- University News Archive - ��Vlog��ý Little Rock

U.S. Sen. John Boozman Visits ��Vlog��ý Little Rock, NuShores Biosciences

John Hill — Mon, 08 Nov 2021 18:28:29 +0000

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock and its spinoff company, NuShores Biosciences, received a visit from Sen. John Boozman Oct. 29 to check out the ongoing research and scientific advancements at the institutions. Sen. Boozman first visited NuShores Biosciences to get a firsthand look at innovative labs and projects underway in central Arkansas. NuShores CEO Sharon Ballard and Dr. Alex Biris, director of the Center for Integrative Nanotechnology Sciences, gave the senator a tour of the facility and reviewed the initiatives to commercialize the bone and tissue regeneration technologies. “I’m grateful for Sen. Boozman’s support of NuShores and our licensor ��Vlog��ý Little Rock,” Ballard said. “He asked great questions and enjoyed discussing our science and manufacturing efforts with our team. It was quite the energy boost to have a sitting senator take such interest and encouragement in our work!” Sen. Boozman also learned about the manufacturing processes for the NuCress Bone Scaffold that has been developed at NuShores with funding from the U.S. Department of Defense and U.S. Army Medical Command. “NuShores is doing groundbreaking work to help improve bone regeneration technology, and I enjoyed getting to learn more about its operation and research, which could ultimately help prevent amputations,” Sen. Boozman said. At ��Vlog��ý Little Rock, the senator toured the Collaboratorium for Social Media and Online Behavioral Studies (COSMOS), the Emerging Analytics Center (EAC), and the Cyber Arena in the Donaghey College of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics to see the amazing projects taking place in information science, computer science, cybersecurity, and augmented and virtual reality. “Sen. Boozman’s visits are always a delight,” said Dr. Lawrence Whitman, dean of the Donaghey College of STEM. “We appreciate his support of the vital research at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock and the manner in which he engages us to ensure that we are providing impact for all Arkansans.” Sen. Boozman and his staff have worked with the university for the last several years in helping secure federal funding for many of ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s research projects focused on national security. “The important research conducted at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock is leading to breakthroughs and discoveries that enable us to better safeguard our country against emerging threats,” Sen. Boozman said. “I’m proud to support the development of innovative strategies advanced by ��Vlog��ý Little Rock researchers that offer solutions to enhance our national security and preparedness.” In , Dr. Nitin Agarwal, Jerry L. Maulden-Entergy endowed chair and distinguished professor of information science and director of COSMOS, shared how his research team is using social media analysis to defend against global disinformation threats. One example is COSMOS’ in partnership with the Arkansas Attorney General’s office. COSMOS’ research is funded in part by the U.S. Department of Defense and National Science Foundation. “We deeply appreciate Sen. Boozman for his unwavering support to the research conducted at COSMOS for strengthening the social and cognitive security apparatus that is furthering the U.S. Department of Defense’s mission, particularly enhancing force protection and operation security against adversarial information operations,” Agarwal said. “During the visit, Senator Boozman inspired and encouraged to keep up the groundbreaking research that is of national and strategic importance.” In the Cyber Arena, Sen. Boozman met several students enrolled in ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s new cybersecurity degree program, which is working to fill the gap of qualified cybersecurity professionals needed to protect network security throughout the country. “We appreciate Sen. Boozman’s work to bring cybersecurity workforce development and research opportunities to Arkansas. Our students have tremendous talent and creativity in developing solutions to defend the nation, and the senator works hard to continue providing them with opportunities to make use of those talents.” said Philip Huff, assistant professor of cybersecurity. ��Vlog��ý Little Rock has received numerous grants and created partnerships for workforce education and cybersecurity. These grants are helping ��Vlog��ý Little Rock to provide K-12 cybersecurity education to students in Arkansas, the country’s first graduate certificate in cybersecurity education, and a for first responders.

Sen. John Boozman visits with Dr. Alex Biris and other workers at NuShores Biosciences.

“The State of Arkansas is providing outstanding support for research and teaching in computer science and cybersecurity,” said Dr. Albert Baker, chair of the Department of Science. “The federal support Sen. Boozman has secured for productive research programs at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock is producing actionable results for the state and the nation. We are genuinely appreciative that the senator took the time to review the funded research projects.” Dr. Jan Springer, director of the , discussed the work the center is doing to enhance the nation’s border security. “Our team in the Emerging Analytics Center showcased their work on automated detection of organic threats in x-ray scans for Sen. Boozman,” Springer said. “Throughout this project, the senator has emphasized the importance of innovating border security and has helped us tremendously in securing funding for developing tools and techniques to meet this national priority.”

