Supporting new and early-career faculty is one of the key missions of the Office of the Vice President for Research. By investing time, attention and resources in junior faculty members with long careers ahead of them we can help them succeed in every area, including the highly competitive arena of federal grants, for years to come.
To further this mission, the Office of the VPR is pleased to offer the Propel Research Mentorship Program, which provides participating faculty nine months of intensive mentorship, education, editing support and more as they plan, draft, finalize and submit a proposal for a federal grant from either the National Institutes of Health (NIH) or the National Science Foundation (NSF).
Propel, initiated in the 2021-2022 academic year, has two tracks for NIH and NSF applicants, but the Office of the VPR aims to expand the program to include tracks for additional agencies in future years.
Eligibility Requirements
To be considered for Propel, faculty members must:
- Hold the title of assistant or associate professor (including assistant and associate research faculty).
- Be new to the fedral grant application process or have received relatively small external grant awards (or subawards) in the past.
- Be employed at USC Columbia, the USC schools of medicine in Columbia or Greenville, a four-year UofSC comprehensive institution or a USC Palmetto College campus.
- Not have received a large federal grant (such as an NIH R01 or a medium/large NSF award of about $500,000 or more). Propel welcomes faculty members who have applied for large awards but not had them funded.
Requirements for Selected Participants
Propel participants are expected to:
- Attend eight in-person program sessions held on Fridays from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. between August and April, in preparation to submit their proposals at the end of the program life cycle. (In-person attendance is required for all sessions except in rare cases with approval from the program director.)
- Meet proactively and often (at least monthly) with their assigned mentor throughout the program life cycle. Program participants are expected to take the lead in scheduling time with mentors.
- Submit deliverables (draft proposal sections) to their mentor on schedule and implement their feedback.
- Plan, develop and submit a competitive grant proposal to their targeted funding agency at the end of the program.
2023-2024 NIH Propel Mentees
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| Ahmed Alshareef | Mechanical Engineering |
| Meisam Arjmandi | Communication Sciences and Disorders |
| Pieter Baker | Epidemiology & Biostatistics |
| Marta Bornstein | Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior |
| Devin Bowes | Environmental Health Sciences |
| Michelle Brown | Psychology |
| Chao Cai | Clinical Pharmacy and Outcomes Sciences |
| Hui Chen | Biological Sciences |
| Tad Dallas | Biological Sciences |
| Hadis Elyaderani | Public Health and Human Services |
| Colin Evans | Cell Biology & Anatomy |
| Matt Haldeman | Family & Preventive Medicine |
| Liam Hein | Nursing |
| Yen-Yi Ho | Statistics |
| John Holladay | Drug Discovery & Biomedical Sciences |
| Shamia Hoque | Civil and Environmental Engineering |
| Tuyen Huynh | Psychology |
| Katie Kathrein | Biological Sciences |
| Laura Langan | Environmental Health Sciences |
| Hailong Li | Psychology |
| Yangmei Li | Drug Discovery & Biomedical Sciences |
| Samaneh Matoo | Biological Sciences |
| Malissa Mulkey | Nursing |
| Cailee Nelson | Psychology |
| Christian O'Reilly | Computer Science & Engineering |
| Nandita Perumal | Epidemiology & Biostatistics |
| Joseph Quinn | Sociology |
| Tamara Sheldon | Economics |
| Kimberly Shorter | Natural Sciences and Engineering, USC Upstate |
| Vitali Sikirzhytski | Drug Discovery & Biomedical Sciences |
| Chengwen Teng | Clinical Pharmacy and Outcomes Sciences |
| Kyle Weant | Clinical Pharmacy and Outcomes Sciences |
| Jingkai Wei | Epidemiology & Biostatistics |
| Jing (Taylor) Wen | Journalism and Mass Communications |
| Kiesha Wilson | Pathology, Microbiology, & Immunology |
| Chih-Hsiang (Jason) Yang | Exercise Science |
| Xueying Yang | Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior |
2023-2024 NSF Propel Mentees
| Name | Department |
| Ian Adams | Criminology & Criminal Justice |
| Sahar Aghasafari | Art & Graphic Design, USC Lancaster |
| Ismahan Arslan-Ari | Educational & Developmental Science |
| Rafael Becerril Arreola | Marketing |
| Kristen Booth | Electrical Engineering |
| Nageswara Rao Chintada | Drug Discovery & Biomedical Sciences |
| Daniella Cook | Teacher Education |
| Xiaoxue (Jessie) Fu | Psychology |
| Rahul Ghosal | Epidemiology & Biostatistics |
| Seyyedamirhossein Hosseini | Chemistry & Biochemistry |
| Deena Isom | Criminology & Criminal Justice |
| Andrea Jilling | Environmental Health Sciences |
| Lesley Joseph | Civil and Environmental Engineering |
| Yuhao Kang | Geography |
| Lucas Lima de Vasconcelos | Leadership, Learning Design, and Inquiry |
| Jin Liu | Educational & Developmental Science |
| Jacob Long | Journalism and Mass Communications |
| Ashley Mancik | Criminology & Criminal Justice |
| Alexander Monin | Physics & Astronomy |
| Joy Peltier | English Language and Literature |
| Azadeh Sepahvandi | Mechanical Engineering |
| Nicholas (Nick) Truex | Chemistry & Biochemistry |
| Sicheng Wang | Geography |
| Yang Wang | Teacher Education |
| Rachel Williams | Information Sciences |
| Haonan Zhang | Mathematics |
| Jun Zhao | Sociology |
2023-2024 NIH Propel Mentors
| Name | Department |
| Mark Sarzynski | Exercise Science |
| Aaron Jasnow | Pharmacology, Physiology, and Neuroscience |
| Angela Murphy | Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology |
| Carole Oskeritzian | Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology |
| Daping Fan | Cell Biology |
| Geoffry Scott | Environmental Health Sciences |
| Lorne Hofseth | Pharmacy (Drug Discovery) |
| David Mott | Pharmacology, Physiology, and Neuroscience |
| Melissa Nolan | Epidemiology and Biostatistics |
| Robin Dail | Nursing |
| Glenn Weaver | Exercise Science |
| Sara Wilcox | Exercise Science |
| Xiaoming Li | Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior |
2023-2024 NSF Propel Mentors
| Name | Department |
| April Hiscox | Geography |
| Brent Simpson | Sociology |
| Conor Harrison | Geography |
| Emily Mann | Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior |
| Fabio Matta | Civil Engineering |
| Henry Tran | Education (Leadership, Learning Design and Inquiry) |
| Matt Irvin | Education (Educational Psychology and Research) |
| Natalia Shustova | Chemistry and Biochemistry |
| Qian Wang | Chemistry and Biochemistry |
| Varsha Kulkarni | Physics |