Research Wrapped: 2025 Saw Great Strides Forward In PSU's Urban Research Innovation Leadership

As the year draws to a close, Portland State University (PSU)'s office of Research and Graduate Studies is taking a moment to reflect on some of the changes this year has brought. Even amid ongoing uncertainty around the changing landscape of federal research funding, we're proud that PSU faculty have continued to push forward with curiosity and resilience, delivering solutions-focused research that makes a real difference in our communities.

Early this year, in recognition of PSU's leadership in applied research, the Oregon senate voted unanimously to designate PSU as Oregon’s Urban Research University. In Research & Graduate Studies, we launched a new research development program and the Catalyst Institute to help faculty members identify funding opportunities, craft strong proposals, and move their research forward from idea to implementation. In light of those milestones, and to highlight the university's commitment to impactful research, we've collected some 2025 research highlights below. Continue reading to review some of the strides we've made so far, and we look forward to continued success and positive outcomes as we move into 2026.

Leading Scholarship at Portland State

PSU researchers are among the world’s most-cited scholars, as shown by data from Stanford University and Elsevier, and we continue to live up to that reputation by continuing to learn, grow and innovate across disciplines, from the humanities to business, science, and design. PSU researchers shape conversations in their fields, as evidenced by the breadth of books that were published by PSU faculty this year. This year, the university also launched the inaugural cohort of its InnovAIte Academy, which empowers researchers to leverage the power of generative artificial intelligence (AI) in research, operations, and teaching. A symposium in October demonstrated some of the achievements of that first cohort, and the next wave of the academy began in Fall 2025.

Getting research into practice takes more than just excellent scholarship; it also requires the right infrastructure, partnerships, and pathways for innovation to thrive. That's why the University Venture Development Fund (UVDF) and Propel PSU provide resources and support to help faculty grow an idea into a commercially viable technology. This year, several new projects were supported with UVDF funding, including a novel method for the production of hydrogen peroxide with cost-saving and sustainable industrial applications.

In April, PSU's research award winners were announced, with mechanical engineering professor Raúl Bayoán Cal recognized for his work in fluid mechanics and his commitment to student success with the Presidential Career Research Award. In external recognition, among others: chemistry professor Andrea Goforth was recognized as an emerging inventor by the National Academy of Inventors; psychology professor Cynthia Mohr was was elected to a national leadership role with the American Psychological Association (APA), and PSU's School of Business Real Estate was ranked 16th worldwide—placing ahead of major institutions such as Cornell University, MIT, the University of Cambridge, University of Southern California, and the University of Pennsylvania—in the Real Estate Academic Leadership (REAL) Rankings.

Mentoring and Empowering Students

Students are central to the purpose and existence of PSU, and on our campus, students participate directly in research across disciplines. To help faculty guide students through school and into the workforce, the Graduate School launched the Mentoring Academy, which uses evidence-based tools and curriculum to help students and faculty improve their communication with each other. Below are just some of the examples of what can happen when faculty and students collaborate on research projects.

Inside the Portland State Aerospace Society, undergraduates are instrumental in every step of the research process from finding grants, writing proposals, managing budgets, and presenting work at conferences. Under the leadership of Andrew Greenberg, a senior instructor in electrical & computer engineering, the club this year continued to develop ongoing projects in manufacturing rockets and rocket engines, launching nanosatellites, and building satellite ground stations.

In what could be the beginning of a more formal partnership between PSU and Providence, graduate student Pat Clouser was co-advised by PSU biology professor Jason Podrabsky and Brian Piening, the Program Director of Providence Genomics. Clouser's work on analyzing the genome of killifish could help us to better understand how to treat heart attack, stroke, and cancer in humans.

Regional Policy and Preparedness

PSU has a longstanding history of helping to guide regional policy decisions, from helping prepare for a major earthquake to collecting data on houseless populations and understanding the pressures faced by local election officials. In a noteworthy development in 2025, PSU revitalized its longstanding Institute for Metropolitan Studies (IMS), an action-oriented think tank to address Greater Portland’s most pressing policy challenges.

Former Congressman Earl Blumenauer joined IMS as a Presidential Fellow, and under the leadership of new director Tyler Frisbee, the Institute aims to catalyze practical, research-grounded solutions that make our metropolitan region work better for everyone. IMS’s first project in its new iteration focuses on local transportation funding and spending in the Portland region. To get updates about this and other projects, sign up to get The IMS Brief, IMS's newsletter.