Applications for Signature Experience Grants open until Oct. 31

Ajani Oyindamola — Tue, 01 Oct 2019 16:08:44 +0000

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock will accept applications for the university’s Signature Experience Program until Oct. 31 to encourage and support students in the development of high-impact research or creative projects mentored by a faculty member through the 2019-20 academic year. Applications must be submitted by midnight Oct. 31. The first round of grant applications will be reviewed beginning Oct. 15, so early applications are encouraged. The Signature Experience Grant program was created in 2017 to provide students up to $1,000 to fund a signature experience, such as a research project, creative activity, or community project to enrich students’ academic experience at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock. Past projects have ranged across disciplines and included a review of tenant-landlord laws in Arkansas, a study of coral reef disease in the Bahamas, an analysis of gold nanoparticles for growing neural cells, an examination of cross-dressing on Shakespeare’s stage, and the entrepreneurial design and development of a transparent fishing box. “This year, there will be several important changes aimed at formalizing the Signature Experience Program to support high-level research and creative work, as well as retention and recruitment initiatives,” said Dr. Jeremy Ecke, director of the Signature Experience Program. “As the Signature Experience Program matures, we hope to offer more research and creative support to students through workshops, speakers, and luncheons that will build a culture of collaboration between faculty and students at various levels of their academic careers.”�� This year, a subset of awards will be set aside for freshmen, sophomores, and students who transferred to ��Vlog��ý Little Rock during the 2019-20 academic year. “The grant gives new ��Vlog��ý Little Rock students the opportunity to develop a research project with a mentor and gain a better understanding of a given discipline and its methodologies,” Ecke said. “If new students work with a mentor and conduct research early on in their college careers, they are more likely to stay in school. They are far more likely to be engaged as an active member of the academic community and to identify with their majors.”�� For the first time, ��Vlog��ý Little Rock will also offer a set amount of grants for graduate students.�� “This funding will prioritize graduate students whose research projects are unlikely to move forward without a source of funding,” Ecke said. “These grants open up more research opportunities for our graduate students and give them the chance to conduct more competitive research projects in areas that are not as highly grant funded.” To be eligible for application, students must have a minimum 2.5 grade point average and a ��Vlog��ý Little Rock faculty member to mentor their project. They also must present their project during the 2020 Student Research and Creative Works Showcase in April 2020. Applications can be filled out at this link. Examples of abstracts, budgets, biographies, and past Research Expo programs are also available on the Signature Experience website.�� For more information, contact Dr. Jeremy Ecke at jsecke@ualr.edu or 501-569-3475.

��Vlog��ý Little Rock sets fundraising record, endowment tops $80 million

Janea Snyder — Wed, 17 Jul 2019 20:37:24 +0000

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock raised $20 million in private gift support during the fiscal year that ended June 30, marking an 11% increase over the previous fiscal year. This also marked the largest fundraising year in the university’s history since receiving gifts for the Jack Stephens Center and the Windgate Center for Art and Design. More than 7,600 individuals, corporations, and private foundations gave 26,366 gifts between July 1, 2018, and June 30, 2019. This is the third consecutive year of gift growth. New endowments totaled $2,774,937, bringing ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s total endowment to more than $80 million. ��“These gifts from our generous donors support efforts to maintain our distinction as a recognized research university while advancing the social and economic well-being of our students and the community,” said Chancellor Andrew Rogerson. “Making college education affordable remains a top priority for ��Vlog��ý Little Rock. With the help of private philanthropy, the university is able to make a college education more affordable and ensure this generation has access to a world-class education close to home.” One of the largest gifts this year includes a $754,000 gift from the Windgate Foundation supports the Windgate Center for Art and Design and its programs. “The fundraising success ��Vlog��ý Little Rock is experiencing is possible thanks to the generous donations of alumni, parents, foundations, friends, and businesses,” said Christian O’Neal, vice chancellor for university advancement. “Our donors are helping to grow our city, our campus, and giving students a world of opportunity. We are extremely grateful for their support in changing lives.”�� Trojan Athletics received more than $3 million this year. The Donaghey Foundation helped fund a $725,000 renovation of the Donaghey Athletic Center on ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s campus. The project provided significant upgrades and much-needed enhancements that have allowed the athletic program to better serve and prepare student-athletes for success. This investment has also helped the athletic program with recruitment of student-athletes and with competition for championships. All 15 Division I Trojan athletic programs are benefitting from several legacy gifts totaling more than $1 million from donors. Some of the gifts were in the form of three naming rights throughout the Jack Stephens Center. The Lot 16 entrance on the northwest corner is named the Dr. Bob Young Entrance. The student-athlete entrance, located on the ground floor, is the Mary and Rick Edwards Family Entrance. The Athletic Administrative offices located on the third floor are named the Patricia and Mark L. Pollack Athletics Suite. Included in the suite is the Victor Jacuzzi Family Office of Director of Athletics.�� “The Little Rock Trojans continue to benefit from tremendous support from our community,” said Chasse Conque, vice chancellor and director of athletics. “This past year provided another strong fundraising campaign leading to nearly $7.5 million in support over the past two years which has directly enhanced our student-athlete experience. We are most grateful to our loyal supporters who continue to invest in Little Rock’s Team and our mission of graduating champions.” “Our development team is dedicated to changing lives through education,” added Holly Rose, executive director of development. “It is through their work with our generous donors that we can provide students a quality, affordable education, some of the best facilities and programs in the region, and teaching excellence.” Other noteworthy achievements in FY 2019:��

