Funding and Grants

Ma, T., Fleischman, A., Komarova, N., Wodarz, D. (2024-2027). "Collaborative Research: Using mathematics to bridge between evolutionary dynamics in the hematopoietic systems of mice and humans: from in vivo to epidemiological scales."

This project is funded by NSF  (grant number DMS-2424854). The human blood contains different cell types that are continuously produced, while older cells die. As this process continues, as the organism ages, mistakes are made during cell production, generating mutant cells. These mutants can linger in the blood and become more abundant over time. They can contribute to chronic health conditions, and there is a chance that they can initiate cancer. It is not well understood why these mutant cells persist and expand. One problem that has held back progress is that, for obvious reasons, it is impossible to perform experiments with human subjects to investigate this. Mathematics combined with epidemiological data, however, offers a way around this limitation. This project develops mathematical models describing the evolution of mutant cells in the blood over time, using experimental mouse data to define the model structure. New mathematical approaches are then used to adapt this model to the human blood system, by bridging between mathematical models of mutant evolution in the blood, and the epidemiological age-incidence of mutants in the human population. There is a broad public health impact since this work can suggest ways to reduce the mutant cells in patients, which can alleviate chronic health conditions and reduce cancer risk. From the educational perspective, we collaborate with Xavier University of Louisiana, an undergraduate historically black university, to foster enthusiasm in continued education and careers in STEM, and to equip students with knowledge and skills to potentially continue in graduate programs at top universities, thus promoting social mobility.

Title III Funding for Travel/Research (2021-2024).

Funding provided by Xavier University of Louisiana to support my professional development and research interests. I have used these funds to facilitate participation in the broader mathematical research community, including conference registration and membership in the American Mathematical Society (AMS). The funding has also supported the acquisition of specialized software such as MATLAB, and subscriptions to mathematical typesetting and document-preparation tools essential for developing, presenting, and disseminating research.

These resources have been instrumental in strengthening my research activities by providing access to professional networks, scholarly resources, and technical tools. In particular, conference participation has allowed me to share research findings, engage with researchers in related areas, and develop new scholarly collaborations, while software and typesetting resources have supported the computational and written components of my research.

Sridhar, J., Huckaba, T., Hayes, M., Ma, T. (2027-2032). "Biomedical Undergraduate Research Training at Xavier University of Louisiana (BURT-XULA) Program".

The program is designed to strengthen biomedical research training at Xavier University of Louisiana by providing 27 undergraduate students with meaningful, hands-on experiences in research methodology under the guidance of Xavier STEM faculty. A central goal of the program is to cultivate students’ research skills, scientific curiosity, and confidence while preparing them for successful transitions into advanced biomedical research programs, including Ph.D. and M.D./Ph.D. programs. Students will work in labs throughout XULA for the first two to three years of the program and then be matched with an institutional partner to perform research at their summer programs.

I will contribute to the program by assisting with the recruitment, interview, and selection of undergraduate participants and by supporting activities designed to identify and engage promising students in biomedical research. I will also facilitate two research training workshops, providing students with foundational skills and practical knowledge that they can apply to their research experiences. Through these activities, I will help foster students’ development as emerging researchers and encourage them to pursue advanced study and careers in STEM and biomedical research.

In 2025, I was a member of the grant writing team and co-PI for the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE) grant with Dr. Jason Todd. This proposal was to create an implementation of an intervention program at XULA. The program targets remedial or non-graduation credit courses that are gateway courses to STEM major courses. The project aimed to decrease the DFW rates overall and improve students' performance in their following STEM major courses. We aimed to strengthen less-than-college-ready students in mathematics through the implementation of ALEKS, an adaptive personalized learning platform, which uses diagnostic assessment to identify individual gaps in mathematical knowledge and provides a framework of activities to support mastery of foundational concepts. ALEKS or similar adaptive learning platforms are used as a tool to support metacognitive development, which can allow students to become more self-directed and effective learners. The proposal received much feedback for improvement from reviewers and was requested to be resubmitted. Since then, our team has continued to investigate and refine the intervention model, develop a more comprehensive implementation strategy, and plan to collect preliminary data for the proposal as proof of concept for funding. This ongoing work reflects a commitment to advancing student achievement, strengthening STEM pathways, and developing evidence-based approaches that can contribute to broader institutional efforts to improve retention and graduation success.

In 2023, I was a member of the grant writing team and co-PI for the NIH Undergraduate Research Training for Student Enhancement (U-RISE). The proposed XURISE project aimed to provide innovative and equitable access to research opportunities that inspire scientific integrity, rigor, and graduate pathways to advance learning in diverse fields of biomedical sciences. The grant was submitted in May 2023. Due to the financial landscape, we had to revise our grant for the BURT grant submission at NIH.