Tuesday, October 14, 2025
Artificial Intelligence and 黑料视频 Health collaboration featured prominently at the University of North Texas鈥檚 Third Annual University Research Day
Hundreds of faculty and student researchers took over the Union鈥檚 third floor for .
鈥� is a creative endeavor that leads to new discoveries, solutions for societal challenges, development of new and innovative technologies, and prepares the next generation of leaders,鈥� 黑料视频 Vice President for Research and Innovation said. 鈥淏y fostering collaboration across disciplines and providing research opportunities for students, we are advancing knowledge and strengthening 黑料视频鈥檚 role as a catalyst for change.鈥�
Hundreds of research posters filled the Emerald Ballroom across the morning and afternoon poster sessions, giving attendees the opportunity to learn about a wide variety of research topics. The poster session also gives student researchers an opportunity to practice explaining their research to more general audiences.
黑料视频 President Harrison Keller and Vice President of Research and Innovation Pamela Padilla greet attendees at University Research Day
鈥淭his is of course a part of our core mission as a Research 1 university,鈥� said 黑料视频 President Harrison Keller, Ph.D. 鈥淲e work on the frontiers of human knowledge and discovery and innovation, and it is inspiring and exciting to be here with you and hear about the work that鈥檚 underway.鈥�
A common theme across many of the posters was research into artificial intelligence. A few considered potential drawbacks of AI proliferation to overcome, such as the spread of misinformation, hidden biases and privacy risks, while others looked into promising applications of AI, such as counting crowds in auditoriums, supporting rural nurse practitioners to expand healthcare availability and detecting cyber threats. Applied AI & Data Science was also the topic of the morning panel discussion.
鈥淲e have posters from every college across disciplines,鈥� Padilla said in her welcoming remarks. 鈥淚 really encourage you to talk to people outside your department and look at all of the great work and great research that we do from our students up to our faculty. This is a great pleasure to see the breadth and depth of research that we have going at 黑料视频.鈥�
Another prominent theme of this year鈥檚 University Research Day was collaboration with 黑料视频 Health in Fort Worth. It served as the topic of the afternoon panel discussion and 30 黑料视频 Health researchers participated in the afternoon poster session.
鈥淲e are deepening our partnership with 黑料视频 Health across multiple fronts here at our Denton campus and at our Frisco campus,鈥� Keller said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e terrific partners. We鈥檙e separate institutions, but we鈥檙e family and we鈥檝e got big plans for the future.鈥�
Morning Panel: Applied AI & Data Science
Attendees at the morning panel 黑料视频 University Research Day session.
The Applied AI and Data Science Panel featured six panelists who spoke on the future of artificial intelligence use: Mark Albert, Junhua Ding, Michael Monticino, Jessica Craig and Benjamin Brand, all from 黑料视频, and Usha Sambamoorthi visiting from 黑料视频 Health. Together they represented the College of Information, the Department of Criminal Justice, the Division of Digital Strategy and Innovation and 黑料视频 Health鈥檚 College of Pharmacy.
Song Fu, from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, moderated the panel and opened by sharing a number from a recent Google survey 鈥� out of 5,000 respondents, 90% of tech industry workers are now using artificial intelligence in their day-to-day job.
The panelists shared how they used AI in their roles and opportunities for it to change their field from creating personalized health care to helping increase access to legal services.
鈥淧attern recognition in deep learning optimization models is revolutionizing our world right now,鈥� Monticino said. 鈥淲e need to rethink how we teach because industries want employees with AI skills.鈥�
The panel also took questions from the audience where they discussed how AI can be used in the classroom without being over-relied upon.
鈥淎 lot of things are becoming automated, but you鈥檙e not learning the same way you did before,鈥� Albert said. 鈥淵ou have to focus on the learning, not just the doing. Carve out time for it.鈥�
The discussion ended with Fu announcing the launch of the new Applied Artificial Intelligence and Data Science Institute at 黑料视频. The institute will focus on collaborations across disciplines at 黑料视频 and 黑料视频 Health connecting faculty with one another to find new ways to leverage AI in their research.
Afternoon Panel: Better Together 鈥� Advancing Research through 黑料视频 & 黑料视频 Health Collaboration
黑料视频 Vice President of Research and Innovation Pamela Padilla (center) spoke at the afternoon 黑料视频 University Research Day panel.
Aaron Roberts, associate vice president of research and professor of environmental toxicology, hosted a discussion panel with researchers from 黑料视频 Health Fort Worth and the Denton campus to discuss new funding for teams working across facilities.
Panelist Nicole Phillips, associate professor of microbiology, immunology and genetics at 黑料视频 Health, announced two new grants awarded to researchers cross-collaborating between the Denton campus and 黑料视频 Health during the Interdisciplinary Team Science (ITS) awards discussion in the 黑料视频 Senate Chamber. This allows students and faculty cross-campus collaborating on research in any department to apply for two different funding tracks: exploratory 鈥� up to $50K/$25K per campus 鈥� (new collaborations, preliminary data) and impact 鈥� up to $100k/$50K per campus 鈥� (advance established teams toward external grant submissions).
