VCU Momentum Fund grants four transformative interdisciplinary research awards

By Lydia Klinger
Office of the Vice President for Research and Innovation

Virginia Commonwealth University has announced the recipients of its Momentum Fund awards, backing four high-impact, cross-disciplinary research initiatives that span across the university.

Designed to address critical societal challenges - including regional maternal and child health outcomes, sustainable battery storage, artificial intelligence in pharmaceutical manufacturing, and holistic musculoskeletal care - these seed grants aim to accelerate groundbreaking discoveries and position VCU teams for major national research funding.

Through strategic investments, the VCU Momentum Fund promotes impactful interdisciplinary research by providing multi-principal investigator research teams with support to prepare and submit competitive, external, multicomponent large-scale proposals.

Expanding maternal and child health networks in Richmond

While healthcare resources abound in Central Virginia, the city of Richmond continues to face significant disparities in maternal, infant and early childhood health outcomes and school readiness.

To confront these challenges, a team of researchers across the School of Medicine, School of Public Health and School of Education - led by Bergen Nelson, M.D.; Derek Chapman, Ph.D.; and Jennifer LoCasale-Crouch, Ph.D. - will establish the collaborative All Children Thrive program in Richmond.

In partnership with the Richmond-Henrico Health District, Children's Hospital of Richmond at VCU and local community organizations (including Healthy Hearts Plus II, Family Lifeline, Friends Association, Thrive Birth to Five and Virginia Community Voice), the ACT initiative aims to:

• Establish a collaborative data infrastructure: Track health outcomes and identify families and neighborhoods with the greatest needs.
• Engage community perspectives: Gather feedback directly from families in these communities on the barriers they experience that may affect healthy pregnancy and early childhood development outcomes.
• Test practical interventions: Use this information, along with established, evidence-based best practices, to design and implement local, targeted quality-improvement measures to increase resource access and promote school readiness across Richmond.

This community-engaged, precision public health approach focuses on optimizing the health of women and children in Richmond. Ultimately, the ACT collaborative plans to scale their framework statewide, working to improve maternal and child health outcomes across Virginia.

Revolutionizing pharmaceutical development via artificial intelligence

As Central Virginia rapidly emerges as a major hub for pharmaceutical manufacturing - drawing over $10 billion in corporate investments and facilities - VCU is spearheading efforts to train the next-generation workforce in advanced drug discovery and supply chain technologies.

The Artificial Intelligence for UNRIVALED Pharmaceutical Development initiative brings together 12 faculty members across seven departments in the College of Engineering, School of Pharmacy and School of Education. Led by Thomas Roper, Ph.D.; Charles McGill, Ph.D.; Leah Spangler, Ph.D.; Keith Ellis, Ph.D.; John Fife, Ph.D.; and Qingguo Xu, Ph.D., the initiative targets:

• Machine learning research: Accelerating machine-learning-based optimization for pharmaceutical formulations and developing AI target affinity models for drug discovery.
• Interdisciplinary curriculum: Launching a new cross-departmental course and microcredential program to train graduate students in applying AI tools to real-world medicine development.
• Student-led leadership: Establishing a "student success team" to guide feedback and maximize educational impact.

Supported by the Center for Pharmaceutical Engineering and Sciences at VCU, the team aims to establish VCU as a premier training ground for the nation's evolving pharmaceutical sector. This convergent research program will work to enhance and enrich the human experience by not only advancing research in AI and machine learning but also empowering individuals to learn how to implement these technologies in the process of discovery, formulation and manufacture of new therapeutics.

Transforming musculoskeletal care with multi-modal research

Chronic musculoskeletal conditions affect over half the U.S. population, costing nearly $980 billion annually due to disability, injuries and age-related conditions like arthritis, osteoporosis and sarcopenia. These diseases are among the most debilitating nonfatal diseases, affecting the locomotor system, ranging from sudden short-lived injuries to lifelong conditions associated with ongoing pain and disability.

To tackle these interconnected issues, the Musculoskeletal Collaboration Center brings together experts in biomedical engineering, orthopaedic surgery, neurology, physical medicine and biostatistics. Led by Michael McClure, Ph.D.; David Cohen, M.D.; Henry Donahue, Ph.D.; Melissa Hale, Ph.D.; Geetanjali Bendale, Ph.D.; and Jonathan Isaacs, M.D., the center adopts a holistic, cross-tissue approach rather than viewing tissues in isolation.

By fostering a culture of collaboration between clinicians and biomedical scientists, the team works to optimize health and advance musculoskeletal knowledge through interdisciplinary research, education and clinical practice. Key objectives of the center include:

• Basic and translational research: Investigate the mechanisms of musculoskeletal aging, trauma and genetic conditions (e.g., arthritis, TBI, muscular dystrophy) through cross-departmental teams spanning engineering, orthopaedics, physical medicine and neurology.
• Bench-to-bedside innovation: Accelerate personalized treatments and regenerative technologies by pairing clinicians and scientists with biostatisticians using AI and machine learning to analyze complex multi-tissue data.
• Workforce and community engagement: Train the next generation of clinical innovators and share discoveries across the region via an annual research symposium and monthly lecture series.

Powering next-generation sodium-ion battery chemistry

As the global demand for clean energy and electric vehicles surges, reliance on critical raw materials like lithium and cobalt presents significant economic and environmental supply chain hurdles. Last year, over 20% of the new cars sold worldwide were electric, most using lithium-ion batteries, but current lithium-ion batteries are not economically or environmentally sustainable.

Researchers at VCU are tackling this energy bottleneck by developing high-performance sodium-ion batteries using earth-abundant materials such as sodium, manganese, and iron. Led by Ram Gupta, Ph.D. (College of Engineering), Hani El-Kaderi, Ph.D., and Puru Jena, Ph.D. (College of Humanities and Sciences), the team aims to integrate simulation, machine learning and experimental synthesis to achieve its goals.

The foundational work of this project focuses on:

• Next-generation cathode design: Engineer novel cathode materials that overcome traditional performance bottlenecks, delivering faster energy transfer, longer battery lifespan and higher stability.
• Abundant, sustainable materials: Replace scarce, costly and ethically complex metals like lithium and cobalt with earth-abundant, low-cost alternatives such as sodium, iron and manganese.
• Cross-disciplinary discovery: Combine computer modeling, machine learning and laboratory synthesis across physics, chemistry and engineering to rapidly design and test advanced battery formulations.

In support of sustainable energy and environments, developing clean, affordable and globally accessible energy technologies is essential. The innovations targeted in this project will be crucial to building resilient energy storage systems that can support renewable grids, electrified transportation and decentralized power infrastructures.

Driving long-term external impact

All four project teams are leveraging their VCU Momentum Fund award to generate preliminary data and publish findings over the two-year project window. These efforts will serve as springboard platforms for major multi-million-dollar external grant opportunities from federal agencies and national foundations.

By bridging disciplines across medicine, engineering, pharmacy, education and the humanities, VCU continues to advance the goals of the Strategic Research Priorities Plan and research cluster areas. Each project funded by the Momentum Fund corresponds with at least one of the four key research initiatives: optimizing health, enriching the human experience, advancing societal well-being and supporting sustainable energy and environments.

This story was originally published on the website of the Office of the Vice President for Research and Innovation.