Faculty Research News

VCU Momentum Fund grants four transformative interdisciplinary research awards

Sept. 2, 2026

The awarded projects, which tackle topics ranging from health disparities to clean energy, receive seed grants designed to help accelerate groundbreaking discoveries and position the teams for national research funding.

The VCU Convergence Team Planning Grant Program is reserved for projects of three or more full-time faculty from at least two different schools or colleges that focus on problems that defy single-discipline solutions. (Adobe Stock)

VCU Convergence awards nearly 70 faculty members $150,000 in seed grants

Aug. 26, 2026

The projects supported through the grants bring different perspectives together to tackle complex, ‘wicked problems’ that no single discipline can solve.

Nearly 50 VCU faculty honored for their research and teaching

Aug. 20, 2026

The 2026 NIRA and PEIA awardees elevate VCU’s reputation and the student learning experience.

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.