The 2017 distinguished faculty cohort selected to receive 2017 University Research Council Awards were honored at a luncheon hosted by the University Research Council and the Office of Grants and Research Services on April 26.

The summer stipend and research grant competition is one of the most longstanding and competitive sources of faculty development at Seton Hall. To be considered for awards, faculty submit research proposals that are judged by a panel of faculty experts, including senior faculty and previous award winners. This year's honorees received 13 awards, selected from 36 submissions.

Since its inception in the late 1970s, the University Research Council has made more than 300 awards and has been a primary venue for university-sponsored faculty research support. The Office of the Provost, which supports the Council, has increased the funding by about 80 percent during the past three years. The current awardees receive a summer stipend or research grant of $10,000.

The 2017 honorees and their projects include:

• Cosimo Antonacci and Daniel Nichols
  Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry and Department of Biological Sciences
  "Targeting Molluscum Contagiosum Virus (MCV) Early Genes as a Novel Anti-MCV Strategy"
  
  
• Reverend Gerald Buonopane
  Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry
  "Effect of Cold Plasma Processing on Sweet Basil and the Biochemistry of its Essential Oils"
  
  
• Patrick Fisher
  Department of Political Science & Public Affairs
  "Not Enough Representation: The Demographic Disconnect between Congress and Its Citizens"
  
  
• Fanli Jia
  Department of Psychology
  "Are Environmental Issues Moral Issues? Moral Identity as an Impetus for Protecting the Natural World"
  
  
• Nathaniel Knight
  Department of History
  "The Ethnographic Tradition: Science, Empire and Ethnicity and Tsarist Russia, 1725-1870"
  
  
• Cecilia Marzabadi and Lisa Rose-Wiles
  Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry and University Libraries
  "Are We Ignoring History? An Analysis of Citations in Recent Chemistry Articles"
  
  
• Zinaida Miller
  School of Diplomacy & International Relations
  "Transition Time: International Law, Justice, and Post-Conflict Reconstruction"
  
  
• Joseph O'Mahoney
  School of Diplomacy & International Relations
  "India's 1974 Nuclear Explosion and the Global Nonproliferation Regime"
  
  
• Monika Raj
  Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry
  "Synthetic Protease: Protein Degradation as a Therapeutic Strategy"
  
  
• Jason Reynolds/Taewon Choi
  Department of Professional Psychology & Family Therapy
  "Names and Identity for Transracial Korean Adoptees: A Cross Cultural Comparison of Identity Management"
  
  
• Carolyn Sattin-Bajaj
  Department of Education Leadership, Management & Policy
  "The Role of Community-Based Organizations in Guiding Families' School Choices"
  
  
• Courtney Starrett
  Department of Art, Art History & Design
  "Data Materialized: A New Body of Installation Art"
  
  
• Xiaoqing Eleanor Xu
  Department of Finance
  "The Impact of Real Estate as a New Equity Market Sector"

For additional information, contact the University Research Council and the Office of Grants and Research Services.