The university awarded $1.52 million in private scholarships, an all-time high. These scholarships helped students with tuition, books, and other school-related expenses. Some students who were near graduation but had particularly dire financial hardships received “Last Mile” funds to help them complete their degree.
The ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Alumni Association membership grew to a record 3,300 members�� and raised $113,452 in online gifts from 131 donors in one day. The popular Taste of Little Rock event also generated $141,000 in sponsorships, ticket sales, and in-kind and general donations.��
First-ever nationwide development efforts celebrated alumni in 21 cities across America. University events were held in Atlanta; Austin; Chicago; Dallas; and Hollywood.
$100,000 in private funding was awarded to 100 students for Signature Experience grants to pursue research and creative endeavor projects. This is the second year that ��Vlog��ý Little Rock students could receive grants to work on faculty-mentored projects, allowing them to gain knowledge and skills to compete in a competitive work workforce after graduation.��
Forty-six percent of benefits-eligible employees donated through the annual faculty and staff giving campaign, demonstrating an investment in future students, faculty, and staff.

In the photo above right, a student discusses her breast cancer research with a group of students during the Research and Creative Works Expo. ��Vlog��ý Little Rock awarded $100,000 in research grants to 100 undergraduate students this year. The grants were made possible by private donations from university supporters.�� Photo by Benjamin Krain

��Vlog��ý Little Rock researcher uncovers history of black activism during World War I

Ajani Oyindamola — Wed, 13 Feb 2019 23:10:17 +0000

A University of Arkansas at Little Rock graduate student is shedding light on long-overlooked contributions black communities in Arkansas made to the World War I effort.�� Crystal Shurley, an archivist at the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies who completed her Master of Arts in public history in December 2018, wrote her thesis on the history of the Arkansas Colored Auxiliary Council, an early archivist group that was active during World War I and has remained a relatively undocumented part of Arkansas history. “This is an important piece of black Arkansas history that has not been investigated,” Shurley said. “I think it’s important that we remember that history is made by everyone, and not everyone that is a history maker is a white male. Unfortunately, in history we often focus on people who are in the limelight instead of ordinary people who have worked hard to achieve great things and often get no credit.” For her thesis, Shurley searched through the Arkansas Council of Defense Records located in the Arkansas State Archives. Despite the patriotic efforts of black communities during World War I, their efforts were often seen a potential threat to white authorities. “Her thesis and website fill a hole in Arkansas history and are timely additions to the scholarship of World War I history in the war’s centennial year,” said Dr. Brian Mitchell, assistant professor of history and Shurley’s thesis advisor. “While scholars know a tremendous amount of information about how Arkansans supported and entertained white World War I recruits and soldiers, very little is known about about how black Arkansans supported black soldiers on the home front. Shurley’s work reveals the patriotism espoused by the black community and the efforts that they made to ensure that their husbands, fathers, and sons who pledged themselves to the war effort would be appreciated and supported by their own.” The Council of National Defense was established in 1916 to coordinate industries and resources in the event that the United States entered World War I. This national council oversaw investigations of infrastructure, troop movement, supply mobilization, production and distribution of propaganda, organization of civilian population, and the nation’s capability to produce materials. Smaller councils were established at the state and county level, including councils for African Americans and women. The Arkansas State Council of Defense was created on May 22, 1917; however, Arkansas resisted the federal government’s instructions to create a council for African Americans. By July 1918, federal authorities were threatening to organize the African Americans themselves. “The federal authorities had to literally threaten Arkansas to organize their black community,” Shurley said. “Arkansas did not want to have a council that was organizing the black community into any kind of authoritative force. A lot of states were afraid of the black community uniting, and black people gaining a sense of equality. But Arkansas officials thought that if the federal authorities reached out to the black community, that they would get an overinflated sense of their importance.” In a 1918 letter to convince Arkansas to organize the black community, Council of National Defense member Arthur Fleming wrote, “It will also prevent the over-emphasis which would result from different federal agencies approaching the Negroes independently and which, as you can readily see, might create in their minds a disastrous misconception of their importance.” The Arkansas Colored Auxiliary Council held its first meeting on Aug. 10, 1918. The council was supervised by John Bond, the state education superintendent, and Wallace Townsend, the director of the state council, who reassured state council members by selecting conservative black leaders. Scipio Jones, a prominent black attorney and former slave who is best known for his defense of 12 black men sentenced to death following the Elaine Massacre of 1919, was appointed as the state chairman of the Colored Auxiliary Council. Another prominent member, Josiah Blount, later became the first black person to run for governor in Arkansas in 1920. ��

This Nov. 2, 1918, Arkansas Democrat article from the Arkansas Council of Defense Records located in the Arkansas State Archives showcases the different black leaders who worked with the Council of Defense on the Arkansas Colored Auxiliary Council. The leaders of the community were trying to raise a minimum of $400,000 dollars during the month of November. The Auxiliary Council had its first meeting on Aug. 10, 1918, and by November the committee was working hard to rise money for the war effort.

