AdvanceVT announces research seed grant recipients
Virginia Tech’s AdvanceVT Program has named its 2006 research seed grant recipients. The 2006 recipients are Dr. Linda Dahlgren, Dr. Zhiliang Fan, Dr. Linda Kennedy, and Dr. Tanya LeRoith.
Dahlgren, assistant professor in the Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences, received a bachelor’s degree from Bowdoin College, a Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine at Washington State University, a master’s degree from Iowa State University, and a Ph.D. from Cornell University. Dahlgren will use AdvanceVT funding to support intensive training in flow cytometry and the validation of flow cytometry assays necessary to acquire preliminary data for federal funding.
Fan, assistant professor in the Department of Biological Systems and Engineering, earned her bachelor’s degree from Zhejiang Univ., China, her master’s degree from Iowa State, and her doctorate from Dartmouth. Fan will use the grant to conduct research on developing biocatalyst and biocatalytic strategies to economically convert abundant renewable resources into valuable products with a minimal impact on the environment.
Kennedy, assistant professor of geography, received a bachelor’s degree from Indiana University and Purdue, followed by a master’s and doctorate degree from the University of Tennessee. Kennedy plans to use the grant to research the emerging field of paleotempestology—a field that aims to reconstruct past hurricanes from geological proxies found in coastal lagoons and wetlands.
LeRoith, assistant professor in the Biomedical Science Department, earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland, a Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine from Virginia Tech, and a Ph.D. from Washington State University. LeRoith’s proposed research addresses the characterization of the protective immune response to the hepatitis E virus (HEV).
AdvanceVT research seed grants provide funding to support junior faculty developing a successful proposal for external research funding. The grants may support funding to acquire data needed for writing a more competitive proposal, development of new research skills, development of research collaborations, or travel to visit funding agencies.
Founded in 1872 as a land-grant college, Virginia Tech has grown to become among the largest universities in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Today, Virginia Tech’s eight colleges are dedicated to putting knowledge to work through teaching, research, and outreach activities and to fulfilling its vision to be among the top research universities in the nation. At its 2,600-acre main campus located in Blacksburg and other campus centers in Northern Virginia, Southwest Virginia, Hampton Roads, Richmond, and Roanoke, Virginia Tech enrolls more than 28,000 full- and part-time undergraduate and graduate students from all 50 states and more than 100 countries in 180 academic degree programs.
