Research and Faculty Profiles

Across Historically Black Colleges and Universities, faculty produce research that addresses complex scientific, social, and community challenges. Their work contributes to national priorities and advances knowledge across disciplines. Yet much of this expertise remains difficult to discover, even within individual campuses, limiting how often it connects with broader opportunities.

In today’s research environment, visibility shapes collaboration, funding, and institutional reputation. Networks drive how teams form and how large-scale projects take shape. However, at many institutions, including HBCUs, research discovery has relied on local awareness or personal connections rather than shared systems. This gap influences more than individual researchers; it shapes how institutions participate in national research networks, how students access opportunities, and how external partners engage with HBCU expertise. When discovery remains fragmented, collaboration becomes harder to initiate and sustain, and valuable knowledge does not reach its full potential. To address this challenge, Dr. M. Omar Faison, VSU’s Vice Provost for Research and Economic Development, and a multi-institutional team developed the HBCU Research and Collaboration Exchange, known as The Exchange. This National Science Foundation funded initiative brings together Virginia State University with Alabama A&M University, the University of the Virgin Islands, Winston-Salem State University, Fisk University, and North Carolina Central University into a shared research ecosystem. Within The Exchange, faculty expertise, publications, and research interests are visible and searchable across institutional boundaries. “Research that is not visible is functionally underutilized,” Dr. Faison said, capturing the central motivation behind the work. Instead of treating research discovery as a campus-level function, The Exchange operates as a shared infrastructure, enabling institutions to showcase their collective intellectual capital. Automated systems help populate and maintain profiles, supporting participation while allowing faculty to focus on their research. At the same time, coordinated outreach across partner campuses encourages engagement and helps integrate the platform into everyday research practices. The collection of research outputs and profiles into a unified platform allows users to identify collaborators, explore complementary expertise, and align around shared interests. The platform allows a researcher in the Virgin Islands to be instantly discoverable by a potential partner in Alabama or a program officer at a funding agency like the National Science Foundation. This intervention reduces the search cost for collaboration and supports the growth of smaller institutions.

As the system takes hold, it is expected to reshape how collaboration occurs across the participating institutions. Faculty gain greater visibility for their work and access to a broader network of potential collaborators. Institutions develop a clearer understanding of their collective research capacity, strengthening their ability to pursue large-scale funding opportunities. Students benefit from an expanded research environment that connects them to a wider range of mentors and projects. External partners, including funding agencies and industry collaborators, gain a more complete view of the expertise distributed across these institutions. This visibility supports more inclusive partnerships and helps ensure that HBCU researchers are positioned to contribute to major initiatives. Early engagement metrics show growing participation, with thousands of users accessing the platform and adoption continuing to increase across campuses.

As federal agencies increasingly prioritize large-scale, diverse, and multi-institutional research efforts, the visibility provided by The Exchange is vital for the long-term sustainability of higher education institutions. “Discovery tools are infrastructure for collaboration, for external engagement, and for creating and expanding your institutional narrative,” Dr. Faison said. By making expertise visible and accessible, the initiative strengthens the capacity of participating institutions to collaborate, compete, and contribute at scale.

Modern science often looks to the smallest scales to solve some of the world's most persistent technical challenges. From storing clean energy to removing contaminants from water and improving how medicines move through the body, many solutions depend on controlling matter at the level of individual molecules. One promising solution involves a class of compounds known as metal-organic frameworks, or MOFs. These materials function as microscopic sponges with pores so small that they interact with individual molecules. At Virginia State University, Dr. Karl Jackson, Chair of the Chemistry Department, is leading research to understand how these materials behave and how they can be precisely engineered for specific real-world applications.

The core strength of these frameworks lies in their extreme versatility. Dr. Jackson and his team develop micro-porous materials designed for the adsorption or filtration of various compounds. Because these frameworks are built from different combinations of metals and organic components, they are highly customizable. This flexibility allows researchers to tailor the materials for a wide range of uses, from water purification to hydrogen fuel storage. This specificity is the true sophistication of these materials. Unlike a standard sponge that absorbs everything it touches, these can be customized at the molecular level to target one specific substance within a complex mixture.

In the laboratory, Dr. Jackson examines how small changes during the synthesis phase influence the characteristics of the final material. By adjusting the chemical recipe, the team can improve how much a material can soak up or how fast it can filter a liquid. This approach turns complex synthesis into a precise design exercise, where the goal is to create the most efficient architecture possible for a given task.

