Arkansas Research Alliance adds 3 to academy
The Arkansas Research Alliance (ARA) has added three new members to the ARA Academy, strengthening the state’s growing momentum as a center for world-class research and discovery.
Inducted as ARA Innovation Scholars, the honorees were specifically recruited to the state by their host universities and selected to the ARA Academy for their research contributions to economic growth areas vital to Arkansas’ success.
“Arkansas continues to emerge as a recognized leader in high-tech innovation that substantially improves lives on a global scale,” said Bryan Barnhouse, ARA president and CEO. “Our new Innovation Scholars bring focus to that vision.”
The ARA Innovation Scholars inducted into the ARA Academy are Dr. Mohammadreza Daroonparvar, Arkansas State University (A-State); Dr. Ren Xu, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS); and Dr. Kaicong Wu, University of Arkansas (UA).
Each researcher was recruited from outside the state and selected for science that is centered on one or more industry growth areas identified in a report commissioned by ARA.
“Research in Arkansas delivers the most benefit when it runs in tandem with our state’s economic strengths,” said Barnhouse. “ARA Innovation Scholars are poised to make substantive contributions in manufacturing lighter and stronger steel, creating life-saving breast cancer treatments, and developing sustainable architecture. These industrial sectors are sweet spots in which Arkansas is already firmly rooted and investments in research talent will help them grow as part of the state’s overall economic development story.”
Those selected as an ARA Innovation Scholar receive a $200,000 award over a three-year period and membership to the ARA Academy – a community of strategic research leaders who are supported by ARA programming and strive to maximize the value of discovery and progress in the state.
The new ARA Innovation Scholars include:
Dr. Mohammadreza Daroonparvar, Arkansas State University, serves as an assistant professor of materials engineering in the College of Engineering and Computer Science at Arkansas State University. After earning his doctorate. from UTM in 2013, he has held various academic and industry roles in the United States, including postdoctoral associate and adjunct professor at Auburn University, as well as senior coating engineer specializing in thermal and cold spray coatings. His scholarly contributions include over 100 journal articles, three book chapters, and four conference papers.
Dr. Ren Xu, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, is the newly appointed division director of Translational Cancer Research for the Cancer Institute. He is also a professor in the College of Medicine’s Radiation Oncology Department. Prior to joining UAMS, he worked as a tenured professor of pharmacology for the University of Kentucky’s Markey Cancer Center and College of Medicine. Xu’s primary research focus is the study of microenvironmental cues and their modulation of breast cancer progression, with an overarching goal to identify novel strategies for inhibiting breast cancer metastasis and drug resistance.
Dr. Kaicong Wu, University of Arkansas, is a trained architect who is also a computational designer and researcher. His current research focuses on regenerative design informed by generative computing, artificial intelligence, and robotic assembly, with the goal of uncovering architectural design solutions that are more customizable and highly reversible. He joins the University of Arkansas as a tenure-track assistant professor in the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design.
The ARA Academy, which also includes ARA Scholars and ARA Fellows, brings together 33 researchers from six academic campuses in Arkansas: University of Arkansas (UA), the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture (UADA), the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (UAPB), UA Little Rock (UA Little Rock) and Arkansas State University (A-State).
In addition, the ARA Academy also includes researchers from the FDA’s National Center for Toxicological Research (NCTR) in Jefferson County, the largest FDA research facility located outside of Washington, D.C.