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Cornell China Center Kāng nài ěr zhōngguó zhōngxīn

Cornell China Center Funded Research

Cornell China Center Grant AWARDS

Between 2019-2023, the Cornell China Center awarded the following funding for Cornell-China research.

2023 Shanghai Jiao Tong University-Cornell University Joint Seed Fund (5 awards)

  • A stem cell basis for vertebral metastases. PIs: Matthew Blake Greenblatt (Associate Professor, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College); Weiguo Zou (SJTU Affiliated Sixth People's Hospital, Institute of Microsurgery on Extremities)
  • Mechanistic study of novel antagonists of the CCL5/CCR5 signaling axis in triple negative breast cancer growth, metastasis and immunotherapy. PIs: Xiaojing Ma (Professor, Microbiology and Immunology, Weill Cornell Medical College); Jing Yu (Associate Professor, Genetics and Developmental Science, Life Science and Biotechnology, SJTU)
  • AI-based medical image computing and next generation of MRI-guided surgical navigation for Head and Neck surgery. PIs: Yi Wang (Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Cornell); Xiaojun Chen (Professor, Mechanical Engineering, SJTU)
  • Recognzing Fine-grained Hand-Face Touching Behaviors using Minimally-obtrusive Wearables with Magnetic Sensing. PIs: Cheng Zhang (Assistant Professor, Computing and Information Science, Cornell); Dongyao Chen (Assistant Professor, School of Electronic Information and Electrical Engineering, SJTU)
  • Breaking metals’ strength-ductility trade-off with tailored gradient microstructures. PIs: Mostafa Hassani (Assistant Professor, Engineering, Cornell); Hongze Wang (Associate Professor, Materials Science and Engineering, SJTU)

2022 Shanghai Jiao Tong University-Cornell University Joint Seed Fund (5 awards)

  • Climate Adaptation in China and the U.S: Comparing Strategies, Frameworks, and Impacts in New York and Shanghai. PIs: Linda Shi (City and Regional Planning, Cornell); Ruishan Chen (Landscape Architecture, SJTU)
  • Spatiotemporal Distributions of Traffic-related Carbon Emission in Near-road Neighborhoods: Measurements & Mitigation. PIs: Oliver Gao (Civil & Environmental Engineering, Cornell); Hongdi He (Civil Engineering, SJTU)
  • Modifying the message: The role of RNA editing in virulence of a major pathogen of rice. PIs: Adam J. Bogdanove (Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology Section, School of Integrative Plant Science, Cornell); Bo Zhu (Resources and Environment, SJTU)
  • Operando Characterization of Argyrodite Sulfide-Based Lithium Batteries. PIs: Hector D. Abruna (Chemistry & Chemical Biology, Cornell); Huanan Duan (Materials Science and Engineering, SJTU)
  • Ultra-sensitive point-of-care test platforms based on the high-overtone bulk acoustic resonator detection technology. PIs: Amit Lal (Electrical and Computer Engineering, Cornell); Lei Shao (University of Michigan-Shanghai Jiao Tong University Joint Institute)

2022 Zhejiang University-Cornell University Joint Seed Fund (4 awards)

  • Improving crop yield through fundamental understanding of the control of size and shape in plants. PIs: Adrienne Roeder (Weill Institute and SIPS, Section of Plant Biology, Cornell); Lilan Hong (Institute of Nuclear-Agricultural Science, ZJU)
  • The Dietary Combination of Essential Oils and Hydroponically-grown Sprouted Grains to Mitigate Enteric Methane Emissions From Dairy Cattle. PIs: Joseph McFadden (Animal Science, Cornell); Hui-Zeng Sun (Institute of Dairy Science, ZJU)
  • Leveraging machine learning and AI for rationale structure design of nanocarbon-based single-atom catalysts and its mechanism of electrocatalytic CO2 reduction for climate mitigation. PIs: Fengqi You (Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Cornell); Yang HOU (College of Chemical and Biological Engineering, ZJU)
  • Chemical Vapor Deposition on Metal-Organic Frameworks and Covalent Organic Frameworks for Novel Separation Membranes. PIs: Rong Yang (Engineering); Junjie Zhao (Chemical & Biological Engineering, ZJU)

2022 Cornell China Center-Cornell East Asia Program Research Fund (3 awards)

  • Environmental Governance in China: Private Enforcement of Environmental Law. Steven Wolf (CALS).
  • Worker Voice in China’s Networked Public Sphere (jointly funded with the Einaudi Center faculty seed grant program). Duanyi Yang (ILR).
  • Fatherland as Mother: Racializing the Chinese Nation in Migrations and Revolutions (jointly funded with the Einaudi Center fauculty seed grant program). Yue Du (A&S).

