2023 UTSA Research Annual Report

2023 Annual Report

Annual Report of Sponsored

The University of Texas at San Antonio Office of Research

THANK YOU TO OUR CONTRIBUTORS:

RESEARCH EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP:

JoAnn Browning, Ph.D Interim Sr. Vice President for Research

Nicole Beebe, Ph.D. Interim Associate Vice President, Research Partnerships and Strategy

Melinda Cotten Interim Sr. Associate Vice President, Research Administration

Rodrick McSherry Associate Vice President for Innovation and Economic Development

RESEARCH CENTERS & INSTITUTES: Jenny Hsieh, Ph.D. Director, Brain Health Consortium

Howard Grimes, Ph.D. CEO, Cybersecurity Manufacturing Innovation Institute (CyManII)

Dhireesha Kudithipudi, Ph.D. Director, MATRIX AI for Human Well-Being

Jeff Prevost, Ph.D. Executive Director, Open Cloud Institute

Dave Brown, Ph.D. Executive Director, National Security Collaboration Center

CONTRIBUTORS: Christine Burke, Ph.D., M.B.A Director, Office of Commercialization and Technology Transfer

Ana Laredo Manager, Special Projects

DESIGN & COPY: Adrianna San Roman Creative Services Project Manager

Audrey Gray Strategic Communications Coordinator

ASSOCIATES DEANS OF RESEARCH: Juan Manuel Sanchez, Ph.D. Alvarez College of Business

Emily Bonner, Ph.D. (Interim) College of Education and Human Development

David Akopian, Ph.D. Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design

Jason Yaeger, Ph.D.

I stepped into this role leading the Office of Research at UTSA in June of 2023, following the excellent direction of Jaclyn Shaw. As a relatively new R1 research enterprise, our goals have been to establish a solid foundation to expand the scope and impact of UTSA Research, while cultivating a culture of research excellence where our researchers can create new knowledge, innovate and thrive.

We achieved exceptional growth and impact of our research enterprise this year. The university’s research expenditures grew to $152.3 million, up 7.5% from $141.7 million the previous year ($158.5 million counting unrecovered indirect funds). FY 2023 was the fourth consecutive year that UTSA’s annual research expenditures exceeded $100 million.

In August 2023, UTSA met the State of Texas’ eligibility criteria to participate in the National Research University Fund (NRUF) and successfully passed the audit by the State Auditor’s Office. This achievement, made possible through the tireless efforts of our audit committee, opens the door to significant new funding opportunities. I look forward to seeing the innovative projects that this funding will catalyze.

We also celebrated the renaming of the Valdez Institute for Economic Development (formerly the Institute for Economic Development) in recognition of Dr. Jude Valdez’ visionary impact on the founding of the economic development programs that have evolved into the institute we have today. Dr. Valdez began his career at UTSA in 1979 as a founder of what is now VIED, and he remained with UTSA for 39 years. We are deeply grateful for his leadership and proud to honor his legacy with this new name.

The remarkable impact of our research enterprise was also evidenced by our seed grants. Research projects funded by seed grants awarded in 2022 resulted in substantial additional funding in 2023 — 35 research projects were collectively awarded $425,000, leading to additional funding of $2,383,866. This represents an ROI of 700.95%, which is on trend with prior years.

There are too numerous impactful outcomes to mention all in this letter, but it is important to note that our shared milestones of 2023 were a team effort. None of the accomplishments outlined in this report would have been possible without the unwavering dedication of our research community. This includes the offices of Faculty Research and Development, Research Administration, and Research Partnerships and Strategy; our Centers and Institutes; our CORE Labs; the Research External Advisory Council and Deans Research Council; and the talented faculty researchers we are so proud to support. I’d like to sincerely thank our teams for all their hard work in FY 2023 — with these partnerships, there will be many more great things to come!

Thank you for a wonderful, record-breaking year!

