The Offices of the President, the Provost, and the Vice President for Research are pleased to announce the 15 recipients of the 2018 Faculty Opportunity Funds. The Faculty Opportunity Fund program was created this year as a way to support Chapman University faculty in the development of new and innovative research, scholarship and creative activity. Although $160,000 was initially allocated for the Faculty Opportunity Fund, due to the number of high quality proposals and the Vice President for Research’s commitment to the program, the total funding was increased to $189,871.

Thirty-eight proposals totaling $479,496 were submitted to this highly competitive awards program. They were reviewed by four disciplinary faculty review panels consisting of faculty from Wilkinson College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences; Argyros School of Business and Economics; School of Communication; Attallah College of Education Studies; Crean College of Health and Behavioral Sciences; Fowler School of Law; College of Performing Arts; School of Pharmacy; and Schmid College of Science and Technology. Panel recommendations were made to Thomas Piechota, Vice President for Research; Laura Glynn, Faculty Fellow; and David Kost, Faculty Research and Development Council Chair. Congratulations to the following recipients:

The Effects of Yoga on Obesiogenic Biomarkers ($15,000)

Marcia Abbott, Crean College of Health and Behavioral Sciences

 

Generating a Draft Salvia Hispanica Genome Sequence ($9,000)

Hagop Atamian, Schmid College of Science and Technology

 

Sabbatical Travel Support for Music Composition Work and Institutional/Field Research during My Term as Visiting Professor at Western Sydney University ($6,714)

Sean Heim, College of Performing Arts

 

Use of Multimode Hyperspectral Imaging Technology for the Rapid Authentication of Fish Species ($14,582)

Rosalee Hellberg, Schmid College of Science and Technology

 

Positive Affect and Asthma in Pediatric Populations ($15,000)

Brooke Jenkins, Crean College of Health and Behavioral Sciences

 

Diffusing Value-Driven Innovations: From Startup Labs to Social Entrepreneurship ($15,000)

Kerk Kee, School of Communication

Andrew Schrok, School of Communication

Matthew Hanson, Ralph W. Leatherby Center for Entrepreneurship and Business Ethics

 

Caught in the Middle: Italian Jews, African Jews, and the Italian Empire ($5,500)

Shira Klein, Wilkinson College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences

 

The Effects of Neuroimmune Function on Social Behavior in Wild Mice ($15,000)

Patricia Lopes, Schmid College of Science and Technology

 

The Carcass of the Lion ($10,930)

Martin Nakell, Wilkinson College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences

 

Mama Has a Moustache ($15,000)

Sally Rubin, Dodge College of Film and Media Arts

 

Living in the Anthropocene: Off-Grid and Sustainable Living Practices ($11,667)

Stephanie Takaragawa, Wilkinson College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences

 

Antibiotic Modulation of Staphylococcal Phenol Soluble Modulin (PSM) Expression and the Impact on Disease Severity in Murine Model of Infection ($13,200)

Jason Yamaki, School of Pharmacy

 

Targeting Neuronal Nitric Oxide Synthase (nNOS), a Central Regulator of Melanoma Progression ($15,000)

Sun Yang, School of Pharmacy

 

Teaching Equitably and Access to Meaningful Mathematics (TEAMM) ($13,278)

Cathery Yeh, Attallah College of Educational Studies

Trisha Sugita, Attallah College of Educational Studies

 

Protective Role of SK Channels in the Endothelial Cells ($15,000)

Miao Zhang, School of Pharmacy