Princeton-HBCU research collaborations continue with 10 new projects

Researchers at Princeton and four historically Black colleges and universities have begun working jointly on 10 new projects funded by the Princeton Alliance for Collaborative Research and Innovation (PACRI).

The projects proposed by Princeton faculty members and colleagues at Howard University, Jackson State University, Prairie View A&M University and the University of Maryland-Eastern Shore represent a second round of projects that PACRI has funded since the program began in 2022. It was developed in partnership with UNCF (United Negro College Fund).

From the natural sciences to social sciences to the humanities and to engineering, the projects address some of the most challenging issues of our time, from cybersecurity to climate change to public health and to elections. The projects draw on the diverse expertise and perspectives of the research teams.

The first-round PACRI projects continue in their second year. The new cohort of projects began in July. Their topics, listing the faculty members leading the work, are listed below.

Howard University

• Presenting East African Manuscript Cultures: A Collaboration between the Howard CfAS and the Princeton PEMM Project. Krista Johnson, Howard University, Center for African Studies, and Wendy Laura Belcher, Princeton University, Comparative Literature.

Jackson State University

• Green Solvent-Based Processing and Passivation of Metal Halide Perovskites for Solar Cell Application, Qilin Dai, Jackson State University, Chemistry, Physics and Atmospheric Sciences, and Antoine Kahn, Princeton University, Electrical and Computer Engineering.
• The 2024 National Black Election Study, Byron D’Andra Orey, Jackson State University, Political Science, and LaFleur Stephens-Dougan, Princeton University, Politics.
• Sustaining Black History through a Regenerative Future: The Margaret Walker Center at JSU. Robert Luckett, Jackson State University, Margaret Walker Center; Talya Thomas, Jackson State University, Urban and Regional Planning; Guy Nordenson, Princeton University, Architecture; and Paul Lewis, Princeton University, Architecture.
• Optical Preparation and Read-out of Nanosystems Used for Quantum Information Application. Serguei V. Goupalov, Jackson State University, Physics; Gregory D. Scholes, Princeton University, Chemistry; and Nathalie de Leon, Princeton University, Electrical and Computer Engineering.

Prairie View A&M University

• Unraveling and Modeling Non-Monotonicities for Blend-In Sustainable Aviation Fuels. Lealon Martin, Prairie View A&M University, Chemical Engineering, and Michael E Mueller, Princeton University, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.
• Computer Vision for Underwater Exploration. Suxia Cui, Prairie View A&M University, Electrical and Computer Engineering; Justin Foreman, Prairie View A&M University, Electrical and Computer Engineering; and Olga Russakovsky, Princeton University, Computer Science.
• Unpacking the Dynamics of Co-Racial Voting. Melanye Price, Prairie View A&M University, Political Science, and Ismail K. White, Princeton University, Politics and School of Public and International Affairs.
• The Impact of Proteins and Dietary Fibers on the Microbiome: Is Digestibility the Understudied Driver of Metabolic Dysregulation? Javad Barouei, Prairie View A&M University, Agriculture, Nutrition, and Human Ecology, and Joshua Rabinowitz, Princeton University, Chemistry, Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics, and Ludwig Princeton Branch.

University of Maryland Eastern Shore

• Mesenchymal Stem Cell-Derived Exosomes in Inflammatory Modulation and Bone Healing. Jiabing Fan, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Pharmaceutical Sciences; Lanju Mei, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Engineering and Aviation Sciences; and Tian-Ming Fu, Princeton University, Electrical and Computer Engineering.