Research

The GW Virginia Science and Technology Campus is a world-class center of collaboration with laboratories, centers and institutes conducting interdisciplinary research in many growing fields. VSTC faculty, graduate students and research scientists—in collaboration with government and corporate partners—are advancing human knowledge in a number of STEM disciplines, including the following focus areas:

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Driving Simulator car in lab with road scene on screen

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Close-up of the Vibrating Sample Magnetometer (VSM) in the Institute for Magnetics Research laboratory.

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Research Highlights

New GW Nursing Dean Brings Innovative Research, Extensive Teaching Experience to GW

Mei R. Fu, an internationally recognized nurse scientist, researcher and educator, has been named dean of the George Washington University’s School of Nursing. She will begin the role Jan. 3, 2023.

SEAS Research Furthers Development of Materials Able to Capture, Eliminate COVID-19 Virus Aerosols and Droplets

A team of researchers from the George Washington University School of Engineering and Applied Science has spent the past two years developing electrospun nanofiber fabrics for masks and air filters designed to sift out and neutralize the COVID-19 virus, generating significant research findings that could slow transmission as the pandemic wears on.

From Nasal Swab to Results: COVID-19 Testing Explained

A step-by-step guide to what’s happening behind the scenes at the GW Public Health Lab.

Message from President Wrighton

Mark S. Wrighton, Ph.D., was elected President of the George Washington University January 1, 2022. "My strong view is that by working together we can accelerate the progress of GW as one of the world’s great research universities," President Wrighton writes in first message to university community.

Diverse Perspectives Critical to Meeting Tomorrow’s Engineering Challenge

Today’s students will find themselves one day working in jobs that have yet to be thought up, using technologies that have yet to be invented to solve problems that have yet to be realized, said George Washington University's new Vice Provost for Research Pamela Norris at the School of Engineering and Applied Science’s annual Biomedical Engineering Day on Monday.

driving simulator car with simulated driving environment on the screen

New Partnership Aims to Detect, Predict Health Abnormalities in Drivers

A SEAS research team received funding to develop artificial intelligence systems aimed at helping people with health challenges drive safely.

Dr. Hamdar Gives Invited Talk about His Transportation Research

GW School of Engineering's Dr. Samer Hamdar, gave an invited talk at Georgia Tech Transportation Institute's Seminar Series about "Collision Formation in Uninterrupted Flow Conditions: Behavioral and Data-Driven Analysis and Modeling."

Professors Volker Sorger and Tarek El-Ghazawi with technology devices

Lighting the Way: The Future of Data Processing

Imagine a world where you never had to wait for a document to download or a video to stream, where a self-driving car was aware of everything around it, and you didn’t question the security of online banking. Two GW School of Engineering and Applied Science researchers are pioneering a new way to process information—using light instead of electrons—that could transform the era of digitalization driven by the need to quickly, efficiently and securely process data.

New Website to Connect Students with Research Opportunities

A new GW website, GW Student Research Commons, provides a one-stop resource to connect students with research opportunities.The website is geared toward the university’s undergraduates, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows across all disciplines. Students will be able to use the website to find paid research positions, fellowships, databases of scholarships and other funding opportunities, research internships and other for-credit or volunteer opportunities.

0's and 1's binary data floating on background of shades of blue

Machine Learning Could Help Treatment of Chronic Diseases, New Study Suggests

New insights achieved by the combination of bioinformatics and genomics data through machine learning could help the way doctors treat chronic diseases like lupus, according to a paper published in the journal Nature Scientific Reports. GW researchers, including Keith A. Crandall, Ph.D., director of the Computational Biology Institute at Milken Institute School of Public Health, worked with AMPEL BioSolutions, a genomics technology company, to train a computer to analyze genetic and patient data to predict whether an individual living with lupus was experiencing a flare in disease activity.

Research Ecosystem Review Launches

A goal of the university’s research strategic initiative, working groups will review and make recommendations to strengthen GW’s research efforts.

Baja vehicle being test driven on bumpy field near Exploration Hall at GW's VSTC campus

GW Baja Team Trains at VSTC for International Competition

GW mechanical engineering students worked hard to build an off-road vehicle from scratch to compete in an international Baja competition. They have been test driving it at VSTC.

