Arts & Sciences, Education, Engineering, Marquette Business

NMDSI awards over $700,000 in research and curricula funding to university experts 

In fall 2023, as a part of the launch of the Northwestern Mutual Data Science Institute’s Center of Excellence (COE) initiative, the NMDSI announced three new innovative programs and engagement opportunities for its university partners, Marquette University and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. 

Centered around the NMDSI’s five COE focus areas – AI, data bias and ethics, behavioral economics, financial literacy, and health and wealth inequities – each of these programs serve to accelerate a robust ecosystem for research and innovation, talent pathways and community outreach and partnerships. To foster broader inclusion and cross-institution collaboration, the NMDSI sought proposals from all colleges and departments. 

In its most recent round of applications, the NMDSI received a total of 94 proposals from 25 disciplines for cohort-modeled opportunities, internships, research engagement, and curricula development. At the end of December 2024, the NMDSI awarded nearly $500,000 in research dollars as part of the Paving ROADS Seed Fund Program, $200,000 on behalf of the Pioneer Collaborative Curricula Program and $42,000 for the NMDSI Student Research Scholars Program. 

Following are the Marquette-affiliated recipients. A full list of recipients is available on the NMDSI website.

Paving ROADS Seed Fund Program 

The annual Paving ROADS (Research Opportunities and Approaches to Data Science) Seed Fund Program aims to support new research partnerships across disciplines and strengthen cross-campus research opportunities. All faculty listed are expected to become NMDSI affiliated faculty members. 

Dr. Gabriel Velez, associate professor and developmental psychologist 

  • Project: Coming of Age Amid Generative AI (GenAI): The Antecedents and Consequences of GenAI Use Among Youth 
  • Collaborators: Dr. Jacklynn Fitzgerald and Dr. Larry Xu 

Dr. Shengtong Han, assistant professor of biostatistics 

  • Project: Deep-MOTIFs: A Deep Learning Approach for Multi-omics Integration for Autism Risk Genes Discovery 
  • Collaborators: Dr. Nicholas Reiter and Diptee Ojha 

Dr. Lei Fan, assistant professor of biomedical engineering (Marquette) 

  • Project: Physics-informed and Machine Learning-accelerated Digital Twin Risk Prediction for Left Ventricular Assist Device 
  • Collaborator: Dr. Tian Zhao 

Dr. Sabirat Rubya, assistant professor of computer science (Marquette) 

  • Project: A Machine Learning Approach to Mentor Matching for Veterans with PTSD 
  • Collaborators: Dr. Praveen Madiraju and Dr. Leeza Ong 

Dr. Elsbeth Kalenderian, professor and dean of the School of Dentistry (Marquette) 

  • Project: Enhancing Dental Clinical Data through Innovative Machine Learning Approaches 
  • Collaborators: Dr. Shengton Han, Dr. Arndt Guentsch, and Thomas Wirtz 

Pioneer Collaborative Curricula Program 

The Pioneer Collaborative Curricula Program seeks to introduce and embed emerging areas of data science into the curricula of our two university partners to support the development of novel and advanced data science courses to supplement or expand existing curricula. All faculty listed expected to become NMDSI affiliated faculty members. 

Dr. Gabriel Velez, associate professor of educational policy and leadership in the College of Education (Marquette) 

  • Program: EDUCATION 4931/5931: Education in the Age of AI 
  • Collaborators: Dr. Melissa Shew, associate director of the Center for Teaching and Learning, and Dr. Larry Xu, assistant professor of strategic communication in the Diederich College of Communication

Dr. Jenna Green, teaching assistant professor of English in the Klingler College of Arts and Sciences (Marquette) 

  • Program: English 3220: Writing for Workplaces 
  • Collaborator: Dr. Lillian Campbell, associate professor of English

Dr. Kevin Trainor, assistant professor of practice of marketing in the College of Business Administration 

  • Program: Data-Driven Marketing: Analytics, Insights, and Applied AI 

Dr. Badar AI Lawati, assistant professor of practice of information systems, business analytics and applied artificial intelligence in the College of Business Administration 

  • Program: Introduction to Applied Artificial Intelligence 
  • Collaborators: Dr. Jeremy Lee, assistant professor of management in the College of Business Administration; Dr. Terence Ow, professor of management; Hunter Sandidge, director of Fintech and professor of practice of finance in the College of Business Administration; and Dr. Joseph Wall, associate professor and Donald F. Flynn and Beverly L. Flynn Chair of accounting in the College of Business Administration

Student Research Scholars Program 

The NMDSI Student Research Scholars Program seeks to engage students from our partner institutions in data science research, working with NMDSI affiliated faculty and data science experts in and across disciplines to give them hands on experience in the applications of data science. All faculty listed expected to become NMDSI affiliated faculty members. 

Sydney Steckart

  • Faculty Mentor: Dr. Debbie Perouli, associate professor of computer science in the Klingler College of Arts and Sciences
  • Project: Integrating Open-Source AI Ransomware Detection Techniques 

Ian Shimek

  • Faculty Mentor: Dr. Karen Andeen, associate professor of physics in the Klingler College of Arts and Sciences 
  • Project: Using Artificial Intelligence to Identify Cosmic Ray Air Showers 

Marely Rivera

  • Faculty Mentor: Dr. Michael Zimmer, professor and vice chair of computer science in the Klingler College of Arts and Sciences
  • Project: Systematic Review of Data Science Programs: Themes, Courses, and Ethics 

Shamiha Binta Manir

  • Faculty Mentor: Dr. Priya Deshpande, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering in the Opus College of Engineering
  • Project: Dynamic Breast Cancer Risk Prediction Through Time-Adjusted Modeling and Demographic Clustering for Targeted Interventions 

Farhat Tasnim Progga

  • Faculty Mentor: Dr. Sabirat Rubya, assistant professor of computer science in the Klingler College of Arts and Sciences
  • Project: Evaluation of an AI-Driven Storytelling Platform for Enhancing Perinatal Mental Health Support 

Emily Lantz

  • Faculty Mentor: Dr. Walter Bialkowski, associate professor of practice of computer science in the Klingler College of Arts and Sciences
  • Project: Bridging the Gap: Making Data Science Understandable for All