“These men were well-educated leaders in Arkansas’s black communities and the Arkansas Colored Auxiliary Council,” Shurley said. “Townsend and Bond believed that the men of the Colored Auxiliary Council would work within the established social guidelines of appropriate behavior for black men, according to white society in Arkansas, and to some extent they did. These same black men were working within their communities to uplift and change the environment around them.” The Arkansas State Council of Defense largely excluded the accomplishments of the Arkansas Colored Auxiliary Council from official reports, but Shurley found examples of their accomplishments recorded in the newspapers of the day. In 1918, the Branch Normal College, now the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, signed a contract with the government to train 2,400 black soldiers in mechanical trades. The Daily Arkansas Gazette reported on April 29, 1918, that black communities in Phillips County mortgaged their farm stock to raise money to purchase war bonds. Jones donated $200 to the War Fund Drive in November 1918. Gov. Charles Brough even issued a public statement about the donation to encourage other black people to make similar donations. Local black organizations purchased thousands of dollars of war stamps. Jones and the Mosaic Templars of America, a black fraternal organization established in Little Rock, donated $100,000 to U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Williams McAdoo for World War I. The contributions of black women were largely ignored in the official reports as well. In the Report of the Woman’s Committee Council of Defense for Arkansas, Shurley noted that just one paragraph in a 72-page report described the work of black women, who were active in food conservation, collecting war savings stamps, Red Cross, health, and child welfare. Black women who volunteered for the Red Cross sewed clothes for American soldiers in special rooms set up by the Mosaic Templars of America since black people were not allowed to work in the same places as white people. Shurley said that black women at the time were often accused of not working hard enough to support the war effort if they did not also work as domestic help for white families. G.B. Ewing, a white Desha County judge, wrote a letter to the Arkansas Council of Defense about his concerns over the lack of black female domestic labor in Arkansas. While the “women of the white race have done their utmost to assist in everything about winning the war,” Ewing wrote, “it is impossible to get any domestic help from the negro women in fact they have practically quit work and we find they are being kept up by the increase in earning of the negro men or from allotments obtained from government through enlisted negroes, so vagrancy laws will not reach them.” “Black women were actually villainized by some in the Council of Defense,” Shurley said. “In some states, there were laws that were put into place that black women had to have a job outside their home in order to force them to work as domestics. The white community felt that their standard of living was getting too high since their husbands were in the war and bringing home a steady paycheck.” Shurley also created with information about its members, historical records, newspaper clippings, council reports, and correspondence that she hopes others will use to learn more about this group and their contributions to fight World War I. “Sometimes, we focus on all the horrible things that happen to people of color, and we don’t focus on the amazing contributions they have made to society,” Shurley said. “The Arkansas Colored Auxiliary Council was an incredibly positive influence and force in the black community. They made incredible contributions that they were never recognized for.” The website will also provide an excellent guide for educators in Arkansas who wish to teach their students about the Arkansas Colored Auxiliary Council. “Her thesis and website provide a rich tapestry of details regarding the organization of the Arkansas Colored Auxiliary Council, its membership, and its activities,” Mitchell said. “I hope that middle and high school teachers throughout the state will incorporate Shurley’s digital contribution to their lesson plans and classroom discussion of the Great War.”

��Vlog��ý Little Rock professor joins international gender, justice, and security research hub funded by nearly $20 million grant

