Seventeen University of Tennessee research leaders have been selected to participate in the 2024 cohort of the Office of Research and Economic Development’s Expanding Horizons Program. The program provides development, mentoring, and capacity-building opportunities that will build the skills and knowledge necessary for the transition to leading convergent research projects that will result in major scientific breakthroughs.
The ultimate goal of Expanding Horizons is to equip faculty with the skills needed to conduct convergent research. Leaders of convergent projects must bring together diverse researchers, developing effective ways to communicate across disciplines with common frameworks and language. To succeed at convergence, faculty often need to strengthen their non-technical abilities, learn about new disciplines, leverage institutional resources, and navigate administrative processes.
“ORIED is thrilled to welcome this talented group of researchers to the third cohort of Expanding Horizons. We know they will benefit from the rich curriculum related to convergent research,” says Jill Passano, senior director of research development & foundation engagement. “As these mid-career faculty pursue new discoveries from a variety of disciplines, understanding the evidence-based principles of collaboration will help them solve some of the most complex challenges our nation faces.”
Expanding Horizons participants will have the opportunity to form relationships with other cohort members and develop the vision and skills to lead convergent research projects.
The participants nominated to participate in the Expanding Horizons 2024 Cohort are:
| Marshall Prado | Architecture |
| James Rose | Institute for Smart Structures |
| Haidong Zhou | Physics |
| Konstantinos Vogiatzis | Chemistry |
| Moonhee Cho | Advertising & PR |
| Emily Paskewitz | Communication Studies |
| Josh Rosenberg | Theory and Practice in Teacher Education |
| Angela Pfammatter | Public Health |
| Wei Zheng | Business Analytics & Statistics |
| Anujit Sarkar | Nursing |
| Mary Lehman Held | Social Work |
| Anahita Khojandi | Industrial & Systems Engineering |
| Hongyu Zhou | Civil and Environmental Engineering, Institute for a Secure and Sustainable Environment |
| Jie Zhuang | Biosystems Engineering and Soil Science |
| Meg Staton | Entomology and Plant Pathology |
| Richard Gerhold | Biomedical & Diagnostic Sciences |
| Girlsh Neelakanta | Biomedical & Diagnostic Sciences |