This fall, the Office of the Vice President for Research, Scholarship and Creative Endeavors welcomes the 2025-2026 cohort of the Research Leaders Academy. First launched in 2023 and held every other year, the Research Leaders Academy is designed for established principal investigators (tenured or professional-track faculty or research scientists) who aspire to lead—or who are already leading—large-scale research initiatives.
Selected participants were chosen through competitive peer review and represent 10 colleges, schools and units from across campus. Working collaboratively with each other and with OVPR’s Research Development team, participants will learn how to scope a large-scale shared scholarly vision, how to secure external support to realize that shared vision and how to successfully implement their vision.
The 2025-2026 Research Leaders Academy Fellows are:
Joydeep Biswas
Associate Professor
Department of Computer Science
College of Natural Sciences
Audrey Brumback
Assistant Professor
Department of Neurology and Pediatrics
Dell Medical School
Pramit Chaudhuri
Associate Professor
Department of Classics
College of Liberal Arts
Kasey Claborn
Associate Professor
Steve Hicks School of Social Work
Laura Lee Colgin
Professor
Department of Neuroscience
College of Natural Sciences
Kelly Dorgan
Associate Professor
Department of Marine Science
College of Natural Sciences
Kelly Gaither
Associate Professor and Senior Research Scientist
Department Women's Health
Dell Medical School
Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC)
Lorna Hermosura
Research Scientist
Population Research Center
College of Liberal Arts
Yijin Liu
Associate Professor
Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering
Cockrell School of Engineering
Timothy A. Meckel
Research Professor
Bureau of Economic Geology
Jackson School of Geosciences
Adele Nelson
Associate Professor
Department of Art and Art History
College of Fine Arts
Annalee Nguyen
Research Assistant Professor
McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering
Cockrell School of Engineering
Deborah Salvo
Associate Professor
Department of Kinesiology and Health Education
College of Education
Jack Virostko
Associate Professor
Department of Diagnostic Medicine
Dell Medical School
Bo Xie
Professor
School of Nursing
Additionally, Faculty Affairs in the Office of the Executive Vice President and the Provost’s Office facilitates the Aspiring Leaders Academy, which focuses on administrative leadership at the university.
Congratulations to the fellows in both cohorts for their current and future leadership endeavors at the university.