The University of Illinois System and the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) awarded $520,000 to 13 research teams recently in its first round of funding under the Brasillinois Collaborative Research Grant program. Projects included using machine learning to correct underdiagnosis of chronic diseases in Brazil, studying the social benefits that migrant communities bring to their destination countries, effects of plastic contamination on reproductive health, and evaluating bio-based materials for use in pavement.
The funding is provided by the system, FAPESP and the Lemann Center for Brazilian Studies at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and is designed to expand the long-standing relationships between the U of I and Brazilian institutions.
“The University of Illinois can track meaningful collaborations in Brazil for more than a century, and these new research grants will grow our partnerships in Latin America’s largest country,” U of I System Vice President for Economic Development and Innovation Jay Walsh said. “We saw tremendous interest in this funding program and we had a large number of high-quality proposals. These funded projects will significantly advance research by faculty in Illinois and Brazil.”
The proposals were required to include researchers from a system university and a public or private higher education or research institution in São Paulo.
The 13 newly funded projects and researchers are:
Advancing sustainable pavements through biomaterial innovations (BIO-PAVE)
Ramez Hajj, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign; Kamilla Vasconcelos Savasini, professor of transportation engineering, Universidade de São Paulo.
Biofuel policies and sustainable global trade: building a framework for an equitable energy transition
Diego Soares Cardoso, assistant professor of environmental economics, UIUC; Nicole Rennó Castro, professor of economics, USP.
Bridging clinical and basic research in schistosomiasis-associated pulmonary arterial hypertension: gut microbiome dysbiosis and circulating microbial metabolites
Suellen D’Arc dos Santos Oliveira, assistant professor of physiology, University of Illinois Chicago; Rudolf K. F. de Oliveira, professor of pulmonology, Universidade Federal de São Paulo.
A collaborative project to untangle the biology of desiccation-tolerant plants
Rose A. Marks, assistant professor of plant biology, UIUC; Danilo da Cruz Centeno, professor of plant biology, Universidade Federal do ABC.
Effects of deforestation on the hydroclimate of South America
Francina Dominguez, professor of climate, meteorology, and atmospheric sciences, UIUC; Marta Pereira Llopart, professor of physics and meteorology, Universidade Estadual Paulista.
The effects of plastic contamination on reproductive health
Jodi Flaws, professor of comparative biosciences, UIUC; Wellerson Rodrigo Scarano, professor of human embryology, UNESP.
Harnessing the insect microbiome to discover the next generation of antibiotics for bacterial pathogens
Brian Murphy, professor of chemistry, UIC; Mônica Tallarico Pupo, professor of pharmaceutical sciences, USP.
Hydrogels and DMP1 delivery: a strategy to improve bone reconstruction procedures. In vivo study in osteoporotic rats
Anne George, professor of oral biology, UIC; Roberta Okamoto, professor of anatomy, UNESP.
Light-matter interaction in quantum materials
Rafael Monteiro Fernandes, professor of physics, UIUC; Thais Victa Trevisan, professor of physics, USP.
Machine learning solutions to identify and correct underdiagnosis of chronic non-communicable diseases in Brazil
Bruno Pereira Nunes, assistant professor of health and kinesiology, UIUC; Alexandre Dias Porto Chiavegatto Filho, professor of public health, USP.
Mapping the evolution of urban spatial structures in Brazilian and US metropolitan areas: establishing a collaborative project for theoretical and empirical innovation
Matthew D. Wilson, professor of urban planning and public affairs, UIC; Murillo Bark Toda, professor of urban planning, Fundação Getulio Vargas; David López-García, co-PI.
Social reproduction and migrant labor: dependency, value-extraction, and the politics of urban space across the Americas
Nikolai Alvarado, assistant professor of geography and geographic information science, UIUC; José Gilberto de Souza, professor of rural economics, UNESP.
São Paulo and Illinois Living Accessibility and Mobility Laboratory (SPILAB): Creating pathways for community-centered mobility in Illinois and São Paulo: advancing accessibility, public health, and climate resilience
Fabio Miranda, assistant professor of computer science, UIC; Roberto Marcondes Cesar Jr., professor of computer science, USP; Michael Papka and Yochai Eisenberg, co-PIs.
