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FY2021 ODRD Project Summaries

The ORAU-Directed Research and Development (ODRD) program is comprised of cross-cutting initiatives focused on developing or advancing research projects that will enhance ORAU and member university research capabilities.

Learn more about our 2021 awardees and the future impact of their research projects.

2021 Awardees

Using artificial intelligence and remote sensing to study the influence of geographic, racial, and socioeconomic factors on air pollutant exposure and health risk disparities prior to and during COVID-19

University of Houston logoORAU Principal Investigator: Davyda Hammond

University: University of Houston

Contributors: ORAU - Margaux Joe, Cindy McIlvanie; University - Yunsoo Choi, Masoud Ghahremanloo, Jia Jung, Yannic Lops

Focus Areas: Public Health; Data Science and Analytics

Award: $149,922

Summary: The study team sought to investigate and characterize the human health risk disparities due to air pollutant exposures prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The team sought to understand if the decrease in pollutant concentrations and associated health risks during the COVID-19 pandemic were evenly distributed across location, race/ethnicity, education, income, and other social factors.

Related Publications: Lops, Yannic, Masoud Ghahremanloo, Arman Pouyaei, Yunsoo Choi, Jia Jung, Seyedali Mousavinezhad, Ahmed Khan Salman, and Davyda Hammond. Spatiotemporal estimation of TROPOMI NO2 column with depthwise partial convolutional neural network. Neural Computing and Applications (2023): 1-12.

Ghahremanloo, M., Lops, Y., Choi, Y., Jung, J., Mousavinezhad, S. and Hammond, D., 2022. A comprehensive study of the COVID-19 impact on PM2. 5 levels over the contiguous United States: A deep learning approach. Atmospheric Environment, 272, p.118944.

Critical review and analysis of barriers to entry for post-secondary women in physical sciences and the impact of the pandemic on an already imperfect culture

University of Memphis logoORAU Principal Investigator: Laura Davenport

University: University of Memphis

Contributors: ORAU - Kelly Townsend, Erin Burr, Jayme Green; University - Firouzeh Sabri, Helen Sable, Jaime Sabel

Focus Areas: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Studies; Data Science and Analytics

Award: $149,899

Summary: Letters of recommendation written by faculty, mentors, and supervisors are an important tool for screening applicants. A significant barrier to entry for women in physics (and other laboratory-based sciences) is how the behaviors and attributes exhibited in their interactions with faculty and peers are perceived and how these perceptions are described in letters of recommendation written on their behalf. This study examined systemic barriers and acute pandemic-related obstacles to gender diversity in science.

Related Publication: Davenport, L. A., Sabri, F., Burr, E. M., Townsend, K. P., Sabel, J. L., & Sable, H. J. K. (July 8, 2022). Impact of Agentic and Communal Words in Letters of Recommendation. Paper presented at 2022 AAPT Virtual Meeting.

Application of multimethod modeling and machine learning to support planning for public health and emergency preparedness in rural communities

University of Tennessee logoORAU Principal Investigator: Julie Crumly

University: University of Tennessee

Contributors: ORAU - Freddy Gray, Amanda Letheren; University - Tom Berg, Carole Meyers

Focus Areas: Public Health; Data Science and Analytics; Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Studies

Award: $149,867

Summary:This project applied advanced model-based systems engineering (MBSE) methods to develop a proof-of-concept multi-method computer simulation that incorporates factors such as policy, resources and operations, that can be used as a tool to assess the efficacy of emergency planning on health effects for rural communities as a function of primary healthcare.

Related Presentation: Presentation at the 2022 Preparedness Summit

Impact Areas

Finding the links between COVID-19 health risk disparities and air pollutant exposures

How did so-called lockdown or stay-at-home orders designed to slow the spread of the coronavirus impact air pollutant concentrations, particularly in underserved communities? That's the question Davyda Hammond, Ph.D., ORAU environmental engineer, and researchers at the University of Houston Air Quality Forecasting and Modeling Lab are working to answer. They are investigating and characterizing the human health risk disparities due to air pollutant exposures prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Hammond's research was funded through the ORAU-Directed Research and Development program. In this episode of Further Together, Hammond discusses her research in-depth and talks about next steps for her and the research team.

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A medical professional wearing personal protective equipment talks to a person in a car

Research in Progress: How the pandemic has impacted career development for women in science

How has the coronavirus pandemic magnified barriers to career development for women in science? That's the question being researched by Laura Davenport, Ph.D., ORISE evaluation specialist for STEM Workforce Development, and Firouzeh Sabri, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Physics and Material Science at the University of Memphis. Their research is funded through the ORAU-Directed Research and Development program. In this episode, we discuss how these scientists and their teams came to work together, where they are in the process, and what happens next. Barriers to career development for women in science is an important issue. 

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A female student conducts research in a lab setting

Research in Progress: Developing computer simulations for rural disaster preparedness

ORAU and the University of Tennessee have partnered on a research project to develop computer simulations for rural disaster preparedness. In this episode we talk to lead researchers Julie Crumly, Ph.D., ORAU research and evaluation specialist and senior scientist, and Tom Berg, Ph.D., from the University of Tennessee, who has a joint appointment to the College of Nursing and the College of Engineering and Industrial and Systems Engineering. They talk about the challenges of building a model that works for every rural community and what they have learned so far.

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Storm disaster in rural area