2021 Zhejiang University-Cornell University Joint Seed Fund (4 awards)

  • Improving seed yield and stress tolerance in rice through natural variations of a novel lipid binding protein. Team: Jian Hua (Plant Biology, Cornell); Yajing Guan (Agronomy, ZJU)
  • In silico nanosafety assessment for promoting nano-enabled strategies in agricultural production. Team: Dan Luo (Biological and Environmental Engineering, Cornell); Fang Cheng (Biosystems Engineering and Food Science, ZJU)
  • Making Inclusive Finance More Digital and Greener: Big Data evidence from China. Team: Yongmiao Hong (Economics / Statistics and Data Science, Cornell); Xingguo Luo and Xuejun Jin (Economics, ZJU); Chenming Zuo (Alibaba & National Agricultural Credit Guarantee Alliance Co., Ltd.)
  • Regulating the Crystallographic Orientation of Zinc Metal for Advanced Aqueous Zinc Batteries. Team: Lynden Archer (Chemical and Bimolecular Engineering, Cornell); Yingying Lu (Chemical and Biological Engineering, ZJU)

2021 China Innovation Grants (2 awards)

  • Cornell-Southern China-Macau-International Cooperative Functional Food Groups. Team: Rui Hai Liu (Food Science, Cornell); Xiong Fu, Professor, Food Science, SCUT, Guangzhou, China; Shaoping Li, Professor, University of Macau, Macau, China; Bisheng Zheng, Associate Professor, Food Science, SCUT, Guangzhou, China.
  • Practical Approaches to the Control of Ichthyophthiriasis in Asian Aquaculture. Team: PI Theodore Clark (Microbiology & Immunology, Cornell) with Co-Investigators James Casey (Microbiology & Immunology, Cornell); Giana Bastos Gomes and Sophie St-Hilaire (City University of Hong Kong). Collaborators: Professor Gong Hui, Biotechnology Institute, Fujian Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Fuzhou; Professor Dan Xue-ming, Joint Laboratory of Guangdong Province and Hong Kong Regions on Marine Bioresource Conservation and Exploitation, College of Marine Sciences, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou; Professor An-Xing Li, State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol/ Key Laboratory of Aquatic Product Safety (Sun Yat-Sen University), Ministry of Education, The School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou.

2020 Shanghai Jiao Tong University-Cornell University Joint Seed Fund (5 awards)

  • Understanding trichome formation at the nexus of food, nutrition and human health. PIs: Jocelyn Rose (Professor, School of Integrative Plant Science, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Cornell); Kexuan Tang (Professor, School of Agriculture and Biology, SJTU).
  • Robust learning for distributed medical data analysis with scarce and imperfect measurements and communication constraints. PIs: Yudong Chen (Assistant Professor, School of Operations Research and Information Engineering, College of Engineering, Cornell); Xiaolin Huang (Associate Professor, Electronics, Automation, Information and Electrical Engineering, STJU). Co-PIs: Jie Yang (Professor in School of Electronics, Information and Electrical Engineering, STJU); Shikui Tu (Associate Professor in School of Electronics, Information and Electrical Engineering, STJU).
  • Towards automated eating activity recognition in the wild using a commodity smartwatch. PIs: Cheng Zhang (Assistant Professor, Information Science, Computing and Information Science. Cornell); Junchi Yan (Associate Professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, STJU). Collaborators: Xiaoyon Pan (Assistant Professor, Department of Automation, STJU); Weichang Wu (PhD Student, Department of Electrical Engineering, STJU).
  • Energy-use behaviors and patterns in public buildings: A comparison between China and the USA. PIs: Michael Tomlan (Professor, Department of City and Regional Planning, College of Architecture, Art, and Planning, Cornell); Liang Xin (Assistant Professor, School of International and Public Affairs, STJU).
  • COVID-19: Impact on the hospitality industry. PIs: Peng Liu (Associate Professor, School of Hotel Administration, S. C. Johnson College of Business, Cornell); Haitao Yin (Professor, Vice Dean, Economics Antai College of Economics and Management, STJU). Collaborators: Danmei Lin (SHA-JCB); Bob Yu (SHA-JCB); Joshua Sheinberg (Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management).

2020 Zhejiang University-Cornell University Joint Seed Fund (4 awards)

  • Toward cleaner water in China: Policy analysis of agricultural non-point source pollution. PIs: Panle Jia Barwick (Associate Professor, Department of Economics, College of Arts and Sciences, Cornell); Weiwen Zhang (Professor, Vice Dean, School of Public Affairs, ZJU). Collaborators: Zhaoyingzi Dong (School of Public Affairs, ZJU); Yingyi Jin (School of Public Affairs, ZJU).
  • Multistimuli-responsive silk-elastin-like protein hydrogels for dynamic biomaterials. PIs: Jingjie Yeo (Assistant Professor, School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, College of Engineering, Cornell); Wenwen Huang (Assistant Professor, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Zhejiang University-University of Edinburgh Institute).
  • Multivalent Al3+ electrode reactions in rechargeable high-energy aqueous aluminum batteries. PIs: Lynden Archer (Professor, School of Chemical and Bimolecular Engineering, College of Engineering, Cornell); Yingying Lu (College of Chemical and Biological Engineering, ZJU).
  • A machine intelligence approach to quantify climate change impact on rainfed and irrigated corn production. PIs: Fengqi You (Professor, School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, College of Engineering, Cornell); Xi Chen (Professor, College of Control Science and Engineering, ZJU). Collaborators: Yibin Ying (College of Biosystems Engineering and Food Science, ZJU); The International Joint Research Center of Quality-targeted Process Optimization and Control at ZJU.

