Faculty Research News

Here’s how one VCU lab keeps watch over the James River

Aug. 6, 2026

For almost two decades – and with a new $1M grant to cover at least five more years – this research duo has braved the elements year-round to track the river’s health.

Michael McClure, Ph.D., an associate professor of biomedical engineering, created a startup centering on his innovation related to regenerating muscle tissue lost to traumatic injuries. (Christopher Kendall, Kelley & Co.)

Helping VCU innovators build stronger startups

July 30, 2026

A partnership between VCU TechTransfer and Ventures and Central Virginia’s Activation Capital is pairing faculty researchers with business leaders.

VCU fuels new and emerging research endeavors and cross-campus collaboration with 2026 Quest Fund awards

July 28, 2026

These competitive internal grants empower faculty to launch pilot studies, restart research programs and drive transdisciplinary discoveries.

From bulky to body-ready: Reimagining vibration therapy as a wearable platform

July 14, 2026

Daeha Joung and his research team are transforming rigid vibration therapy devices into comfortable, wearable tech for patients with Parkinson's and other neurological disorders.

New technology could help researchers identify promising cancer therapies more rapidly and provide a way to test treatments on a patient's own tumor cells. (iStock)

New AI-powered platform helps researchers find promising cancer therapies faster

July 7, 2026

The approach, which could help guide more personalized treatment decisions, uses cancer cells from patients to create tiny, lab-grown replicas of tumors, known as organoids.

In her new book, “Deprived of Sense and Intellect,” VCU professor Leigh Ann Craig asks both what medieval thinkers understood a mind to be — and what signified its loss. (Contributed photo)

What do the Middle Ages tell us about mental health then and now? VCU historian Leigh Ann Craig has answers

July 6, 2026

In her new book, ‘Deprived of Sense and Intellect,’ she examines sanity, demons, the complexity of medieval diagnostics and modern tie-ins.

Latino Virginia project captures untold oral history

June 25, 2026

The project, led by sociology professor Gabriela León-Pérez and history professor Daniel Morales, has collected over 140 interviews with Virginians who share a background or heritage in Latin America.

John Jones, who is pictured stocking a Ram Fridge, is the principal investigator for a $1.04 million grant to launch a coordinated initiative to reduce food waste across VCU and VCU Health. (Thomas Kojcsich, Enterprise Marketing and Communications)

New initiative to reduce food waste, increase composting at VCU and VCU Health

June 18, 2026

The Food Rescue and Composting initiative aims to reduce an estimated more than 120,000 pounds of food waste.

Award recipients of the VCU AHSS Fund are identified through a peer review process with an emphasis on projects that expand imagination, innovation, self-reflection and society as well as cultural identity. (File photo)

VCU drives societal change with 10 new Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences Fund awards

June 3, 2026

Nearly $100,000 is being awarded to fund projects on teacher education, AI, environmental governance, the history of Black dentistry and more.

Seeing double: VCU anthropologist Bernard K. Means’ latest project includes 3D-printing his own skull. (Jonathan Haff, Enterprise Marketing and Communications)

Hit by a cyclist, VCU professor has a 3D brainstorm

May 22, 2026

Bernard K. Means, director of the Virtual Curation Lab, turned his CT scan into a skull model that could offer lots of creative opportunities.