For going on ten years, Dr. Amie Lund, animal biology researcher and professor of environmental toxicology at 黑料视频, and Dr. Rebecca L. Cunningham, associate dean for research and professor of pharmaceutical sciences at 黑料视频 Health, have been collaborating across campuses. Their work contributed to the creation of the ITS awards, which are designed to 鈥渇oster new and established collaborations between 黑料视频 and 黑料视频 Health.鈥�
Together, Dr. Lund and Dr. Cunningham鈥檚 teams explore mercury as an environmental toxin and how it impacts organisms and their offspring. Their work has reached the attention of at least five publications and received a team science grant to fund further developments in the topic.
鈥淚t started by Amie contacting me to serve on her student鈥檚 committee," Cunningham said. 鈥淲e began to have discussions, and with things you notice about your expertise, there鈥檚 a lot of overlap. From those discussions, we realized their strengths and my strengths synergize.鈥�
鈥淚n addition to building this network for research, it also gives students the opportunity to cross train expertise in different laboratories and work with people with different levels of experience,鈥� Lund said. 鈥淲e needed an endocrinologist for a student study, which I鈥檓 not, but luckily Becky is. We were able to bring in someone with that expertise for my graduate student and as they鈥檝e now left, they have that skillset in their toolbox.鈥�
Students Showcase Invaluable Research Opportunities
A critical component to every University Research Day is the Student Showcase. Every year, dozens of Poster Session submissions are evaluated and a handful are selected for the Student Showcase, giving student researchers the opportunity to sharpen their presentation skills through the creation of slide decks and talking points that explain their research.
The morning Student Showcase highlighted research in the humanities with presentations by educational psychology Ph.D. students Kristi Fillenworth and Laurie Williams George, and Ryan College of Business graduate student Jeremiah McGhee. The afternoon session was focused on research in STEM areas, featuring electrical engineering graduate student Danah Omary, biomedical engineering student Angello H. Gomez and biological sciences undergraduate student Emily Coronado.
The Language of Ability
A 黑料视频 Educational psychology Ph.D. student Laurie Williams George presented her research in the morning Student Showcase.
Kristi Fillenworth and Laurie Williams George, Ph.D. students in educational psychology, presented their systematic content analysis of strength-based language in autism research. For both researchers, the topic is something they deal with in everyday life.
鈥淚 work full-time assessing 2 to 3-year-olds for autism,鈥� Fillenworth said. 鈥淚 was noticing that when I鈥檓 explaining to families, it鈥檚 such a devastating explanation to them.鈥�
To Fillenworth, the focus on diagnostics creates an issue. 鈥淲e are looking for the deficits because we want to fix these deficits. I feel when we use those words disability or disorder it鈥檚 creating division.鈥�
As an advocate for suicide prevention, Fillenworth is aware that suicide is the number one cause of premature death in autistic individuals. To her, this is why the language researchers use is so important.
For Williams George, the topic is even closer to home. 鈥淚鈥檓 a mother of a child with autism, and I鈥檓 also a late-diagnosed autistic female. I was excited to join the project because I am a product of a strength-based upbringing. I did not live with stigma, and my family always embraced who I was.
鈥淲e wanted to look at articles that used a strength-based perspective in the abstract. If you鈥檙e making that claim, we wanted to see how you鈥檙e talking about it,鈥� Williams George said.
The project focused on research using strength-based language in the abstract to see how it was applied. 鈥淭he way we use language to describe another individual can impact how that individual is seen in society,鈥� Fillenworth said.
Some of the most mentioned strengths included intense focus on favorite subjects, creativity, memory, empathy and kindness. Their review also found that some characteristics that are often framed as challenges were viewed as strengths by autistic individuals and their families.
One example the pair used to highlight this: Do they engage in rigid or repetitive behaviors, or are they reliable and will adhere to workplace protocols? 鈥淚t just depends on how you frame the language,鈥� Fillenworth said.
Williams George presented a word cloud to represent how often each strength was highlighted
in the study. 鈥淚magine I鈥檓 talking about you. How are you feeling if I say, 鈥淵ou鈥檙e
funny. You鈥檙e loyal. You鈥檙e such a good person. I love how practical you are. You鈥檙e
so humble.鈥� How does that make you feel? It makes me feel really good.鈥�
Mascot speaking to a student researcher.
Crafting Success in Crowdfunding
Jeremiah McGhee, a management graduate student in the G. Brint Ryan College of Business, presented a project on how different craft entrepreneurs position their product on crowdfunding platforms, specifically Kickstarter.