Ajani Oyindamola — Wed, 06 Feb 2019 19:13:57 +0000

A University of Arkansas at Little Rock professor is part of an international research network that has been awarded more than £15 million pounds, or $19.6 million, to address gendered dimensions of injustice and insecurity around the world.�� Over the past two years, Eric Wiebelhaus-Brahm, associate professor in the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock, has traveled to war-affected countries across the world as part of the Justice, Conflict and Development Network. The international research team investigated how peace can be achieved in societies emerging from conflict. That project was funded by a 2016 grant worth approximately £150,000 British pounds by the, which supports cutting edge research and innovation that addresses the global issues faced by developing countries. Through the team’s study of justice initiatives and economic development challenges in Colombia, Sri Lanka, Syria, and Uganda, the researchers developed new research questions and applied for additional funding to continue their research. The London School of Economics (LSE) Centre for Women, Peace, and Security, which will lead the new coalition of research institutions, was awarded a from the Global Challenges Research Fund to create the Gender, Justice, and Security Hub. �� The new Hub is part of the, a pioneering new approach to tackle some of the world’s most pressing challenges through investment across 12 global research hubs. Over the next five years, these Interdisciplinary Research Hubs will work across 85 countries with governments, international agencies, partners, and nongovernmental organizations on the ground in developing countries and around the globe to develop creative and sustainable solutions which help make the world, and the UK, safer, healthier, and more prosperous. “This is building upon our previous research of the that was trying to accomplish two things. The first was to identify important research questions about the interplay of three issues: economic development issues and challenge, justice issues, and conflict dynamics,” Wiebelhaus-Brahm said. “We are trying to establish policies that might help to ensure peace in the long run, even in conflict-affected countries where the people might never see justice. The second thing we are trying to do is facilitate collaboration among academics, activists, nonprofits, and policy makers across the world.” The LSE-led Hub seeks to advance sustainable peace by developing an evidence base around gender, justice, and inclusive security in conflict-affected societies. With 44 partners across 17 countries, it will expand research capacity and interdisciplinary research. The Hub will also connect with leading ambassadors for gender justice to turn research insights into ongoing actions that will improve lives. “When you have had periods of mass violence, there are often massive human rights violations. People who are victims want to see justice, but different people have different views of what a just response is,” Wiebelhaus-Brahm said. “We are also looking at the drivers of the conflicts, the simmering tensions that continue in these areas, and how those issues prevent peace building in societies that have been deeply affected by conflict and civil war. A new focus of the project will be gender, how conflict affects individuals differently depending on their gender, and how justice and development are experienced differently according to one’s gender.” As an example of the type of research the hub will investigate, Wiebelhaus-Brahm said one of the biggest research areas emerging from post-conflict Sri Lanka is the promotion of gender equality stemming from women who fought in the civil war. “One of my colleagues has done research investigating female Tamil Tiger fighters,” Wiebelhaus-Brahm said. “She has looked at how women have adapted to the end of the war. Women decided to join the rebellion for lots of different reasons. The rebels did sometimes pressure people to support the rebellion. Some said they volunteered to protect a younger brother from joining. Finally, some women saw it as empowering, that joining the rebels gave them more independence. In interviews, a lot of women talked about the equality they experienced as part of the rebellion. After the war, a lot of these women have been shunted back into traditional women’s work.” Wiebelhaus-Brahm will be investigating issues related to the funding for peace and justice initiatives and reconstruction projects in countries emerging from conflict and civil war. His share of the grant, which is approximately £100,000 pounds (around $130,000), will be used to fund research tools, travel expenses, and graduate research assistants. “I will be collecting data on how much funding is being devoted to justice initiatives and where that funding is coming from,” he said. “I will also look at attempts to come up with comparable cross-national measures related to gender and development and justice issues. This research will look at existing data from the United Nations, such as that relating to women’s access to justice. The goal will be to identify existing measures or to come up with measures that can compare a variety of relevant issues across countries to determine how specific countries are doing in terms of successful justice initiatives and the promotion of gender equality.” Professor Christine Chinkin, founding director of the LSE Center for Women, Peace, and Security, will serve as the principal investigator for the Gender, Justice, and Security Hub. “The Hub provides an amazing opportunity to work with our partners overseas to explore, through research and exchanges, the potential of the Women, Peace, and Security agenda to help deliver on the global challenges of the Sustainable Development Goals,” Chinkin said.

��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s Agarwal named Arkansas Research Alliance Fellow

Janea Snyder — Thu, 13 Dec 2018 19:53:16 +0000

, a distinguished professor of Information Science Department and head of the university’s Collaboratorium for Social Media and Online Behavioral Studies (), was one of six new Fellows announced Thursday, Dec. 13,��during a news conference at the Arkansas State Capitol. The ARA Fellows program, launched in 2014, recognizes research leaders who are currently working in Arkansas at one of the state’s five research campuses: University of Arkansas at Little Rock, University of Arkansas, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, Arkansas State University, and also from the National Center for Toxicological Research in Jefferson, Arkansas, the only Food and Drug Administration lab located outside the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. ARA Fellows from university campuses receive a $75,000 grant. The ARA Fellows program was created to advance the mission of ARA by supporting world-class researchers whose work strengthens the competitiveness of the state through research. ARA Fellows focus on innovations in biomedical engineering, plant biochemistry, nanoscience, microbiology, nutritional improvements, electronics research and more, often resulting in a direct impact on the state’s economy. The alliance is celebrating 10 years of making research matter in Arkansas. “ARA impacts our state in so many positive ways, from increasing the amount of federal research funds available in Arkansas to accelerating the commercialization timetable, to connecting research to our established businesses,” Gov. Asa Hutchinson said. Agarwal joined ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s Department of Information Science in August 2009. In 2013, he received early tenure and promotion to associate professor. In July 2015, he was awarded the Jerry L. Maulden-Entergy Endowed Chair Professor of Information Science based on his��outstanding contributions to his discipline. He received his Ph.D. in computer science from Arizona State University. In 2012, Arkansas Business included Agarwal in its list of “Top 20 Influentials in their 20s,” and in 2017 the Arkansas Times featured Dr. Agarwal in its special issue on “Visionary Arkansas: A Celebration of Arkansans with ideas and achievements of��transformative power.” Agarwal is highly respected for his social media research. He has collaborated with and received funding from influential national and international organizations such as NATO, the U.S. Office of Naval Research, the Air Force Research Lab, the U.S. Army Research Office, the U.S. Defense Advanced Research and Projects Agency, and the National Science Foundation. His recent research includes studying how governments and groups such as ISIS use social media to spread deviant messages, conduct propaganda campaigns, and influence opinions, behavior, and media coverage. For his contributions to industry, academia, and research, Agarwal also was nominated as a fellow to the International Academy, Research and Industry Association in 2017. Earlier this year, he was selected as a member of the U.S. State Department’s Tech Demo program to counter foreign propaganda and disinformation. Agarwal and COSMOS researchers will showcase technologies like Blogtrackers and YouTube trackers, one of COSMOS’ latest applications. These applications track information providers and narratives as misinformation is disseminated through social media networks including blogs, YouTube, and Twitter. The research is the result of projects supported by millions of dollars in federal grants. The other newly named ARA Fellows include the following:

Jingyi Chen, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, ��Vlog��ý
Steven Foley, Ph.D., Deputy Director, Division of Microbiology, NCTR
Xiuzhen Huang, Ph.D., Professor of Computer Science, A-State
Clint Kilts, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Psychiatry, ��Vlog��ýMS
Mansour Mortazavi, Ph.D., Professor and Vice Chancellor, ��Vlog��ýPB

The six new ARA Fellows join existing ARA Scholars and Fellows in the ARA Academy of Scholars and Fellows, now 26 members strong. “ARA Fellows are nominated by their respective institutions,” said Jerry Adams, ARA president and chief executive officer. “We are honored to have these immensely talented researchers join the ARA Academy of Scholars and Fellows.” In the top right photo,�� Dr. Nitin Agarwal and his parents are pictured with Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson.

��Vlog��ý Little Rock grad researches validity of patient data found on social networks

Ajani Oyindamola — Wed, 12 Dec 2018 15:35:15 +0000

A University of Arkansas at Little Rock student who is graduating on Dec. 15 is making it easier for medical researchers to validate patient data found on social networks that can be used to make important decisions about what medical products are advanced for future development. When Kim Tran of Little Rock was working at Arkansas Capital Corporation a decade ago, she noted that there was a statewide discussion on the critical importance of computer and information technology. “I was working with business and government leaders throughout Arkansas who were talking about technology and how important it was to have access to the infrastructure in order to enable that technology,” she said. “At the time, people were also starting to talk about this thing called big data. With this in mind, I wanted to learn more. ��Vlog��ý Little Rock had also just partnered with MIT to develop a curriculum that was focused on the science of data and that is what brought me to ��Vlog��ý Little Rock.” Tran, who began the Ph.D. program in computer and information science in 2010 as a part-time student who worked full time, said one of the most challenging aspects of the process was selecting a topic for her dissertation, citing the more than 1,200 articles she reviewed before choosing a topic. She’s grateful for her professors who served as mentors during her time at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock. “Dr. Rolf Wigand was always pushing the boundary for me,” she said. “Every time I felt good about where I was at, he would challenge me to look around the next corner. Ph.D. students need this kind of feedback in order to strengthen the quality of their research. Dr. John Talburt and Dr. Meredith Zozus especially helped me contextualize my research. I also developed lifetime friendships with many professors at the university. They were an exceptionally supportive group, and I was lucky to have that.” Having a support structure during her doctoral endeavors was something she especially owes to her dissertation advisor, Dr. Nitin Agarwal, Maulden-Entergy Endowed Chair and distinguished professor in the Department of Information Science and director of the Collaboratorium of Social Media and Online Behavioral Studies (). “The great thing about the Ph.D. process is that you have an advisor who will guide you through the process and help open doors so that you can grow and develop. Dr. Agarwal guided me through the process,” she said. Tran’s research brings together the fields of machine learning and natural language processing, psychometrics, and social networks, all of which are applied to Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF), a lung disease which results in scarring (fibrosis) of the lungs for unknown reasons. An estimated five million patients worldwide and 150,000 patients in the United States are affected by this disease. “Kim’s research bridges the disciplines of statistics, health sciences, information sciences, and social networks by developing a computational framework to assess social media’s validity in capturing patient reported outcomes from Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis patients,” Agarwal said. “Her research has far-reaching implications to the health domain by facilitating exploratory efforts in the medical product development process.” Since 2009, regulatory reviewers have been looking at ways to incorporate patient input into its drug selection process, in order to bring drugs to the market sooner, Tran said. In 2015, a discussion held between regulatory reviewers, pharmaceutical companies, and a patient group generated consensus on the potential of social networks in supporting the validity of patient outcomes identified for medical product development and her dissertation creates a scalable framework from which the validity of social networks can be determined. “Healthcare is very unique domain since research in this area affects the lives of patients,” she said. “So any data you are deriving from any source will require a high level of scrutinization. Social networks are one possible platform that can be used as a source to develop patient-reported outcomes. While the ideal source of feedback is obtained directly from the patient, the way in which this information is gathered is highly variant in scope and in quality. The FDA, for example, still collects patient input through town halls. In the search for more efficient methods of gathering patient understanding, social networks serve as a unique source of observational data.” In order to study whether the data is valid, she uses advanced probabilistic methods to analyze and evaluate Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis messages from Twitter for the last 10 years across 34 different languages from around the world. Tran was drawn to study Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis after attending an international research conference where she spoke with patients and about this little known disease. “IPF is not as well known or studied as breast cancer,” she said. “When something is idiopathic, you don’t know the origin. The one thing you do know is that your disease is fatal and that it will result in markedly reduced lung capacity over time. I met with and spoke at length with many patients who were affected by this disease at an international conference. It was eye opening and also touching how driven and motivated these patients were to learn about IPF. They were there because they didn’t want to just be a patient, they wanted to be a part of finding a cure. That gave me the drive to learn more about the field and to help advance the understanding of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.” As part of her dissertation, Tran has collaborate with a researchers across the country who are planning to set up additional studies based on this research. “I have been fortunate to meet researchers from other institutions that I have been working with as well as others that I will begin to work with,” she said. “This is a group which will bring diverse perspectives and includes researchers from ��Vlog��ýMS, Yale, Georgetown, Northeastern, and Tulane University. There is much opportunity to extend this research to fully evaluate the validity of social networks, and I am really looking forward to it.” In the end, Tran is grateful for the opportunities that earning a Ph.D. brought her. “The Ph.D. process is an excellent development opportunity as long as you are able to commit to the process,” Tran said. “Through this process, you learn how to learn. I had an opportunity to work across a variety of fields that are all on the cutting edge of things that matter in today’s business environment and to make a novel contribution to the field.”