This growing understanding already supports a range of applications. In one project, the team studies how these materials can carry curcumin, a compound with known anti-cancer properties that has difficulty moving effectively through the body. By loading curcumin into the pores, the material may improve how it is distributed, creating new possibilities for delivery. In another line of work, the materials are tested for their ability to capture lead and other heavy metals, offering potential advances in water purification. The same principles extend to hydrogen storage, where these frameworks could provide a more efficient way to store fuel in a compact space.

The work also plays a central role in student training. Undergraduate researchers participate directly in the synthesis and characterization process, gaining hands-on experience with techniques that are widely used in scientific and industrial settings. This approach builds both technical skill and an understanding of how basic research connects to broader applications.

While much of this research begins with foundational questions, the path toward tangible impact is clear. By mastering the chemistry required to build these structures, the research team at Virginia State University is providing the tools necessary for safer medical treatments, cleaner water, and more sustainable energy systems. As Dr. Jackson explains, “our work not only trains the future scientists, but advances technology in the field of material sciences and biotechnology.

Universities prepare students for careers, and communities face complex health challenges, yet the systems connecting those two realities often operate in isolation. Data exists across agencies, expertise sits within academic departments, and community organizations work directly with those in need. What remains difficult involves bringing these elements together in a way that produces coordinated, sustained impact. At Virginia State University, Dr. Larry Keen, an Associate Professor in VSU’s Psychology Department, recognized this gap through the experiences of his own students. Many completed degrees in health-related fields with strong academic preparation, yet limited opportunities to engage directly with the communities they aimed to serve. At the same time, nearby communities faced pressing issues involving substance use, cardiovascular health, and access to care, often without consistent access to research-driven support. These parallel challenges pointed toward a shared opportunity to rethink how education, research, and community engagement could work together.

The Center for Outreach and Treatment through Education and Research, known as Ce.OTTER, emerged from that insight. Under Dr. Keen’s leadership, the center brings students, faculty, and community partners into a connected network focused on translating data into action. Health-related data, whether related to opioid use, heart rate variability, or broader public health trends, moves through this system and becomes the foundation for interventions, prevention strategies, and community education. This approach relies on integration. Disciplines such as psychology, data analysis, and community health operate together, with each perspective informing the others. Dr. Keen describes the model as a “woven tapestry,” where different areas of expertise contribute to shared goals. Through this structure, the center develops responses that reflect both the complexity of the challenges and the needs of the communities involved. In practice, Ce.OTTER works through partnerships across the region. The center collaborates with organizations such as the Virginia Department of Health, local coalitions, and the Department of Corrections to address issues including opioid overdoses and substance use prevention. Students and faculty engage directly with these partners, analyzing data, developing interventions, and supporting programs that serve vulnerable populations. This work also informs broader conversations around public health policy, including areas such as cannabis use and prevention strategies. The impact extends across multiple groups. Students gain access to research experiences, internships, and professional networks that prepare them for careers in health fields. Faculty engage in collaborative projects that connect scholarship to real-world outcomes. Community organizations receive support grounded in data and evidence, strengthening their ability to serve those in need. Policymakers benefit from insights that contribute to more informed decision-making.

The center has grown from a small team into an expanding network that includes faculty, staff, and students working across multiple projects. Its partnerships continue to develop across the region and beyond, creating new pathways for collaboration and training. As this network expands, the connections between university resources and community needs become more direct and more effective. Dr. Keen captures the philosophy behind this model in simple terms: “If we are doing well, the university is doing well, the students are doing well, the faculty are doing well, the community is doing well.” This shared sense of progress reflects the broader purpose of the work, where each part of the system contributes to the success of the whole. Dr. Keen notes, "If we are supported, then we are in turn supporting everybody else. That is our job."

When someone says “take a right,” most people understand exactly what to do. When someone says “the other right,” the meaning still comes through. These small moments reveal how communication depends on shared context, physical awareness, and an evolving sense of what another person intends. For Dr. Joon Suk Lee, Chair of the Department of Computer Science at Virginia State University, that everyday interaction raises a deeper question. How do people build understanding with one another, and what happens when one of the participants is a machine? By examining that question more closely, his research opens new ways of thinking about how humans and artificial intelligence might learn to communicate in shared spaces.

