Office of the Vice President for Research and Innovation

Knight campus bioengineer Calin Plesa developed DropSynth, a technology that creates massive, high-quality biological datasets at unprecedented speed and scale. In their new Science Advances publication, they used DropSynth to generate ~1,500 genes, identifying genetic factors driving antimicrobial resistance across microbes. Beyond antimicrobial resistance, this technology could transform research in cancer genes, viral evolution, and protein design. Importantly, DropSynth generates vast biological datasets for training powerful machine learning systems, addressing a critical bottleneck in using AI for drug development and combating disease resistance. Read more: https://lnkd.in/gEv6t8kB

Congratulations to Douglas Toomey, professor of geophysics at the University of Oregon and Director of the Oregon Hazards Lab, on receiving $1,008,800 from the National Science Foundation (NSF). The funding will support Sage Grande, an open-access AI testbed for edge computing and intelligent sensing.   This collaborative project, involving universities nationwide, uses AI and cyberinfrastructure to advance scientific experiments and generate new insights into climate and natural disasters.   Visit the project’s webpage here: https://sagecontinuum.org/

Congratulations to the newest University of Oregon Foundation’s Trustee Excellence Fund recipients: Masami Kawai, Claire Herbert, Julie Weise, and Yizhao Yang. The four faculty members are working to address urgent social issues such as homelessness, food insecurity, Indigenous identities, and migrant labor through a wide range of disciplines.   “These awards represent our confidence in a high potential for scholarly and social impact,” said Anshuman “AR” Razdan, vice president for research and innovation. “These projects will involve both undergraduate and graduate students, fulfilling an important objective of the UO Foundation’s program. I want to thank the UO Foundation trustees for continued support of our faculty.”   https://lnkd.in/gQHEKmnW

“Breakthrough research is increasingly interdisciplinary and collaborative. This planning grant helps us build a model for equitable access to computing, data sharing, and workforce development and alignment, so all Oregon institutions can participate in and benefit from the future of science and tech.” — Christy Long, MBA, associate chief information officer for technology infrastructure, chief of staff for Information Services at the UO, and principal investigator on the CIAO planning grant.

The UO is excited to collaborate with Oregon's seven other public universities and Link Oregon on the Cyberinfrastructure Alliance for Oregon (CIAO) strategic planning initiative. Led by Christy Long, MBA, the CIAO initiative boosts capacity for world-class research across the state by maximizing access to advanced computing and data tools. It will empower Oregon’s public universities to collaborate more effectively on complex, cross-disciplinary challenges that no single institution could tackle alone and lays the groundwork for a future-ready workforce in science and technology. https://lnkd.in/gAxhFFkt

Congratulations to Le Yang, Carl Brozek, Bryce Newell, and David Meek for receiving The Fulbright Program U.S. Scholar Program awards for the 2025-26 academic year! AI, food insecurity and nanotechnology are among the topics being investigated through international partnerships. https://lnkd.in/gCkhvrYM

Congratulations to Kayla Nguyen, assistant professor of physics at the University of Oregon, on receiving $600K from the Beckman Foundation. This funding will support Nguyen’s research in context beam electron ptychography, a form of microscopy.   Learn more about Nguyen’s research here: https://lnkd.in/ghkM4qxx

Early Wednesday morning, one of the largest recorded earthquakes struck off the coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia. Coastlines across the Pacific braced for powerful tsunami waves, as past earthquakes of this size led to extremely destructive tsunamis striking Indonesia in 2004 and Japan in 2011. Yet as time passed, no waves of any real concern came. What makes this earthquake different? University of Oregon's Diego Melgar, a geophysicist, earth sciences professor, and CRESCENT director, explains the reasoning behind this, and gets into the details that spared the Pacific Coastline. Get the full story here: https://nyti.ms/4odPCUJ #UOCAS

Congratulations to Brad Nolen, associate professor of biochemistry at the University of Oregon, on receiving $3,040,015 from the National Institutes of Health. This funding will support Nolen's research on how proteins regulate actin filament networks within cells. These networks, composed of polymerized chains of proteins, play a critical role in shaping cells and coordinating their behavior.   This work has the potential to answer key biomedical questions about cellular processes and how changes in cell shape contribute to health and disease.   Learn more about Nolen’s research here: https://lnkd.in/g24AVF5

Congratulations to Kayla Nguyen, assistant professor of physics at the University of Oregon, on receiving an Early Career Program award from the United States Department of Defense!   This prestigious award will support Dr. Nguyen’s research on topological and superconducting materials using advanced electron microscopy and multislice electron ptychography—a technique that reconstructs images from diffraction patterns, helping scientists better understand the magnetic properties of materials.   Her work has the potential to drive major advancements in magnetism-based technologies, including improved data storage, device miniaturization, and breakthroughs in quantum information science.   https://lnkd.in/gsE8tfZE