The University of South Florida will celebrate the accomplishments of eleven faculty members on Tuesday, April 15 with nine Outstanding Research Achievement Awards and two Excellence in Innovation Awards. Their contributions span a variety of fields in artificial intelligence, disease prevention, family-school partnerships, oceanographic disturbances and semiconductor production.
"I congratulate all of the award winners," said USF Research & Innovation Vice President Sylvia Wilson Thomas, PhD. "Their dedication, passion and groundbreaking contributions are not only advancing knowledge but also increasing the impact of research and innovation at USF."
The Outstanding Research Achievement Award recognizes faculty who demonstrate exceptional achievement in research and creative activities, as well as the potential to engage in future high-impact contributions. The Excellence in Innovation Award commemorates remarkable advancement in translational research and innovation, and its transfer to practice, industrial partnerships and commercialization. Each awardee will be recognized for their accomplishments at the USF awards ceremony on April 15, 2025.
Excellence in Innovation Award Recipients
- Ryan Carney, PhD, MPH, MBA
Associate Professor in the Department of Integrative Biology, College of Arts & Sciences
Dr. Carney has multidisciplinary innovations in public health, paleontology, and pedagogy: patented AI technologies to fight mosquito-borne diseases globally, digital techniques to study flying dinosaurs, training the next generation of innovators using VR/AR. - John Licato, PhD
Associate Professor in the Bellini College for Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity & Computing
Dr. Licato is actively pioneering the translation of state-of-the-art AI research into practical technologies that will encourage safe and secure AI use.
Outstanding Research Achievement Award Recipients
- Ganesh Halade, PhD
Associate Professor in the USF Health Heart Institute, Morsani College of Medicine
Dr. Halade's pioneering work in inflammation-resolution biology connects lipid profiling in heart failure, cancer, and lifestyle factors, enhancing the understanding of chronic inflammation dynamics in human health and disease. - Chuanmin Hu, PhD
Professor in the Department of Physical Oceanography, College of Marine Science
Dr. Hu's innovative research on harmful algal blooms, oil spills, and global changes has made significant contributions to the fields of ocean optics and optical remote sensing. - Stacy-Ann January, PhD
Associate Professor in the College of Education
Dr. January has made distinguished contributions in the field of school psychology, particularly with advancing innovative approaches for improving decision making in schools and bolstering family-school partnerships to improve student and family success. - Nataša Jonoska, PhD
Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Mathematics & Statistics, College of Arts & Sciences
Dr. Jonoska's interdisciplinary work has addressed multiple fundamental questions about nucleic acids interactions and has advanced our understanding of their spatial embeddings that affect their structure and function. - Pei-Sung Lin, PhD
Program Director, ITS, Traffic Operations & Safety, Center for Urban Transportation Research
Dr. Lin has made exceptional contributions to transportation training and safety, and to advancing intelligent transportation research, infrastructure resilience, and innovative mobility solutions. - Ashwin Parthasarathy, PhD
Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering, College of Engineering
Dr. Parthasarathy has produced transformative research, technology development, and inventions that improve the portability and clinical translation of quantitative, noninvasive blood flow monitoring and imaging with optical instruments. - Ioannis Spanopoulos, PhD
Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry, College of Arts & Sciences
Dr. Spanopoulos has distinguished achievements in Materials Chemistry, particularly advancements in the development of Next-generation Multifunctional Semiconductors for Medical, Energy and Environment-Related Applications. - Alexander Staruschenko, PhD
Professor in the Department of Pharmacology & Physiology, USF Health Morsani College of Medicine
Dr. Staruschenko, Professor and Director of the Hypertension and Kidney Research Center at USF, is a leading researcher in kidney and cardiovascular physiology, securing major grants, publishing extensively, and mentoring future scientists. - Xingmin Sun, PhD
Professor in the Department of Molecular Medicine, USF Health Morsani College of Medicine
Dr. Sun has made pioneering contributions to C. difficile research, securing major grants, publishing extensively, developing vaccines, mentoring students, and advancing infectious disease therapeutics through innovation, leadership, and interdisciplinary collaboration.