��Vlog��ý Little Rock researchers study impact of faith-based community engagement in Little Rock

Ajani Oyindamola — Mon, 10 Dec 2018 18:27:21 +0000

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock is researching how places of worship in Little Rock work with nonprofit organizations to promote community engagement and provide social services to vulnerable populations.�� The Little Rock Congregations Study is part of an ongoing research project led by Dr. Rebecca Glazier, professor in the School of Public Affairs, stemming from research begun in 2012 to study the effects of religious organizations on community engagement in Little Rock. The interdisciplinary project brought together 59 student researchers from ��Vlog��ý Little Rock who gained invaluable research experience. More than 110 clergy members from congregations across Little Rock completed the survey, while 24 clergy were interviewed. Additionally, students wrote. Undergraduate students in Glazier’s Survey Research Methods class assisted in developing the survey and distributing it to clergy members. They also wrote stories highlighting the good work done through partnerships between places of worship and nonprofit organizations. Members of Dr. Kirk Leach’s graduate Nonprofit Management class and Dr. Gerald Driskill’s undergraduate Intercultural Communication class conducted in-depth interviews with clergy members. “Sometimes, the university can feel pretty distant from the rest of the city,” Glazier said. “The Little Rock Congregations Study gets students out of the classroom and into the community to do research that really matters. We are working hard to share findings that clergy members, congregants, and the broader Little Rock community will find valuable.”

Dr. Rebecca Glazier stands with Little Rock Congregations Study student researchers Anet Rosas-Labrada, Anna Aguilar, Rhodes Houser, Nikki Partlow-Loyall, and Josie Keathley.

The researchers have found that marriage and relationship counseling is the most common service provided by congregations, with 61 percent of responding congregations providing these services, followed by 47 percent of congregations in the study providing a food bank. Partnerships between congregations and nonprofit organizations are a common occurrence. More than 50 percent of congregations with food banks have a partner to help provide that service. Meanwhile, 60 percent of congregations who provide medical screenings or other services have a partner, likely because these types of services are more resource intensive. The most common reason for a partnership between a congregation and a nonprofit is a desire to connect with the community. “Partnerships aren’t happening out of a need for resources, as we might expect, but are more often motivated by the desire of a congregation to get beyond their own members and connect with the broader community in Little Rock,” Glazier said. Three of the student researchers, all political science majors, are taking the project a step further. They have received Signature Experience Awards from ��Vlog��ý Little Rock to conduct individual research projects with the help of faculty mentors. Jordan Wallis, a Marine Corps veteran, received a grant to look specifically at veterans’ services provided by congregations and nonprofits in Little Rock. “I am excited to be able to do empirical, community-based research that will further my education and allow me to do a little bit to help fellow veterans in need,” Wallis said. Next, Paige Topping received a grant to study community outreach efforts to share the results of the Little Rock Congregations Study. “I am thankful for the opportunity to not only research issues that are important to my community, but to also connect on a local level and create long-lasting relationships and positive impacts,” Topping said. The third student, Madison Rodgers, received an honorary award to look at longitudinal data from the Little Rock Congregations Study and track community engagement over time. Updates on the continuing research can be found on the or. In the spring 2019 semester, the group will survey people who work at nonprofit organizations in Little Rock to get their perspectives on collaborating with congregations. Additionally, the researchers have received a $1,000 grant from the Arkansas Community Foundation to host a workshop in the spring 2019 semester to share the latest research findings with clergy members. They will also build a clergy advisory board to help prepare for the 2020 Little Rock Congregations Study. In the upper right photo,��Dr. Rebecca Glazier (left) discusses the Little Rock Congregations Study with student researchers Anna Aguilar, Nicole Ursin, and Rhodes Houser.

