November 30, 2023

The University of Florida College of Health & Human Performance (HHP) has recently awarded five proposals with seed funding, up to $25,000 each, for external grant submissions. This initiative aims to propel the college into the forefront of cutting-edge research by harnessing the power of artificial intelligence (AI). The purpose behind these awards is to generate new AI research questions, facilitate collaborations and ultimately contribute to advancements in health and human performance.

“The overarching goal of this initiative is to fund research projects that leverage AI in novel ways,” said James Cauraugh, associate dean for research. “The awarded proposals are expected to serve as seed funding for external grant submissions to prestigious agencies such as the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, NASA, American Heart Association, Florida Biomedical, Army Research Institute and other external agencies.”

The college research committee, comprised of principal investigators, selected the following five proposals to begin December 1:

Proposal 1

“Transcending Diagnostics: Advancing Early Disease Detection Through Transformer Models”

• Nasim Binesh, PI, Assistant Professor, Department of Tourism, Hospitality & Event Management
• Elisabeth Barton, Co-PI, Professor, Department of Applied Physiology & Kinesiology
• Lan Wei-LaPierre, Co-PI, Assistant Professor, Department of Applied Physiology & Kinesiology

Proposal 2

“The Taste of Sport: HiPerGator Supercomputer-powered Analysis of Food Biases, Emotions, and Dietary Habits among Sports Enthusiasts on Social Media”

• Yonghwan Chang, PI, Assistant Professor, Department of Sport Management
• Nasim Binesh, Co-I, Assistant Professor, Department of Tourism, Hospitality & Event Management
• Meredith Berry, Co-I, Assistant Professor, Department of Health Education & Behavior

Proposal 3

“Smartphone-Assisted Diagnosis of Early-Stage Parkinsonian Disorders through Machine Learning”

• Diego L. Guarin, PI, Assistant Professor, Applied Physiology & Kinesiology
• Joshua Wong, Co-I, Assistant Professor, Neurology
• Nikolaus McFarland, Co-I, Professor, Neurology
• Brad Wilkes, Co-I, Research Assistant Professor, Applied Physiology & Kinesiology
• Julia Choi, Co-I, Assistant Professor, Applied Physiology & Kinesiology

Proposal 4

“Predicting Periods of High Risk For Weight Gain with Machine Learning: A Pilot Study”

• Danielle Jake-Schoffman, MPI, Assistant Professor, Department of Health Education & Behavior
• Megan McVay, MPI, Associate Professor, Health Education & Behavior
• Hengxuan (Oscar) Chi, Co-I, Assistant Professor, Department of Tourism, Hospitality & Event Management
• Zhihua (Sophia) Su, Co-I, Associate Professor, Department of Statistics

Proposal 5

“Utilizing Geospatial Artificial Intelligence (GeoAI) and Wastewater-Based Epidemiology to Assess Regional Disease Vulnerability (RDV) Across the United States”

• Jinwon Kim, PI, Associate Professor, Department of Tourism, Hospitality and Event Management
• Won-tak Joo, Co-PI, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, Criminology, & Law
• Chamteut Oh, Co-PI, Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental Engineering Sciences

"These collaborative projects are not just about individual research agendas. These projects will help build a community of scholars within the college,” said Michael Reid, dean. “By working across disciplines, we can drive innovation and better understand the complex challenges in health and human performance."

Recipients of the awards are granted the flexibility to allocate funds for various purposes, including HIPERGator supercomputer time, supplies, equipment, research personnel, participant and animal payments, and other research-related costs. However, faculty travel and salaries are expressly excluded from the list of allowed expenses to ensure that the awarded funds are channeled directly into the research initiatives, maximizing the impact of the seed funding.

An accountability mechanism is integrated into the initiative. A progress report is required after six months, encompassing key aspects such as pilot data acquisition, data analysis, expenditures and progress toward the external grant submission.

Congratulations to the five teams and stay tuned for updates.

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