Photo of Professor Licht, lead faculty member, in an unknown location, wearing a white shirt and dark vest.

GW Researcher Advances to the Final Round of NRG COSIA Carbon XPRIZE

A team of George Washington University researchers were named as finalists in the $20 million NRG COSIA Carbon XPRIZE competition on Monday. The C2CNT team is led by Department of Chemistry Professor Stuart Licht, who team uses low-energy, low-cost technology developed in his lab located at GW’s Virginia Science and Technology Campus to transform carbon dioxide (CO2) into widely useful and highly valued products—carbon nanotubes.

The Autism Sex Bias

Boys are diagnosed with autism at more than four times the rate of girls. Scientists are trying to figure out why, but this much is becoming clear: All that we think we know about autism is only half the story.

GW Researchers Conduct Flight Test of Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) at VSTC

On a windy spring morning there was excitement in the air as a group of six GW faculty and students gathered at GW's Virginia Science & Technology Campus (VSTC) to conduct a flight test of a "drone," technically called an unmanned aerial system (UAS), under development for use by the U.S. Navy. The trial flight at VSTC is part of a multi-year development process to test the prototype's ability to fly and collect accurate data about when and under what conditions it is safe to land helicopters on Naval ships.

From left to right: Steven Knapp, Kevin Pelphrey, Michele Carbonell, Nelson Carbonell, Forrest Maltzman, Jeffrey Akman.

Kevin Pelphrey Installed as Carbonell Family Professor in Autism

The position was created through a $2.5 million gift from the Nelson A. and Michele Carbonell Family Foundation.

New Grant to Boost Cybersecurity Education in Virginia through GW Cyber Hub and Partnerships

GW is teaming up with the Michigan Cyber Range (MCR) to bring a cutting-edge cybersecurity training environment to GW’s Virginia Science and Technology Campus. Made possible by a half-million dollar grant from the National Science Foundation, the SCEPTRE project will create a platform for training, research and experimentation.

GW Faculty Member Receives Gov. McAuliffe's Research Commercialization Award

Saniya LeBlanc, an assistant professor in GW's School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS), has recently been awarded a Commonwealth Research Commercialization Fund (CRCF) grant by Gov. Terry McAuliffe to continue her work developing technologies that address the growing demand for energy and improving their energy efficiency.

Dean Eskandarian's New Book on Quantum Computing

Dean Ali Eskandarian is one of three editors of the new book--Logic and Algebraic Structures in Quantum Computing.

How Dining Out with My Daughter Inspired My Autism Studies

"Restaurants can be stressful for my daughter Frances, who has autism, but her difficulties led me to try to better understand and treat her type of situational anxiety," said Dr. Kevin Pelphrey, director of GW's Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders Institute.

Researchers Identify New Way to Measure Autism in Boys

Researchers have developed a new method to map and track the function of brain circuits affected by autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in boys using brain imaging, a technique that will provide doctors with a tool that measures the progress of treatments in individual patients.

VSTC “Lights it Up Blue” for World Autism Awareness Day

GW “Lights it Up Blue” throughout the month of April to commemorate World Autism Awareness Day. GW will invest more than $5 million to establish the GW Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders Institute. The Institute will be primarily based at VSTC.

Next Generation Refrigeration Technology: Magnetic Refrigeration with Nanoparticles

In the advancement of alternative energy sources, and the critical importance of the global warming, magnetic refrigeration is a promising energy efficient and environmentally friendly technology to replace conventional vapor-compression techniques. Our research aims to design, develop, and implement the first scalable commercially viable compressor-free magnetic refrigerator system.

Dr. Oz show films in VSTC's Exercise Science Lab

VSTC's Dr. Todd Miller and Exercise Science Lab Featured on Dr. Oz Show

Core expert Jenna Wolfe finds out her resting metabolic rate with the help of Dr. Todd Miller at the Milken Institute School of Public Health's Weight Management and Human Performance Laboratory and then puts the negative calorie diet to the test. Aired Feb. 8, 2016 on the Dr. Oz show.

GW Names Director of Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders Institute

Kevin Pelphrey, a global leader in autism research, and $5 million investment will transform GW into a top research and treatment center for adolescents and young adults with autism. The Institute will be based on the Virginia Science and Technology Campus.