Faculty in the College of Engineering and Computer Sciences have recently received research grants from the National Science Foundation.
Two grants have been awarded in recent months to CECS faculty member Dr. SangHoon Lee, an assistant professor of computer sciences and electrical engineering. Lee received an NSF Computer and Information Science and Engineering Research Initiation Initiative (CRII) grant award of $174,716 on his research on “Developing a new hybrid interactive machine learning software tool for cancer researchers.”
It is the first CRII grant awarded at Marshall University and the second in West Virginia, Lee said. The project aims to develop an open-source hybrid interactive machine learning software tool using hybrid features extracted from digital slide images.
Lee also received an NSF Engineering Research Initiation (ERI) grant award of $199,198 toward his research project “A New Spatial Image Analysis of the Tumor Microenvironment for Cancer Immunotherapy.” It is the first in West Virginia. This project aims to discover statistically significant cancer biomarkers that will aid researchers in determining the prognosis of cancer patients.
“I am pleased with the two research grant awards that will broadly benefit AI-based biomarker development, investigation of multiple types of cancer, and interpretation of spatial variation in other research fields,” Lee said. “The outcomes of this project will be expected to yield new knowledge to help predict response to cancer immunotherapy.”
Additionally, Dr. Andrew Nichols, principal investigator (PI) and Dr. Sungmin Youn, co-PI, received $323,910 from the NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Program, which will support their research project “REU Site: Investigation of Subterranean Features in the Appalachian Region.” Nichols is a research professor and Youn is an assistant professor in the Department of Civil Engineering.
“This is exciting because this college has never gotten a Research Experiences for Undergraduates grant before,” said Dr. David Dampier, dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Sciences. “This means that Marshall and the College of Engineering and Computer Sciences are starting to get noticed for research nationally.”
With the REU grant, a group of undergraduate students will work with Marshall faculty, each on a specific research project. Students will receive stipends, housing and travel, beginning in the summer.
“I am very proud of our continuous progress in increasing research activities in the college,” said Dr. Wook-Sung Yoo, director of research in the College of Engineering and Computer Sciences. “Faculty receive more and more recognition for their significant accomplishments in research these days, receiving very competitive grants awards to solve the real-world problems beyond engineering fields.”
For more information about Marshall’s College of Engineering and Computer Sciences, visit www.marshall.edu/cecs.