2025 Presidential Research Fellows awarded $25K each to further their projects

Six San Diego State University faculty members have been selected as Presidential Research Fellows. Each presidential fellow received $25,000 to further support their research, scholarship and creative activities and will be recognized at a private dinner this week.

Being named a Presidential Research Faculty Fellow is one of the highest research honors on campus, with the most selective being the Albert W. Johnson Distinguished Faculty title and a $30,000 award, for which only one person is selected annually.

Since 2021, the Division of Research and Innovation and Division of Academic Affairs have co-sponsored this recognition of mid-career faculty. Deans from each academic college nominate faculty members who are up for tenure promotion and who have demonstrated exceptional scholarship and impact with their work.

Vice President for Research and Innovation Hala Madanat and Interim Vice Provost Bill Tong reviewed all of the nominations and made recommendations to President Adela de la Torre, who had final say over the selection of the fellows.

Alphabetized by last name, this year’s fellows are as follows:

Olivia Chilcote, College of Arts and Letters 

Chilcote is an American Indian Studies scholar, who situates herself within an Indigenous social research paradigm that approaches community-based and historical research from specific cultural knowledges, ethics, and protocols. She works collaboratively with tribes to foreground Indigenous perspectives in specific histories and ongoing struggles to recover land, ancestors, and political rights.

“Receiving this honor is a recognition of the powerful ways in which American Indian Studies theories and methods can be transformative in academia, Chilcote said. “As a Luiseño/Payómkawichum scholar, it is an acknowledgment of my unwavering commitment to uplift Tribes and advance a research agenda through place-based Indigenous principles of sovereignty and relationality.”

She plans to use the fellowship award to conduct research for her second book manuscript which will focus on reorienting the historiography of California to one centered in Luiseño/Payómkawichum experience.

Nicholas Johnson, College of Education

Children's early math experiences have far-reaching implications for what they learn and on how they view themselves in school. Bolstered by an NSF Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award, Johnson, associate professor in the School of Teacher Education, has been studying math learning and participation over time during early childhood. Working with math and sciences education Ph.D. student research fellow Carlos de Alba, Johnson has recently been collecting data in preschool classrooms in San Diego's South Bay community.

The Presidential Research Fellows Award will help Johnson recruit additional teachers and fund graduate student researchers.

"My hope is that the study helps us better understand how the nuances of children's classroom experiences affect their learning opportunities and how early childhood teachers can build from children’s natural mathematical intuition," Johnson said.

Parag Katira

Katira, who is associate director of the Computational Sciences Research Center at SDSU and a professor of mechanical engineering, is exploring how cells and tissues in our bodies generate and sense mechanical forces. 

“Understanding these forces helps reveal how cells organize to form tissues and organs, heal wounds, and, unfortunately, sometimes lead to diseases like cancer,” he said. “By uncovering these processes, my work aims to enhance our understanding of both health and disease.”

Katira said he is “extremely honored” by his selection as a research faculty fellow. He added: “This recognition highlights SDSU's commitment to research and scholarship, affirms the importance of the work my team and I are doing to advance SDSU's mission, and provides an invaluable opportunity to push the boundaries of our current projects with additional resources and support.”

Robert Luallen

Luallen’s research focuses on understanding the beneficial and pathogenic interactions between natural microbiota and their hosts, using small nematodes as model animals. By combining outreach, ecological sampling, and laboratory research, he and his students aim to uncover the molecular interactions occurring between hosts and bacteria, and explore potential applications for treating human and animal diseases.

“I am humbled to receive this award and I plan to use this award to continue our efforts to promote STEM research awareness among early-stage undergraduates and high school students,” Luallen said.

Corinne McDaniels- Davidson

McDaniels-Davidson is the director of SDSU's Institute for Public Health, associate director of Public Health Practice, and associate professor in the School of Public Health.  Her research focuses on HPV vaccination, cervical cancer, cancer disparities, and COVID-19 inequities. 

“Given the remarkable scholarship of my colleagues, I am deeply humbled and honored to receive this fellowship. I am also grateful that practice-based research is valued by our campus,” McDaniels-Davidson said. “I plan to use the award funds to support student involvement in my research and to continue sharing the results of our work with the community.”

Jillian Lee Wiggins

Lee Wiggins's research leverages functional brain imaging to improve mental health screening and interventions for children. She recently gave a TEDxSanDiego talk on harnessing brain imaging technology to revolutionize child mental health treatments. 

"I'm so honored and thrilled to receive this recognition for the work my team and I have been doing. We will continue working, day by day, to help create a future for healthier, happier families," Wiggins said.