Meet our fellows and discover more about their projects below.
Each year our fellows produce a wide range of research on a variety of topics.
Meet our fellows:
Professor Francis Chi-Yung Tam
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Professor Francis Chi-Yung Tam is an Associate Professor specialising in climate predictions. Francis will use his ACU Fellowship to collaborate with the University of Exeter to study the unprecedented extremes of the South China summer monsoon, based on very large datasets generated by numerical models. The collaboration will help generate a deeper understanding of extreme monsoon probabilities, and lead to a better assessment of the climate risks posed to societies.
Dr Sarah Gerson is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Psychology at Cardiff University in Wales, UK, specialising in how children learn about their social worlds. She applied for an ACU Fellowship to merge her interests and expertise with Professor Jessica Sommerville at the University of Toronto. Together, they will explore how the errors children make when learning with and from others during social interactions change across development using converging, multi-methodological techniques.
Dr Omar Islam, is Head of the Department of Diagnostic Radiology at Queen's University, Canada, and specialises in neuroradiology. The department has initiated a global health partnership with the Department of Diagnostic Imaging and Radiation Medicine at the University of Nairobi, Kenya. This will assist the two departments in strengthening a permanent online International Education Exchange programme to improve the quality of medical education, to build capacity in specialty medical education and provide avenues for professional development.
Dr Fiona Lavelle is a Research Fellow at the Institute for Global Food Security at Queen's University, Belfast. Specialising in behavioural sciences and meal preparation behaviours, Fiona applied for this fellowship to expand her research into a new target population, enhance collaborations with scientific leaders in Australia and help her transition to independent research. She will conduct a qualitative exploration of women and their culinary behaviours and perceptions around convenience food in their reproductive years. Dr Lavelle's research will also study pregnant women to provide insights for targeting interventions.
Dr Sreetheran Maruthaveeran is a Senior Lecturer specialising in envionmental behaviour. Sreetheran applied the ACU Fellowship to collaborate virtually with Associate Professor Dr Bin Jiang from Hong Kong University on home garden usage during the COVID-19 Pandemic and its association with mental well-being. This will be an opportunity for Sreetheran to enhance his research network with other international researchers and learn about the latest developments in his field to aid his research.
Dr Monica Singhania is Professor in Management Studies who specialises in accounting. Her current research interests include sustainability accounting and reporting, the environmental, social and governance (ESG) framework, sustainable investing, and finance. Monica applied for an ACU Fellowship to undertake research on accounting for climate change and sustainability. This will enable Monica to expand her research footprint, learn about emerging trends in climate accounting and learn about the latest developments in her field.
Dr Olugbenga Ogidan is a Research Fellow specialising in Systems Automation and Control. Olugbenga applied for the Swansea Fulton Climate Action Fellowship to develop a solar-based smart irrigation system for rainfall and planting period prediction. He is collaborating with Dr Yunqing Xuan, expert in hydrometeorology from Swansea University, UK. This will enable him to work with experienced researchers from a different university, discipline and culture leading to an exchange of ideas and greater bonds between both universities and nations.
Alex-Ekwueme Federal University, Ndufu Alike, Ebonyi State, Nigeria (AE-FUNAI)
Dr Chinwe Victoria Ogunji is a researcher specialising in social studies with an interest in climate change education. This fellowship will provide the opportunity to train secondary school teachers and students in Ebonyi State, Nigeria to become change agents through climate actions. The fellowship will aid collaboration and positively impact her community.
Dr Anandhakumar Sundaramurthy is an Associate Professor with expertise in nanomaterials synthesis and their applications in biology. Anand is looking for ways to manipulate the photothermal conversion efficiencies of developed nanozymes for cancer chemo-photothermal therapy at Heriot-Watt University, UK with an ACU Fellowship. The collaboration will help Aaand develop theranostic nanomaterials and learn more about global perspectives and various developments in the field of cancer therapy.
Dr Khin Wee Lai in a Senior Lecturer specialising in machine learning in healthcare analytics. Dr Lai applied for a fellowship to collaborate with the SRM Institute of Science and Technology in India to explore the risk of hospital readmission among the recovered COVID-19 patients. This fellowship will help to build a predictive model to mitigate the risk of another new wave of COVID-19 outbreak due to reinfection.
