MIDDLETOWN, Pa. — Four teams of faculty from Penn State Harrisburg and Penn State College of Medicine have been awarded planning and seed grants in the second year of funding through the Penn State Inter-Campus Health and Medicine Research Program.
The partnership was created to support interdisciplinary research in health and medicine. The first planning and seed grants were awarded in 2024.
Building on this foundation, the program continues to foster collaboration among researchers from different disciplines and campuses to leverage diverse expertise and resources, and to enhance research capacity and competitiveness in the region. The program is sponsored by Penn State Harrisburg through the Office of Research and Outreach and Penn State College of Medicine through Penn State Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) and the Center for Medical Innovation (CMI).
Leading the program are Sharareh “Sherri” Kermanshachi, Penn State Harrisburg vice chancellor for research and outreach; Yuval Silberman, associate dean for interdisciplinary research at the College of Medicine; Erika Swift, director of the CMI; and Jennifer Kraschnewski, director of Penn State CTSI.
The program also helps faculty identify potential project partners with an annual "Faculty Connect — Hershey + Harrisburg" event. Each year, the events bring together approximately 100 participants from both colleges and feature about 20 presentations.
The recipients of the 2025 grants are:
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Nikolaos Tsotakos, assistant professor of biology at Penn State Harrisburg, and Zissis Chroneos, professor of pediatrics and of cell and biological sciences at the College of Medicine
This study aims to deepen understanding of evolutionary processes by identifying and analyzing quasi-primes, which are unique genetic sequences specific to particular species or taxonomic groups. Using 36 species of Drosophila — a genus of fly — as a model system, the researchers seek to uncover evolutionary trends and species-specific genetic adaptations.
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Md Faisal Kabir, assistant professor of computer science at Penn State Harrisburg, and Prasanna Karunanayaka, associate professor of radiology, of public health sciences, of neuroscience and of experimental therapeutics at the College of Medicine
The Alzheimer’s disease continuum consists of three main stages: preclinical, mild cognitive impairment and dementia. This project aims to develop and implement artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques to identify patients with mild cognitive impairment who are at higher risk of progressing to dementia.
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Daniel Lidstone, assistant professor of kinesiology at Penn State Harrisburg, and Christopher Sciamanna, professor of medicine and of public health sciences at the College of Medicine
Autism spectrum disorder is a lifelong neurodevelopmental condition that affects communication, social interaction, and the way individuals process sensory and motor information. This study will investigate whether a community-based pickleball program can reduce core autism symptoms and improve overall health in adults with autism spectrum disorder.
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Anilchandra Attaluri, associate professor of mechanical engineering at Penn State Harrisburg, and Brad Zacharia, associate professor of neurosurgery and of otolaryngology at the College of Medicine
Laser Interstitial Thermal Therapy (LITT) offers a less invasive treatment option for recurrent glioblastoma, an aggressive brain tumor, by using heat to destroy tumor tissue through a precisely placed catheter. But LITT alone has limitations, and this project proposes enhancing LITT by combining it with photodynamic therapy, which uses a light-activated drug to produce cell-killing oxygen molecules, targeting the invasive tumor margins.
Prior Inter-Campus Health and Medicine Research Program projects have resulted in externally sponsored research projects and other scholarly collaborations. As an example, Kabir, one of the principal investigators of a 2024 planning grant, was recently awarded funding through the AIM-AHEAD Program for Artificial Intelligence Readiness (PAIR) program, funded by the National Institutes of Health, to help establish an artificial intelligence and health research lab at Penn State Harrisburg.