More 2025 Research Highlights

Below are just a few of the projects and initiatives that were brought forth by PSU in 2025. Although in many cases one person is named as a project's leader, research and scholarly activities at PSU are most often collaborative efforts with multiple team members contributing. Browse the links to learn more about any research news you may have missed, and get inspired for a productive and transformative 2026!

Public Health and Well-Being

• New Hope in the Global Fight Against Drug-Resistant Malaria: Papireddy Kancharla develops a promising new class of antimalarial drug candidates.
• Helping Communities Breathe Easier: Elliott Gall works to improve indoor air quality.
• Researching Maternal Health Disparities for Families of Color: Roberta Suzette Hunte investigates community-driven approaches to support healthy outcomes.
• Microplastics Widespread In Seafood Oregonians Eat: Elise Granek explores microfiber pollution entering the environment.
• The High Cost of Delay: Eric Hall reveals health and financial risks of missed hepatitis B vaccines.
• Reclaiming Futures: Evan Elkin and Jim Carlton work to reroute the school-to-prison pipeline.
• When Stress Helps — Or Hurts — At Work: Liu-Qin Yang sheds light on how different types of stress shape employees' emotions and performance at work.
• Landmark Project Exploring Impacts of Measure 110 Decriminalization: Kelsey Henderson, Christopher Campbell and Brian Renauer conduct a three-year project examining the impacts of multiple drug policy shifts including Measure 110 which decriminalized drug possession in Oregon.
• OHSU-PSU School of Public Health and Multnomah County forge groundbreaking academic partnership: In a first-of-its-kind collaboration set to redefine public health education and practice in the region, Multnomah County announces its formal affiliation as the first Academic Health Department.

Nature and the Environment

• Slowly Dying Trees Impact Forest Recovery Post-Wildfires: Alec Dyer mapped annual changes in the extent of live tree cover up to three years after the unprecedented 2020 Labor Day fires in Oregon's western Cascades.
• Microscopy Reveals Signs Of Life In Earth's Extremes: Carl Snyder successfully identified signs of life in extreme environments on Earth using a technique that could be used to search for life on other planets.
• It's Raining Microchips: David Burnett works to expand environmental sensing capabilities.
• Here’s What’s Causing The Great Salt Lake To Shrink: Siiri Bigalke quantifies the contributing factors to record low water volume levels.
• A Journey Through Invisible Ecosystems: Anne Thompson leads a research program aimed at investigating the roles microorganisms play in nutrient cycling, symbiosis, and ecosystem resilience.
• Mapping Oregon’s Wildlife Corridors: Martin Lafrenz leads the PSU team in the Oregon Connectivity Assessment and Mapping Project, helping wild animals to access food, shelter, and breeding areas when routes are interrupted by human infrastructure.
• What We Learned From A Record-Breaking 2021 Heat Wave: Paul Loikith identifies the causes and consequences of the extreme heat wave and the potential for similar high-heat events to happen in the future.

Sustainable Transportation and Land Use

• A Data-Driven City: The Portland Bureau of Transportation received PSU's inaugural Public Impact Partner Award
• Navigating Transit With Low Vision: Amy Parker is helping TriMet improve the travel experience for transit riders who are blind or have low vision.
• Using Existing Infrastructure to Estimate Pedestrian Volumes: the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) shared pedestrian push-button data with PSU's Transportation Research and Education Center (TREC) to quantify how many people are walking.
• Advancing Safety At The Intersection: Sirisha Kothuri uses traffic signals to manage speed in the urban environment.
• How Far Is Too Far Out Of The Way?: Nathan McNeil works to determine the optimal spacing between marked crosswalks.
• PSU Research Delivers Blueprint for Safer Oregon Roads: Miguel Figliozzi helps ODOT shape the future of speed safety camera use across Oregon.
• Better Ways to Assess Transportation Infrastructure Risk: David Yang offers an improved framework for assessing the seismic risk of transportation structures.
• Portland Transit-Oriented Developments Reduce Car Trips: Jennifer Dill and Nathan McNeil found that transit-oriented developments (TODs) in the Portland metro area generate far fewer car trips than standard estimates suggest—especially at sites that include affordable housing.

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