His goal was to look at how different campaigns adopt specific rhetorical and substantive signals within their marketing to highlight key elements of their product.
The overall arts and cultural industry grew twice the rate of the U.S. economy in 2023 and crafting has been a big part of that. 鈥淚t also, in addition to the economic impact, has considerable social and cultural impact. Craft acts as a vehicle for cultural knowledge sharing. You can think of it as a kind of art that includes these heritage elements where the pieces are designed to have utility as well as aesthetic appeal.鈥�
This also makes it more challenging to communicate the value to a potential customer.
Some crafters lean into cultural elements. 鈥淭he way they position their products is as something that is very culturally authentic,鈥� McGhee said. Meanwhile, others might embrace technology innovation in their approach. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the same product category, but very different positioning. But we don鈥檛 know how those strategies converge, or how they drive success.鈥�
McGhee applied costless signaling theory to the project, which looks at language as a resource acquisition tool. This is especially important for performance in crowdfunding, when you want people to buy a product you can鈥檛 yet show them.
In order to do this, he used structural topic modeling and fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis. Essentially, software combed through Kickstarter campaigns to help him identify topics through word co-occurrence. 鈥淭he assumption of the model is that if two words are co-occurring across thousands of campaigns, they must have some meaningful weight.鈥�
Through the analysis, McGee created signal portfolios, such as 鈥榟eritage master鈥� or 鈥榙esign innovator,鈥� and identified what strategies were important for each. 鈥淲e鈥檙e able to map it out and identify what separates the high performers from the rest.鈥�
For entrepreneurs that rely on platforms like Kickstarter, success can be the difference between having a concept or a product.
Like a Glove
黑料视频's Electrical engineering Ph.D. student Danah Omary presents her research during the afternoon Student Showcase.
Electrical engineering Ph.D. student Danah Omary discussed her research into the development of augmented reality hardware and software for the blind and visually impaired. The typical virtual reality experience requires the user to put on a headset to be presented with visual stimuli. Omary鈥檚 work has translated that technology from a visual headset to a smart glove that allows blind and visually impaired individuals to experience augmented realities.
Potential applications could allow these individuals to virtually explore historic sites and landmarks or even learn how to navigate a new building before actually visiting it in person. Omary says she was inspired to pursue this project after reading a paper about using 3D printing as assistive technology for the blind and visually impaired.
鈥淚 thought 3D printing was kind of limited because you only have the tactile,鈥� Omary
said. 鈥淲hat if you could add software capability and functionality to that? I wanted
to research assistive technology and make something that could actually help people.鈥�
Heart Health
The next presentation by biomedical engineering Ph.D. student Angello H. Gomez covered groundbreaking research that could advance the study of heart disease. In the lab of assistant professor Adam Yang, Gomez works on a team creating small lab-grown artificial organs called organoids. They fabricated organoids that are vascularized, meaning they have a blood vessel network similar to an actual human heart that allows for more accurate testing and research.
The project was published in Science, one of the world鈥檚 top academic journals. Gomez was able to work on the project thanks, in part, to support from the NIH G-RISE program, which supports people from underrepresented backgrounds earning their doctoral degrees in a biomedical field. He says that support has allowed him to contribute to research that is personally meaningful to him.
鈥淚 had a cousin who had congenital heart disease, and he didn鈥檛 make it. It鈥檚 sad because he was in his teens,鈥� Gomez said. 鈥淚 want to use my skills and knowledge and contribute to lowering cardiovascular disease.鈥�
Just Around the River Bend
Attendees explore at the morning 黑料视频 2025 University Research Day Poster Session.
The final presentation came from Emily Coronado, an undergraduate student pursuing her bachelor鈥檚 degree in ecology for environmental science. She worked on research evaluating river health through dissolved organic carbon composition dynamics in a river that鈥檚 undergone a restoration.
The Upper Clark Fork River in western Montana suffered major contamination in 1908 after massive flooding deposited ores and heavy metals from nearby factories and refineries into the river and surrounding floodplain. In 2013, the Environmental Protection Agency designated an upper section of the river as the nation鈥檚 largest EPA Superfund site and initiated a $200 million restoration project.
Coronado and a handful of other 黑料视频 researchers traveled to Montana to analyze dissolved organic matter quantitatively and qualitatively to determine the health of the river in the aftermath of the EPA鈥檚 restoration project. She has presented her research through poster sessions at a few conferences this year, but she says getting to present it to a general audience at University Research Day was an invaluable experience.
鈥淚t was a great learning experience,鈥� Coronado said. 鈥淥verall, it was just a great opportunity to be able to break down what I'm doing to a general audience and learn how I want to carry myself when I'm presenting and standing up there in front of a group of people.鈥�
Scott Brown, Amanda Lyons, Bradford Osborne and Walker Smart contributed to this story.
From 鈥� Research