Spurring Tiger research momentum

See who won the 4th round of Research Council grants; Cody Thornburgh

Medical researcher Cody Thornburgh hopes to improve the quality of life for patients with severe breathing problems and no answers.

June 1, 2026

In May, the University of Missouri Division of Research, Innovation and Impact awarded the final round of Research Council grants for the 2025-26 academic year.

Funded researchers received these internal grants of up to $15,000 for projects and activities leading to book contracts, juried performances, art exhibits, peer-reviewed articles, the generation of pilot data for grant proposals and more. In the last five years, Mizzou has awarded $1.94 million to faculty for a wide range of projects.

“For junior faculty, being awarded internal grants can really jump-start one’s research path,” says Cherie Sampson, professor of art. “For senior faculty, grants help maintain momentum or support pivoting research in new directions.”

Sampson says she plans to use her Research Council grant to help adapt her theatrical, one-woman performance, “every.single.one,” about hereditary cancer to film to reach a wider audience.

“It will be a contemporary form of illness storytelling and a prospective historical document of the human experience of cancer, oncology and the cancer care continuum in our era,” Sampson says.

Cody Thornburgh, assistant professor of radiology and cardiology, is using his Research Council grant to fund pilot study with patients who have dyspnea, or shortness of breath, of unknown origin. He hopes to find the driving causes behind this complex condition using a new imaging tool called hyperpolarized xenon-129 MRI to visualize each person’s lung function.

“Mizzou has one of only three hospitals in the country approved to image real clinical patients with this technology,” Thornburgh says. “I believe this study will give us better answers and position us to pursue larger National Institutes of Health funding with data in hand rather than a hypothesis alone.”

Research Council grant applications will be accepted in August. More details will be available soon. For more information, email Internal Funding staff.

Below are investigators with newly awarded Research Council grants and a list of those who won grants earlier in the year.

Arts, Humanities, Social and Behavioral Sciences

Stephen Karian

Professor of English
Principal Investigator

College of Arts and Science

Alexandru Radulescu

Associate Professor of Philosophy
Principal Investigator

College of Arts and Science

Cherie Sampson

Professor of Art
Principal Investigator

School of Visual Studies, College of Arts and Science

Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics

Mulat Alubel Abtew

Assistant Professor of Textile and Apparel Management
Principal Investigator

College of Arts and Science

Deborah Anderson

Professor of Pathobiology and Integrative Biomedical Sciences
Principal Investigator

College of Veterinary Medicine

Gary Baker

Associate Professor of Chemistry
Co-Investigator

College of Arts and Science

Marc Libault

Professor of Plant Science and Technology
Co-Investigator

College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources

Chuanming Liu

Assistant Professor of Geological Sciences
Principal Investigator

College of Arts and Science

David Mendoza-Cózatl

Professor of Plant Science and Technology
Principal Investigator

College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources

Brandon Sansom

Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Principal Investigator

College of Engineering

Robert Thomen

Associate Professor of Radiology, Chemical and Biomedical Engineering
Co-Investigator

School of Medicine and College of Engineering

Cody Thornburgh

Assistant Professor of Radiology and Cardiology
Principal Investigator

School of Medicine

Additional investigators who received 2025-26 grants

Arts, Humanities, Social and Behavioral Sciences

Investigators	College/School
Shannon Canfield, Assistant Research Professor of Family and Community Medicine	School of Medicine
Frances Dickey, Associate Professor of English	College of Arts and Science
Raghda (Didi) El-Behaedi, Assistant Professor of Mediterranean Archaeology	College of Arts and Science
Merve Fejzula, Assistant Professor of History	College of Arts and Science
Jeffrey Ferguson, Associate Professor of Anthropology	College of Arts and Science
Marina Folescu, Associate Professor of Philosophy	College of Arts and Science
Stefan Freund, Professor of Music Composition; Artistic Director, Mizzou New Music Initiative	College of Arts and Science
Jennifer Hulett, Associate Professor of Nursing	School of Nursing
Caroline (Carrie) Larson, Assistant Professor of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences	College of Health Sciences
Cynthia Lombardo, Assistant Professor of Family and Community Medicine	School of Medicine
Cristina Mislán, Associate Professor of Journalism Studies	School of Journalism
Desireé Moore, Assistant Professor of Digital Storytelling and Film Studies	College of Arts and Science
Alejandra Salinas, Assistant Professor of Visual Studies	College of Arts and Science
Travis Shaffer, Art Program Director; Associate Professor of Art	College of Arts and Science
Melanie Tkach, Assistant Professor of Occupational Therapy	College of Health Sciences
Astrid Villamil, Assistant Professor of Communication	College of Arts and Science

Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics

Investigators	College/School
Fares Alahdab, Associate Professor of Cardiology, Biomedical Informatics, Biostatistics and Medical Epidemiology	School of Medicine
Perwez Alam, Assistant Research Professor in Pathobiology and Integrative Biomedical Sciences	College of Veterinary Medicine
Michael Baldwin, Associate Professor of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology	School of Medicine
David Beversdorf, Professor of Neurology and Psychology; William and Nancy Thompson Endowed Chair in Radiology	School of Medicine
Christine Brodsky, Assistant Professor of Urban Ecology	College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources
John Gahl, Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science	College of Engineering
Kristin Gibson, Assistant Professor of Conservation and Environmental Education	College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources
Diana Gil Pagés, Associate Professor of Surgical Research and Chemical and Biomedical Engineering	School of Medicine and College of Engineering
Sumit Gupta, Associate Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery	School of Medicine
Gerhard Hildebrandt, Director of Ellis Fischel Cancer Center; Chief and Professor, Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology	School of Medicine
Syed Kamrul Islam, Chair and Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science	College of Engineering
Jill Kanaley, Professor of Nutrition and Exercise Physiology	College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources
Semaan Kobrossi, Assistant Professor of Medicine	School of Medicine
Knoo Lee, Assistant Professor of Nursing	School of Nursing
Thiago Martins, Assistant Professor of Beef Reproduction, Extension and Research	College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources
Megan McCracken, Assistant Teaching Professor of Equine Surgery	College of Veterinary Medicine
Mary Beth Miller, Associate Professor of Psychiatry	School of Medicine
Senthilnathan Palaniyandi, Assistant Professor of Medicine	School of Medicine
Amanda Patterson, Assistant Professor of Reproductive Biology	School of Medicine
Praveen Rao, Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science	College of Engineering
Cecilia Constantino Rocha, Research Assistant Professor and State Extension Specialist in Livestock Systems	College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources
Lisa Royse, Assistant Research Professor, Orthopaedic Surgery School of Medicine	School of Medicine
Seunguk Shin, Assistant Professor of Natural Resources	College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resource
Eunjin Tracy, Assistant Professor of Human Development and Family Science	College of Education and Human Development
Xiaoping Xin, Assistant Professor of Natural Resources and Plant Sciences	College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources
Ping Yu, Professor of Physics	College of Arts and Science
Jie Zhu, Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences	College of Arts and Science