Sincerely,

JoAnn Browning, Ph.D. Interim Vice President for Research

Since achieving the elite Carnegie R1 status in 2022, UTSA has seen continued growth in research expenditures and subsequent research productivity. The university’s research expenditures grew to $152.3 million, up 7.5% from $141.7 million the previous year ($158.5 million counting unrecovered indirect funds), making fiscal year 2023 (FY23) the fourth consecutive year that UTSA’s annual research expenditures exceeded $100 million.

These milestones represent the tremendous perseverance and innovation of the dedicated staff and researchers across the Office of Research, as well as UTSA’s prestigious 30 research centers and institutes and nine colleges. This report captures UTSA’s expanding research expenditures, outputs and awards from FY23.

TOP 10 LARGEST RESEARCH AWARDS

$4,999,989

Elizabeth Sooby, Miltiadis Alamaniotis, Kelly Nash, Amanda Fernandez, Matthias Hofferberth, Harry Millwater, Christopher Reddick, Arturo Montoya Rodriguez

Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design College of Liberal and Fine Arts College for Health, Community and Policy College of Sciences

CONNECT- the CONsortium on Nuclear sECurity Technologies Department of Energy (DOE)

$4,544,784

Edwin Barea-Rodriguez, J Cassill, Eric Brey Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design College of Sciences

IMSD at the University of Texas at San Antonio National Institute of General Medical Science (NIH)

$3,742,202

Victor Villarreal, John Davis, Jeremy Sullivan, Felicia Castro, Alan Meca

College of Education and Human Development College for Health, Community and Policy

Project BEAMS: Behavioral Emotional and Mental Support for Schools

Department of Education (DOED)

$3,641,116

Joel Mejia, Martha Sidury Christiansen

Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design College of Education and Human Development

Racial Equity: Rhetorical Engineering Education to Support Proactive Equity Teaching and Outcomes (RESPETO) National Science Foundation (NSF)

$3,371,463

Albert Salgado

Office of Research

South West TX SBDC Program Renewal FY23

United States Small Business Administration

$2,936,095

Alberto Cordovae

College for Health, Community and Policy

Refine pathways to relieve financial, mental health and academic performance challenges among UTSA Hispanic students: La Reforma FRoM COVID-19 to Graduation Department of Education (DOED)

$2,890,000

Ferhat Ozturk, Amelia King-Kostelac, Kelly Nash College of Sciences

Building Institutional Capacity for Nextgen Agricultural Scientists through Student Research Experiences in Urban Beekeeping

Department of Agriculture

$2,116,465

Jenny Hsieh

College of Sciences

Molecular control of aberrant adult-born granule cells in epilepsy

National Institute of Neurological Disorders and  Stroke (NINDS)

$1,713,162

Murtuza Jadliwala, Greg Griffin, Sushil Prasad Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design College of Sciences

Collaborative Research: CCRI: New: ScooterLab A Programmable and Participatory Sensing Testbed using Micromobility Vehicles

National Science Foundation (NSF)

$1,526,538

Lloyd Potter

College for Health, Community and Policy

Demographic Data and Assistance One-Stop Demographic Data Analysis Tool

Texas Department of Transporation

(CCS)

Center for Innovation and Drug Discovery (CIDD)

SEED GRANTS FY23

The UTSA Office of Research has awarded its annual seed grants to spark innovation on campus. This money, distributed through five funding mechanisms, funds new research projects or new lines of inquiry to advance their research portfolio through the discovery process.

BRAIN HEALTH CONSORTIUM (BHC) COLLABORATIVE SEED GRANT (CSG) PROGRAM

The Brain Health Consortium (BHC) Collaborative Seed Grant (CSG) program offers seed grants to support collaborative research at UTSA. These grants support a broad range of trans-disciplinary research projects that may yield fundamental insights into the mechanisms underlying brain disorders.

» October 1, 2022 through July 31, 2023

» $30,000 awarded: $15,000 per researcher x 2 new projects

College of Science

Nichole Wicha, Ph.D.

Department of Neuroscience Developmental, and Regenerative Biology; Effect of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury on Predictive Processing in Language Comprehension

College for Health, Community and Policy

Chantal Fahmy, Ph.D.

Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice; The Long-Term Impact of Traumatic Brain Injury on Reentry after Incarceration: A Vulnerability Assessment

CONNECTING THROUGH RESEARCH PARTNERSHIPS (CONNECT)

The CONNECT Program is a joint effort between UTSA and the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI). The program encourages interaction between investigators in support of the acquisitions of established extramural, peer-reviewed research funding. This agreement provides unprecedented opportunities for researchers to work together in addressing issues of mutual interest and need.

» October 1, 2022 through September 30, 2023

» $125,000 awarded ($50,000 UTSA; $75,000 SwRI)

College of Science

Kathryn Mayer Ph.D., UTSA and Josh Mangum, Ph.D., SwRI High-Surface Area Carbon Microparticles for Hydrogen Storage

GRANTS FOR RESEARCH ADVANCEMENT AND TRANSFORMATION (GREAT)

The GREAT program provides seed grants to support new areas of research for faculty at UTSA to assemble preliminary data that can be used to seek extramural funding.

» October 1, 2022 through July 31, 2023

» $ 40,000 awarded: $20,000 per researcher x 2 new projects

Margie and Bill Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design

Hugo Giambini, Ph.D.

Department of Biomedical Engineering and Chemical Engineering; Computational framework for estimations of spine loads

Carlos Alvarez College of Business

Elias Bou-Harb, Ph.D., Department of Information Systems; Securing Water Quality’s Health from Cyber and Physical Attacks by Instrumenting Physics-Aware Honeypots

INTERNAL RESEARCH AWARDS (INTRA)

The Internal Research Awards (INTRA) program is part of UTSA Research’s coordinated efforts to promote research and scholarship of the highest quality. This program offers experience in identifying and submitting applications to potential funding sources, provides preliminary data to support applications for extramural funding, and enhances scholarly and creative activities.

» October 1, 2022 through July 31, 2023

» $45,000 awarded: $5,000 per researcher x 9 new research projects

Margie and Bill Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design

Bastian Wibranek, Ph.D., School of Architecture and Planning; Deconstructing Deconstruction: A case study exploring stakeholder perceptions of a San Antonio-based circular economy initiative

Carlos Alvarez College of Business

Samson Alva, Ph.D. Department of Economics; The Limits to Learning from Big Data

Yuanxiong Guo, Ph.D. Department of Information Systems and Cyber Security; Democratizing Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare with Federated Learning

Min Wang, Ph.D. Department of Management Science and Statistics; A generative Bayesian procedure to modeling high-dimensional data with mixed-type outcomes

College of Education and Human Development

Priscilla Rose Prasath, Ph.D., Department of Counseling; El HERO que lleva dentro - Validation of the Spanish version of the revised Compound PsyCap Scale (CPC-12R)

College of Liberal and Fine Arts

Valeria Meiller, Ph.D., Department of Modern Languages and Literatures; Ruge el Bosque: Southern Cone Ecopoetry Anthology (Part II)

Robert Tokunaga, Ph.D. Department of Communications; Intergroup Differences in Cyberbullying Perpetration

College of Health, Community and Policy

Kelly Cheever, Ph.D. Department of Kinesiology; Factors influencing musculoskeletal injury reporting behavior among adolescent student athletes

Denver Brown, Ph.D. Department of Psychology; Investigating the influence of 24-hour movement behaviors on indicators of mental health among youth with epilepsy

EXTRAORDINARY IMPACT INNOVATIVE RESEARCH

UTSA has four seals in recognition of our excellence in research and community impact. The Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, awarded in February 2022, designated UTSA as an R1 institution, placing us among the top 4% of the nation’s research universities. In May 2023, we received a designation from the Innovation and Economic Prosperity (IEP) University by the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities (APLU), a membership advocacy organization that fosters a community of university leaders working to advance the mission of public research universities.

