Fifteen research teams at the University of Arkansas are receiving $1 million in seed funding from the I³R Watershed Grants Program, a recently launched funding initiative.
The initiative is made possible through collaboration and co-funding between the U of A Institute for the Integrative and Innovative Research (shown above), U of A colleges and the U of A Division of Agriculture.
Launched this summer, the Watershed Grants Program was designed to spark new research collaborations, accelerate translational research and position teams to compete for external funding. The response exceeded expectations: I³R received 56 proposals naming 167 investigators from 10 colleges and units across the university.
“Our vision is for I³R to serve as a catalyst for research success,” said Hugh Churchill, I³R interim director. “It’s exciting to see each of these projects draw on the people, expertise and research capabilities I³R was built to provide while bringing collaborators together in new ways. Our goal is to help these early collaborations grow into larger research programs that attract external investment and create meaningful impact for Arkansas and beyond.”
The inaugural portfolio spans health, nutrition, aging, artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, advanced biomedical models, rural communities, commercialization and other areas of research and innovation. Projects connect investigators across colleges and units as well as with I³R faculty, facilities and external collaborators.
The 2026-27 I³R Watershed Grant award recipients:
- I³R Arkansas Impact Investor Working Group: Capital Formation for Translational University Ventures
Lead applicant: Cash Acrey, Sam M. Walton College of Business - Human Factors in Autonomous Driving and Future Transportation Systems
Lead applicant: Sarah Hernandez, College of Engineering - Technology, Social Connection, and Resilience in Rural Aging: A Working Group to Build an Interdisciplinary Team for NIH Funding
Lead applicant: Timothy Killian, Bumpers College - New Approach Methodologies for Arkansas Health Opportunities Group (NAM-A-HOG)
Lead applicant: William Richardson, College of Engineering - The Influence of Whole vs. Processed Protein Foods on Ingestive Behavior and Cardiometabolic Risk in Adults
Lead applicant: Jamie Baum, Bumpers College - Validating Digital Interventions to Address Depression in Rural Arkansas
Lead applicant: Ana Bridges, Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences - The Hidden Cost of Participation: Developing the Concept of Post-Activity Functional Cost in Hypermobile EDS and HSD
Lead applicant: Julie Hill, College of Education and Health Professions - Harmonizing Arkansas’ Advanced Research 3T MRI Platform: A Validated Two-Site Neuroimaging Standard to Power Statewide Health Science
Lead applicant: Tatiana Wolfe, UAMS - Nicotine and Analogues: Characterization and In Vitro Respiratory Models for Human Toxicological Risk Assessment of Emerging Vaping Devices
Lead applicant: Jackson Lay Jr., Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences - Food Insecurity, Neighborhood Food Context and Cardiometabolic and Behavioral Health Risk in Arkansas
Lead applicant: Michael Niño, Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences - The Role of the Spatial Oxygen Landscape in Aging Skeletal Muscle
Lead applicant: Megan Rexius, College of Engineering - Trustworthy Human–AI Agent Teaming via Causal Modeling
Lead applicant: Xintao Wu, College of Engineering - Breaking Down Barriers: An Organ-on-a-Chip Model of the Key Barrier to Efficient Muscle Gene Therapy
Lead applicant: Shilpi Agrawal, College of Engineering - Advancing a Scalable and Gastrointestinal-Responsive Nanocellulose-Enabled Nanoemulsion-in-Hydrogel Platform for Oral Vitamin D Delivery
Lead applicant: Jin-Woo Kim, College of Engineering - Validation of Nasal Delivery of Biotherapeutics on the AirLOC and Flow System
Lead applicant: Christopher Nelson, College of Engineering
Established through a $194.7 million gift from the Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation, I³R serves as a hub for research innovation, technology development and industry engagement, accelerating the path from discovery to deployment.
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