Last November, the UT One Health Initiative (OHI) announced its second seed grant competition, whose goal is to create transdisciplinary synergies among UT faculty, staff, and students and external collaborators that embrace a One Health approach to investigations. OHI offered six small awards of $40,000, including one exploring healthy, living shorelines on the Tennessee River (*in partnership with Tennessee RiverLine) and one globally-focused award addressing one or more of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (**in partnership with UT’s Smith Center for International Sustainable Agriculture and the Center for Global Engagement).
Proposals were reviewed on their merit and significance, feasibility and approach, innovation, and external funding strategy. All six projects selected had a faculty member from the Tickle College of Engineering as either a lead PI or a Co-PI. Four of those projects included CEE faculty and are listed below.
- Effectiveness of a “Living Shoreline” on Environmental and Human Health on the Tennessee River:
PI: Michael McKinney, College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences
Co-PI: Andrea Ludwig, Herbert College of Agriculture, Department of Biosystems Engineering and Soil Sciences
Co-PI: John Schwartz, Tickle College of Engineering, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Co-PI: Michael Ross, Herbert College of Agriculture, Department of Plant Sciences
Co-PI: Garrett Ferry, Facilities Services - **Training the Next Global One Health Workforce: An Educational Pilot Program for Cross-Sectoral Engagement in Darien, Panamá:
PI: Jennifer Retherford, Tickle College of Engineering, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Co-PI: Nan Gaylord, College of Nursing
Co-PI: Sara Mulville, Smith Center for International Sustainable Agriculture
Co-PI: David Ader, Smith Center for International Sustainable Agriculture - Multiscale, Poly-topographic Platforms for Complex, Multifunctional Tissue Regeneration Using Precision Engineering: A Prelude to Organogenesis:
PI: Madhu Dhar, College of Veterinary Medicine, Large Animal Clinical Sciences
Co-PI: Dayakar Penumadu, Tickle College of Engineering, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering - Physics-Based and Machine-Learning Models for Goat Tibia Fracture:
PI: Timothy Truster, Tickle College of Engineering, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Co-PI: Pierre-Yves Mulon, College of Veterinary Medicine, Large Animal Clinical Sciences
Co-PI: David Anderson, College of Veterinary Medicine, Large Animal Clinical Sciences
“The OHI seed program is dedicated to supporting interdisciplinary teams focused on solving complex health issues at the environment, plant, animal, and human interface,” said Deb Miller, OHI Director. “We received fantastic proposals again this year and wish that we could support them all. The proposals awarded are exciting and tread into uncharted territory; we look forward to watching them develop!”
Information about each project will be available soon on the OHI website. Read the full list of TCE awards.