Transfer,” which was awarded $4,999,995 by DOD. Dr. Amanda Fernandez a Co-PI for this project, will research with a focus on image classification and semantic segmentation of digital media under various distortions. DOE also Granted $600,000 to Drs. Turgay Korkmaz and Palden Lama’s project “Mobilizing the Emerging Diverse AI Talent (MEDAL) through Design and Automated Control of Autonomous Scientific Laboratories.”

CyberSecurity

In addition to these newer designations, our Seal of Excelencia designation, awarded in 2020, recognizes UTSA’s leadership in advancing Latino student success. Our Elective Community Engagement Classification, received in 2015 from the Carnegie Foundation, highlights UTSA’s commitment to serving the San Antonio region. Together, these four designations are a testament to our commitment to advancing research that solves grand societal challenges and improves our communities.

FY23

UTSA IS 1 OF 5 INSTITUTIONS TO HOLD ALL FOUR SEALS OF EXCELLENCE FUNDED RESEARCH

Artificial Intelliegence

In FY 2023, UTSA researchers received significant funding to pursue cutting-edge research in AI. The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded $2,800,000 to researchers from MATRIX: The UTSA AI Consortium for Human Well-Being to bolster research capacity in the field of neuroinspired artificial intelligence. Neuro-inspired AI stands as a strategic research area at UTSA, with researchers leveraging insights from the human brain to inform and advance artificial intelligence.

Fidel Santamaria a professor in the UTSA College of Sciences’ Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology Department, received a $2,000,000 grant through the National Science Foundation’s Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation (EFRI) program to develop new AI applications with record energy efficiency.

ScooterLab, a micro-mobility project designed by Associate Professor of Computer Science Murtuza Jadliwala received a $1,700,000 NSF award to deploy a fleet of data-collecting e-scooters. The research team is prototyping infrastructure to be easily retrofitted with state-ofthe-art sensors in partnership with collaborators, enabling real-time collection of fine-grained research data that can inform future urban planning, transportation engineering and more.

Data Science

In FY 2023, several core faculty members in the School of Data Science were recognized and funded for their ground-breaking research to advance data science. Dr. Anthony Rios is leading projects supported by Peraton Labs grants totaling $400,000. The research focuses on the use of Large Language Models (LLMs) for real-time news event reasoning and detection. The projects also aim to cultivate a talent pool at the intersection of AI and security.

Drs. Yanmin Gong, Valencia Vivas and Yuanxiong Guo are leading a research project funded by an NIH grant totaling $994,295 This project focuses on enhancing equity in opioid medication treatment. The research employs fair federated learning to develop machine learning systems that address health disparities and biases in opioid treatment, specifically for Medicaid beneficiaries.

Drs. Peyman Najafirad, Adel Alaeddini and Krystel Castillo are leading a project funded by a CPS Energy grant of $2,000,000 in collaboration with the City Innovation Office. This research aims to develop a comprehensive digital twin of San Antonio to facilitate climate and critical infrastructure modeling. The research leverages AI, diverse data sources and advanced computing to create simulations addressing climate challenges such as heat islands and optimizing smart grid infrastructure to support local enterprise fleet electrification.

Computing

UTSA researchers received substantial awards for their pioneering projects to advance computer science in FY 2023. These included the project, “LIST: Learning via Imitation, Simulation, and

Building on the progress of the previous two years, the Cybersecurity Manufacturing Innovation Institute (CyManII) continued to advance critical research in industrial security while increasing engagement with industry and growing its operational capacity. In FY 2023, CyManII trained over 15,000 workers and students with the help of its newly debuted “Cybersecurity-Mobile Training Vehicle,” which provides on-site cybersecurity training.

In recognition of its initiatives and advancements, the institute won considerable new funding awards. CyManII initiatives secured over $7,000,000 in competitive Industry Use Case (IUC) investment, complemented by additional funding from key stakeholders. The State of Texas allocated $3,000,000 annually for the Cybersecurity for Manufacturing (C4M) and Mobile Training Vehicle (MTV) initiatives, while DOE provided $1,000,000 in funding for its Cybersecurity Modular Bootcamp. CyManII also received $500,000 from the U.S. Economic Development Association (EDA) to support the creation of the Secure Manufacturing Tech Hub, a Texas-based consortium dedicated to driving innovation in commercial-ready cybersecurity technologies.