��Vlog��ý Little Rock awards funding to six projects in Seed Grant Competition

Ajani Oyindamola — Fri, 21 Sep 2018 14:22:04 +0000

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock has awarded funding to six research projects by ��Vlog��ý Little Rock faculty members through the 2018-19 Seed Grant Competition.�� This year, the competition accepted research proposals in two tracks. Four projects were awarded funding of $6,000 each in Track A, while two projects were awarded $12,000 each in Track B. The grant period for each award is from Aug. 16, 2018, to Aug. 15, 2019. The ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Seed Grant Competition aims to kickstart compelling research projects that can later be funded by external support after the term of the seed grant. The Track A winners and their projects include:

Annie Childers and Liangfang Lu, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, “Placement and Retention in Developmental Mathematics at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock”
Amar Kanekar, School of Counseling, Human Performance, and Rehabilitation, and Joseph Williams, Department of Rhetoric and Writing, “Health Quest – A Training Simulation for Health Education Students and Workers”
Rebecca Glazier, School of Public Affairs, and Heidi Skurat Harris, Department of Rhetoric and Writing, “Identifying Reliable Indicators of Instructor-Student Rapport in Online Classrooms”
Fusheng Tang, Department of Biology, “Osh6-Mediated Sterol Redistribution Extends the Lifespan”

The Track B winners and their projects include:

Hirak Patangia, College of Engineering and Information Technology, “An Experimental Investigation of a Faster Voltage Equalizer for a String of Batteries in Electric Vehicles”
Shanzhi Wang and Brian Berry, Department of Chemistry, “Investigation of the Pre-steady State of MTANs from Borrelia burgdorferi”

Kanekar and Williams’ project involves testing a digital simulation that will train health education students in how to conduct public health initiatives by learning aspects of program planning and evaluation for preventing a condition/disease of public health importance. “My co-investigator, Dr. Joe Williams, and I feel great about winning this grant as we believe that this pilot project may open up doors for extending educational games for student learning in other health courses and looking into advanced gaming projects for student learning,” Kanekar said. Proposals were judged based on the significance of the research or creative activity, quality of the research plan, expected outcomes and direct impact to the community, strength of plan to seek external support, ability to enhance and acquire external support, and qualifications of the researchers. “The quality of the proposals for this year’s Seed Grant competition blew me away,” said Jerry Damerow, chair of the Dean’s Science Council for the College of Arts, Letters, and Sciences and one of judges for the seed grant competition. “The quality was so good it made judging very difficult.” Damerow said the judges looked for projects that would give ��Vlog��ý Little Rock a competitive advantage and projects that could lead to commercially viable products or services. “In this regard, Dr. Childers and Dr. Lu’s project to improve outcomes in developmental mathematics has the opportunity to give ��Vlog��ý Little Rock an advantage in retaining and graduating students versus other universities that use a more traditional approach,” Demerow said. “Dr. Patangia’s project aimed at improving the efficiency of charging a string of batteries has important potential in the rapidly growing field of alternative energy.”

College of Arts, Letters, and Sciences awards four Summer Research Fellowship Grants

Ajani Oyindamola — Wed, 18 Jul 2018 13:13:54 +0000

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock College of Arts, Letters, and Sciences awarded $10,480 in Summer Research Fellowship Grants to four professors who are spending their summer breaks performing unique research.�� The grant winners include Michael Warrick, professor of sculpture from the Department of Art and Design; Shanzhi Wang, assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry; Heather Hummel, assistant professor in the Department of English; and Zachary Hagins, professor in the Department of World Languages. Warrick received $2,480 to enlarge his traditional clay portraits of contemporary architects of peace in his project, “Portraits of Peace.” Utilizing contemporary 3D scanning and scaling technology, he plans to produce monumentally scaled portraits reflecting the benefits of meditation and spiritual centeredness. Additional long-term prospects for the project include a touring exhibition and a lecture series titled “Portraits of Peace in Clay and Bronze.” In his project, “Enzymatic studies of BbI06 from Lyme disease causing Borrelia��burgdorferi,” Wang has received $4,000 to fund an early step of a larger research project that has a long-term goal to eliminate Borrelia burgdorferi, bacteria that causes Lyme Disease, by inhibiting all three isoforms of methylthioadenosine nucleosidases of Borrelia burgdorferi (pfs, bgp and BbI06). Hummel has received $1,650 for a research trip that follows the U.S. Civil Rights Trail. She will visit historic sites and museums on her week-long, 1,300-mile loop through Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi. The information gathered along the way will be used to write a collection of poems that reconsiders the historic civil rights narratives against the urgency of social justice issues today. The final grant recipient, Hagins, received $2,350 to travel to Arles and Paris, France, to gather primary sources to finish drafting two chapters of his book manuscript. “Visualizing Diversity in the Republic: Contemporary Photography and the French Urban Periphery” explores how engaged photography can show how underprivileged social actors in France negotiate political, social, and cultural obstacles in their everyday lives. After completing the research, Hagins will be able to submit the manuscript for publication. In the upper right photo,��Michael Warrick stands by his sculpture, “Straight Lines on a Round World,” in front of the Statehouse Convention Center in downtown Little Rock, which commemorates the 200th anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase Survey.

- University News Archive - ����Vlog��ý Little Rock

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����Vlog��ý Little Rock’s Agarwal named Arkansas Research Alliance Fellow

����Vlog��ý Little Rock grad researches validity of patient data found on social networks

����Vlog��ý Little Rock researchers study impact of faith-based community engagement in Little Rock

����Vlog��ý Little Rock awards funding to six projects in Seed Grant Competition