CAREER OUTLOOK » HBCU Innovation Winners
the National Science Foundation (NSF) in the summer of 2016. She has been collaborating with multiple professional and scientific societies, federal agencies, and congressional offices, mainly as an academician. To date, she has authored or coauthored 98 research papers. She also published one book and one book chapter in the area of construction materials. She strongly believes in the interplay between innovation and economic development, and she strives to ensure that her research and educational activities have the potential to promote economic development. She is the inventor of a bio-binder technology and co-founder of a start-up company, Bio-Adhesive Alliance Inc. She invented a unique process to break down pig manure and convert it into an asphalt-binding adhesive. The innovative bio-binder can be used as either a full or partial substitute to standard petroleum-based adhesives. The aforementioned research on bio-adhesive from swine
manure was recently featured in a video report commissioned by NSF mainly because of its positive economic impact. The bio-binder reduces the cost of the storage pits and also reduces the environmental pollution caused by manure odors, prevents spills of millions of gallons of untreated waste into groundwater, and even reduces the amount of CO2 emissions during construction. Dr. Fini received more than $2 million in grants from the National Science Foundation, National Academy of Science, and A&T for her research. Current major research projects at the university include innovations in biomedical engineering and nano-bio applications as well as the development of advanced thermochemical biomass conversion technology. Fini says the creation of bio-binder is in line with the university’s goals of economic development and innovation, as outlined in its Preeminence 2020 strategic plan.
Southern University and A&M College ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY Dr. Rao M. Uppu James and Ruth Smith Endowed Professor of Environmental Toxicology
Dr. Rao Uppu is a James and Ruth Smith Endowed Professor of Environmental Toxicology in the College of Sciences and Engineering at Southern University- Baton Rouge
(SUBR) with adjunct appointments in the Department of Chemistry and the Graduate School. He is also an adjunct professor
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of Pathobiological Sciences at the Louisiana State University (LSU) School of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Uppu’s research interests include analytical methods for biological reactive intermediates, biomarker discovery and validation, cell signaling by “ozone-specific” oxysterols, and biomedical applications of core/shell nano particles. Dr. Uppu carried out his post-doc research in several National Institutes of Health- funded projects in chemical carcinogenesis and oxidative chemistry/biology at the Eppley Institute for Research in Cancer and Allied Diseases at University of Nebraska Medical Center (Omaha, NE) and the Biodynamic Institute at LSU. After a brief stay at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (2000–2001), Dr. Uppu joined SUBR in the spring of 2002 as a tenure-track associate professor and rose to the ranks of a full professor with tenure in 2007. Dr. Uppu has mentored numerous graduate (MS and Ph.D.) students and postdoctoral researchers and has published over 65 articles in peer- reviewed journals. He is an elected Fellow of the Academy of Toxicological Sciences (FATS), Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS Fellow), Diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology (DABT), and a member of CyHabs Research Consortium, an international organization dedicated to promoting research cynobacterial on toxins in surface and potable water.
PHYSICS, APPLIED PHYSICS, MEDICAL PHYSICS Dr. Diola Bagayoko Distinguished Professor and Chair of Physics, Chancellor’s Fellow, Director, Timbuktu Academy and MS Program, Assoc. Dir. Dr. Diola Bagayoko is a physics professor and developed
most of the courses for the master’s degree in physics at Southern University A&M and most of those for the science/ mathematics education Ph.D. degree program. These course and syllabus developments and enhancements take into account recent research findings as well as standards of graduate schools and of technology industries. In particular, he led the integration of computers, the Internet, and special software products into teaching, mentoring, and learning. Bagayoko personally supervised the research of an average of six physics majors per year from 1989 to 2001 and served as academic advisor and mentor for five student grand marshals. They now hold a Ph.D. in physics, are in the U.S. Navy, or are enrolled in medical physics graduate programs or in a physics Ph.D. or applied physics Ph.D. program. Bagayoko established the nationally recognized Timbuktu Academy in 1990–91 with support from the National Science Foundation and the Louisiana Board of Regents. Major funding from the Department of the Navy, Office of Naval Research, expanded the Academy in 1993 to mentor 100 pre-college students per summer as well as 50 college students majoring in physics, engineering, and chemistry and to reach over 5,000 pre- college and college students and their parents each year.
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