Bennett Gayle – College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security & Cybersecurity 

• Gary Ackerman – College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security & Cybersecurity 

• Igor Lednev – Chemistry, College of Arts and Sciences 

• Jason D’Cruz – Philosophy, College of Arts and Sciences 

• Lee Spitzley – Information Security & Digital Forensics, School of Business 

• Ming-Ching Chang – Computer Science, College of Engineering & Applied Sciences 

• Petko Bognaov – Computer Science, College of Engineering & Applied Sciences 

• Sanjay Goel – Information Security & Digital Forensics, School of Business 

"Targeting Senescent Cells for Fibrotic Diseases"  

Team Leader: Melinda Larsen – Biological Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences 

Team: 

• Gabrielle Fredman — Molecular and Cellular Physiology, Albany College of Medicine 

• Juan Andre Melendez — College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, SUNY Polytechnic Institute 

• Scott Tenenbaum — College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, SUNY Polytechnic Institute 

"Convergence Science for Extreme Weather Resiliency and Emergency Preparedness" 

Team Leader: Eric Stern – College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security & Cybersecurity 

Team: 

• Chris Thorncroft – Atmospheric Sciences Research Center 

• Ryan Torn – Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences 

• Amber Silver – College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security & Cybersecurity 

• Sheila Curran Bernard – History, College of Arts and Sciences 

• Jorge Gonzalez-Cruz – Atmospheric Sciences Research Center 

• Ryan Irwin – History, College of Arts and Sciences 

"NSF Institute for Resilient-AI in Crisis Decision-Making (INFORM)" 

Team Leader: Eric Stern – College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security & Cybersecurity 

Team: DeeDee Bennett Gayle – College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security & Cybersecurity 

"Climate adaptation through process understanding, risk assessment, education, and public dialogue" 

Team Leader: Mathias Vuille – Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences 

Team: 

• Alandeon Oliveira – Educational Theory & Practice, School of Education 

• Shao Lin – Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health 

• Fangqun Yu – Atmospheric Sciences Research Center 

• Catherine Lawson – Geography and Planning, College of Arts and Sciences 

"NYCAD: New York Center for Analytics in Disasters" 

Team Leader: DeeDee Bennett Gayle – College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security & Cybersecurity 

Team: 

• Dola Saha – Electrical & Computer Engineering, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences 

• Shao Lin – Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health  

• Jerald Brotzge – Atmospheric Sciences Research Center 

“Artificial Intelligence Institute for Secure and Trustworthy Cyber-Systems" 

Team Leader: George Berg – College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security & Cybersecurity 

Team: 

• Unal Tatar – College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security & Cybersecurity  

• Kajal Lahiri – Economics, School of Business  

• Pradeep Atrey – Computer Science, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences 

• Igor Lednev – Distinguished Professor, Chemistry
  “International Congress on Biophotonics (ICOB 2026)”
• Adrian Masters – Professor, Economics    
  “Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Macroeconomics”

Ilka Kressner – Associate Professor of Hispanic Studies and Chair of Languages, Literatures and Cultures
College of Arts and Sciences    
“Living in Languages Journal”

• Janet L. Paluh – Associate Professor, Nanoscale Science & Engineering
  "Human Stem Cell Based Whole Heart Organ Alternative to Animal Models"

• Jiwon Choi
  Sociology
  “The Racial Identity Formation of Black Immigrant-Origin Youth in a Racially Homogeneous Society”
• Yvonne Dadson
  Emergency Management
  “Beyond the Undocumented: Examining Immigrant Vulnerability and Resilience in Disaster Contexts”
• Genevieve Falabella
  Psychology
  “Training and Dissemination of Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy: Perspectives from Psychedelic Practitioners”
• Chunxu Fang
  Sociology
  “Living on the Line: Redlining Boundaries and Mortality”
• Sumar Hart
  Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences
  “Untangling Past Climate and Environmental Shifts During Maya Cultural Transition in Northern Belize”
• Skylar Hooler
  Atmospheric and Environmental Science
  “Shifts to Novel Ecological States in Adirondack Lakes in Response to a Changing Climate”
• Minji Huh 
  English
  “Mary Shelley’s Vision of Transnational Immunity in The Last Man”
• Madhav Kharel 
  Environmental and Sustainable Engineering
  “Sustainable Management of PFAS in Biosolids-Applied Agricultural Systems: The Role of Modified Biochar in Limiting Plant Uptake and Food-Chain Transfer”
• Ying Kong 
  Educational Theory and Practice
  “Enhancing Cultural Awareness in Teaching Situation-Bound Utterances in Chinese as a Second Language: A Textbook Analysis”
• Gregory Massara
  Educational Policy & Leadership
  “Common Ground for Educational Change Amid Divisiveness: A Mixed-Methods Study of Stakeholder Sensemaking and Conscientization”
• Andrew Munoz-Gamba
  Biological Sciences
  “Identification of Genetic Determinants of Zika Virus During Host-Adaptation in Mammals and Mosquitoes Towards Vaccine or Therapy Search”
• Christianne Ormsby
  Anthropology
  “Investigating Similarities in Limb Morphology and Locomotor Behavior Across Primates and Nonprimates”
• Alexandra Stankus
  Communication
  “Endometriosis Patients’ Collective Resistance to Physician Disenfranchising Talk”