2020 Cornell China Center-Cornell East Asia Program Research Fund (4 awards)

  • China, Aging and the COVID-19 Response. PIs: Mildred E Warner (Professor, City and Regional Planning, College of Art, Architecture and Planning, Cornell). Collaborators: Dr. Xue Zhang (Post Doctoral Associate, Global Development and CRP, Cornell); Dr. Elaine Wethington (Professor Emeritus, Human Development, Cornell and Roybal Center); Dr. Zhilin Liu (Associate Professor, School of Public Policy & Management at Tsinghua University, Director of the Public Policy Institute); Dr. Tao Ma (Professor and Assistant Dean, School of Management at Harbin Institute of Technology); Dr. Lina Zhao (Assistant Professor of the Department of Public Affairs Management at Jiangsu University of Science and Technology)
  • Understanding cross-cultural social perceptions towards interacting with an on-skin display for displaying health and environmental data. PIs: Cindy Kao (Assistant Professor, Department of Design and Environmental Analysis, College of Human Ecology, Cornell). Collaborator: Chuang-Wen You (Assistant Professor, National Tsing-Hua University).
  • The Roots of Female Underrepresentation in Academia in China: Exploring the Development of Gender Stereotypes about Intelligence. PI: Lin Bian (Assistant Professor, Department of Human Development, College of Human Ecology, Cornell). Collaborator: Qingfen Hu (Professor, Department of Psychology, Beijing Normal University).
  • The Making and Remaking of China’s Cities: Demolition, Redevelopment, and Expansion. PI: Jeremy Wallace (Associate Professor, Department of Government, College of Arts and Sciences, Cornell). Collaborators: Shiqi Ma and Jiwon Baik (Government Department, Cornell).

2019 China Innovation Grants (featured in Cornell Chronicle)

Full grant awardees (4)

  • Food – Energy – Water Security in the Three Rivers Headwater Region: Integrating science, data, and decision tools to manage under a changing climate and development pressures. Team: John Albertson (Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Cornell); Lindsay Anderson (Associate Professor, Biological and Environmental Engineering, Cornell); Ariel Ortiz-Bobea (Assistant Professor, Applied Economics and Policy, Cornell); Patrick Reed (Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Cornell); Ying Sun (Assistant Professor, Soil and Crop Sciences, Cornell).
  • Engaging Chinese cities in cost-effective data-driven air pollution management. PIs: Max Zhang (Associate Professor, Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Cornell); Andrew Wilson (Assistant Professor, School of Operations Research, and Information Engineering, Cornell).
  • Managing disease in China’s changing apple industry: Farmers, landscapes, and pathogen population dynamics. PIs: John Aloysius Zinda (Assistant Professor, Department of Development Sociology, Cornell); Awais Khan (Associate Professor, Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology Section, Cornell).
  • Environment and Education SDGs: Building capacity for local environmental practice through online learning in China. PIs: Marianne Krasny (Professor and Director, Civic Ecology Lab, Cornell); Department of Natural Resources; Rene Kizilcec (Assistant Professor, Department of Information Science, Cornell); Yue Li (Post-doc, Department of Natural Resources, Cornell); Alex Kudryavtsev (Extension Associate, Department of Natural Resources, Cornell).

Project development grant awardees (4)

  • Chinese Society, Media, and the World: Attitudes and Discourse. PIs: Jessica Chen Weiss (Associate Professor, Department of Government, Cornell); Yue (Mara) Du (Assistant Professor, Department of History, Cornell); Will Hobbs (Assistant Professor, Department of Human Development, Cornell).
  • Triakonta: Seismic Analysis of a New Sustainable Building System. PIs: Jack Elliott, (Design and Environmental Analysis, Human Ecology, Cornell); Kifle Gebremedhin (Biological and Environmental Engineering, Cornell).
  • Prototyping of a robot-based network integrated with deep-ultra violet (DUV) light source for disinfection of hospital rooms by directional and/or distributed DUV beam. PIs: Vladimir Protasenko (Senior Research Associate, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Cornell); Joseph Skovira (Senior Lecturer, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Cornell); Carmen Moraru (Department of Food Sciences, Cornell).
  • Learning with Chongqing: Sustainable Urbanization and Housing Models for Urban-rural China. PIs: Leslie Lok (Assistant Professor, Department of Architecture, Cornell); Jamie Vanucchi (Assistant Professor, Department of Landscape Architecture, Cornell); Peng Liu (Associate Professor, Center for Real Estate and Finance); Timur Dogan (Assistant Professor, Director of Environmental Systems Lab, Department of Architecture, Cornell).