Dr. Lee’s research traces back to his studies of human behavior and discourse. In earlier work, he observed small groups collaborating on tasks such as solving a Sudoku puzzle together, analyzing how they built meaning over time. Researchers describe this process as establishing “common ground,” the shared knowledge that allows conversations to move forward efficiently. In a physical space, that shared understanding extends beyond spoken words. People gesture, point, and refer to objects around them. They interpret directions based on their own bodies and the layout of the room. A phrase like “over there” carries meaning because both people see and experience the same environment. The situation shifts when an artificial intelligence agent enters that space. A robot with a physical body must interpret language in relation to its surroundings, a challenge that differs from the work of screen-based systems. A digital assistant processes text, while an embodied system must also account for position, movement, and physical context. It must recognize where it stands, where a person stands, and how objects shape the interaction between them. Dr. Lee studies how people make sense of these systems and how the systems can be designed to align more closely with the ways humans communicate.

This work highlights how much of human communication operates beneath the surface. People constantly adjust their language, fill in missing details, and reinterpret meaning in real time. When interacting with another person, these adjustments feel seamless. When interacting with an AI system, the same processes become more visible. A machine may process language accurately yet still struggle with intended meaning because it lacks shared experience. At the same time, people begin to adapt their own communication, trying to anticipate how the system understands the world. Dr. Lee describes this process as a form of “micro coordination,” where meaning emerges through small, continuous adjustments between participants. Communication becomes a dynamic exchange shaped by context, perspective, and interaction. This perspective reframes the goal of robotics. Progress involves more than increasing computational power or expanding data. It involves designing systems that recognize and respond to the social and physical cues that guide human interaction.

These insights open the door to a world where robots integrate into sensitive human environments like hospitals, classrooms, and homes. Imagine a robot assistant in a healthcare setting that understands when a nurse points to a specific piece of equipment during a high-stress moment. Success in this field relies on the robot's ability to perceive environmental cues that humans often take for granted. As Dr. Lee explains his vision for this technology, he emphasizes the importance of shared perception. He notes, "When we put people in the same physical space, everyone knows what the surroundings are. We can use those environmental cues as part of the discourse." By mastering these rules of common ground, Dr. Lee is building the foundation for a generation of machines that work alongside people with the same fluidity as a human partner. This research transforms the friction of human-robot interaction into a blueprint for true collaboration.

Ginger is a crop with growing demand and strong market potential, yet for many farmers in the United States, it remains difficult to produce successfully. Fields that begin with healthy seedlings can quickly decline as diseases take hold, often with little warning and few clear answers. In some high tunnel operations, farmers have watched as much as 70 percent of their ginger crop fail before it ever reaches harvest. Dr. Zelalem Mersha, an associate professor in VSU’s College of Agriculture, conducts research on understanding and addressing this challenge.

When ginger production began expanding in the region, growers had little guidance on how to manage disease. Much of the existing research came from tropical regions or from studies conducted decades earlier, offering limited relevance to current conditions. At the same time, the crop itself presents unique challenges. Ginger is propagated vegetatively, which means diseases can be carried directly from one planting cycle to the next. Imported planting material can introduce pathogens, while local growing conditions can allow those diseases to build up over time. These factors create a complex and evolving problem. Farmers can observe the damage in their fields, yet identifying the cause and choosing an effective response requires a deeper understanding of how diseases emerge and spread in specific environments. Dr. Mersha’s work addresses this need by combining field observation, laboratory research, and direct engagement with growers. His team identifies and characterizes the pathogens affecting ginger while also studying how production practices influence disease pressure over time. Through these interactions, growers receive guidance that reflects current research, while researchers gain insight into the challenges faced in production. This exchange keeps the work grounded in real- world needs and ensures that solutions remain practical and accessible. In this way, his research moves beyond identifying problems. It builds a foundation for solutions that growers can use in real production settings. Integrated management strategies help farmers recognize early symptoms, understand how diseases spread, and take targeted action that reduces risk. As knowledge grows, growers gain the ability to make more informed decisions, improving outcomes while maintaining efficiency. “My work helps small farmers and gardeners prevent crop losses by identifying plant diseases early and building practical, low-cost management strategies,” Dr. Mersha said.

As specialty crop production continues to expand, the ability to manage plant health will play a critical role in long-term success. Dr. Mersha’s research contributes to this effort by building knowledge that supports both immediate action and future innovation. Continued study may lead to new approaches, including biological solutions that offer sustainable ways to control disease and improve crop resilience. “Plant health is not just about identifying a disease. It is about giving farmers and gardeners practical options before the problem takes the crop,” Dr. Mersha said.

What began as an effort to understand why crops fail is shaping a pathway toward more reliable production, stronger agricultural systems, and greater confidence among growers exploring new opportunities. The results of this work are already visible as awareness of ginger diseases increases across the region. Early reports from the research team have contributed to national recognition of these issues, encouraging further collaboration and support.