DHS/FEMA awarded $8,000,000 to the National Cybersecurity Preparedness Consortium (NCPC), of which UTSA is a founding member. UTSA’s portion of the award will be $1,800,000. The grant is used to develop and deliver training to individuals in State, Local, Tribal and Territorial (SLTT) governments. The project has been awarded an additional $7,200,000 for the coming year.

Google granted the Center for Infrastructure Assurance and Security (CIAS) $500,000 for its participation in the Cyber Clinic Program. This three-year effort was designed to connect students in cybersecurity with organizations in the community seeking support with their cybersecurity programs. The program provides hands-on experience to students and cybersecurity assistance to organizations that would be otherwise unable to afford these services.

CIAS also received $200,000 from NSF for a one-year study in collaboration with the Eden School District to develop materials enabling teachers with no cybersecurity background to introduce basic cybersecurity concepts to students in grades 7-12. The efficacy of the learning materials will also be assessed as a final step in the study.

SAN PEDRO I

A NEW SPACE FOR RESEARCH

In January of 2023, UTSA opened San Pedro I, our strategically located downtown building uniting the School of Data Science (SDS) with several of our technologyfocused centers and institutes. The $91.8 million, 167,000square-foot, six-story structure on 506 Dolorosa Street sits along San Pedro Creek east of UTSA’s Downtown Campus, anchoring UTSA to San Antonio’s downtown core. The building is the first of several planned for UTSA’s downtown expansion, serving as a catalyst for economic and community investment in the San Pedro Creek area.

Alongside SDS, the new building houses the National Security Collaboration Center (NSCC), the Cybersecurity Manufacturing Innovation Institute (CyManII), MATRIX AI Consortium for Human Well-being, and the Open Cloud Institute. This allows for greater collaboration between our centers, institutes and academic programs in artificial intelligence, computer science and data analytics and statistics. Additional labs in the building enable research and teaching in bioinformatics, cyberinformed engineering, data engineering, IoT, robotics, smart transportation and more. San Pedro I is now a hub for more than 1,000 students and researchers.

SAN PEDRO II

OUR UPCOMING RESEARCH SITE

UTSA celebrated the groundbreaking of San Pedro II, also called the Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Careers Building, in October 2023. San Pedro II will work in tandem with academic programs and research collaborations in cybersecurity and data science offered across San Pedro Creek in San Pedro I by the UTSA School of Data Science and the National Security Collaboration Center.

The new building will be constructed on land purchased from the county to revitalize this historic area of downtown, which includes the recent redevelopment of the San Pedro Creek Culture Park and the future Continental Hotel revitalization. San Pedro I and San Pedro II will anchor UTSA to San Antonio’s prospering high-tech corridor and serve as a catalyst for economic and community investment in the San Pedro Creek area. San Pedro I and II will connect classrooms and meeting spaces inside with the outdoor venues and public art of the park, creating an ecosystem that supports learning, research and the community.

VALDEZ INSTITUTE FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Since 1979, UTSA’s economic development programs have been building the economy, one business at a time. UTSA’s Valdez Institute for Economic Development hosts a variety of centers and programs that facilitate economic, community and business development at the local, regional and national levels. Programs serve the entrepreneur who is just starting a business to the experienced business owner looking for new markets, to communities seeking to improve their economic health.

2.6

$2,345,493,056

New Sales, Contracts & Exports IN DIRECT ECONOMIC IMPACT IN FY23

$243,304,214

New Financing & Investments

» THE IED PROVIDES:

• Economic Development

• Technology

• Business Assistance

• International & Minority Business Development

• Government Contracting & Procurement

• Research

• Trade

» HIGHLIGHTS & MILESTONES IN FY23

• Created 4,042 jobs and retained 7,934

• Created 545 businesses starts

• Created 914 of business expansions

• Served 41,231 businesses

• Offered 1,551 training events and courses