Mānoa Research Day 2026

February 3, 2026 | Hawaiʻi State Capitol, 4th Floor, 10AM-2PM

Welcome to the fourth annual University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Research Day at the State Capitol where we will have informational tables, demonstrations, and interactive activities on the 4th floor of the Hawaiʻi State Capitol Building. Our theme of the 2026 Research Day is: Community-UH Partnerships for One Health: Leveraging One Health – the interconnectedness of human, animal, plant, and environmental health – research and partnerships for resilient communities across Hawaiʻi and the Pacific.

Connect with faculty, staff, and students to learn of the research taking place on and off the Mānoa campus to address some of Hawaiʻi’s most pressing issues. The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa is one of only 107 doctoral universities categorized among public institutions with the highest research activity (Carnegie R1 designation).

Research Day Program:

10:00 am – 2:00 pm

Venue: 4^th floor hallway

Table Number	Title	Presenters	Unit/School
D1	Information/Registration Table	Marcie Grabowski, Lucinda Knapman	N/A
D2	Office of the Vice Provost for Research and Scholarship	Traci Kuwaye, Lianne Kamei-Chow, Tarra McNally	N/A
D3	Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program	Seung Yang, Noah Perales-Estoesta, Creighton Litton, Angel Sanchez, Niki Jabari, Kay Foy	N/A
D4	Healthy plants = a healthy environment and healthy population	Don Drake, Neusa Steiner, Raedelle Van Fossen	Lyon Arboretum
D5	Environmental Filmmaking for a Just and Healthy Future	Christine Acham, Scott Schimmel	College of Arts, Language and Letters, School of Cinematic Arts
D6	How Climate Change affects Health in Hawaii	Elizabeth Kiefer, James McCallen	Hawai‘i Climate Change and Health Working Group, School of Nursing and Dental Hygiene, John A. Burns School of Medicine, Thompson School of Social Work and Public Health, The East West Center, other partners (non-profits, city, state and county agencies)
D7	The Partnership for Wellness and Resilience (PWR): A UH–State Partnership Advancing Wellness and Resilience Across Hawaiʻi	Jack Barile, Noreen Kohl	College of Social Sciences, Social Science Research Institute
D8	Collaborating Toward Change: UH–Developmental Disabilities Division Efforts to Improve Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Services Through Data and Analytics	Eva McKinsey, Meldrick Ravida	College of Social Sciences, Social Science Research Institute
D9	Collaborating on Medicaid Program Evaluation and the Establishment of the Health Analytics Program (HAP)	Reinie Gerrits-Goh, Charlie Iwata	College of Social Sciences, Social Science Research Institute
D10	Using a One Health Approach to Study Toxoplasmosis (Toxoplasma gondii) in People and Animals in Hawaii	Jerrisa Ching Choe, Sandra Chang	John A. Burns School of Medicine, Department of Tropical Medicine, Medical Microbiology, and Pharmacology
D11	Micronutrient gaps help fuel childhood obesity in Hawaiʻi	Ashley Yamanaka, Lucia Seale	College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resilience, Department of Human Nutrition, Food, and Animal Sciences; School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, Pacific Biosciences Research Center; COBRE – Integrative Center for Precision Nutrition and Human Health
D12	Identifying Key Areas for Sewer System Expansion in Hawaii: A Geospatial Planning Approach	Christopher Shuler, Aimee Schriber, Autumn McCarter	Water Resources Research Center
D13	Pacific Cooperative Studies Unit	Shaya Honarvar, Jonathan Koch	College of Natural Sciences, Pacific Cooperative Studies Unit
D14	SeaSick – a community reporting tool for waterborne illnesses & infections	Nicolas Storie, Abby Beck	Wastewater Alternatives and Innovations (WAI); School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, Department of Oceanography; Thompson School of Social Work and Public Health, Department of Public Health Sciences
D15	Evaluation of the Opportunity for Youth Action Hawai’i (OYAH) Hui	Tai-An Miao, Takuya Furuhashi, Jisella Saito, Karimah Bunn	John A. Burns School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry
D16	Hawaiʻi Sea Grant and the School of Ocean, Earth Science and Technology	Rachel Lentz	School of Ocean, Earth Science and Technology
D17	Advancing Small-Scale Soft Robotics for Healthcare and Environmental Sustainability	Debasish Roy, Munir Zarea	College of Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering
D18	Early childhood well-being	Barbara DeBaryshe, Javzandulam Azuma	College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resilience, Center on the Family
D19	I Pa‘a Ka Huewai Pawehe “So that our prized water gourds are made firm”	Erin Centeio, Ku‘ulei Serna	College of Education, Kinesiology and Rehabilitation Science
D20	Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle (CRB) Response in Hawaii	Michael Melzer, Daniel Jenkins	College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resilience, Plant and Animal Protection Services
D21	Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology	Lauren Van Heukelem	School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology
D22	Hui Koʻe ʻĀina: the Earthworm Hui	Travis Idol, Mary Pearson	College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resilience
D23	Ulana Makai: co-creating a healthy neighborhood for Kakaʻako	Genedine Lorenzo, Raenelle Torres	School of Architecture
D24	Waimānalo Learning Center	Ted Radovich, Jaz Cockett	College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resilience, Department of Tropical Plants and Soil Sciences
D25	Red Hill Registry: A Community Engaged Approach to Understanding Environmental Exposure to Jet Fuel on Health	Tara Sutton, Sisilia Meli	UH Office of Strategic Health Initiatives
D26	Community Resilience by Design	Cathi Ho Schar, Judith Stilgenbauer	School of Architecture/University of Hawai’i Community Design Center
D27	Smarter, Safer Shrimp: Early-Warning Health Tools and Innovative Breeding Strategies to Strengthen Hawaiʻi’s Aquaculture Future	Urmita Chowdhury, Yanghua (Sunny) He	College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resilience, Human Nutrition, Food and Animal Sciences
D28	Resilience  and Well-being through the National Resource Centers’ Programs	Alex Mawyer, Mark Levin	College of Arts, Languages and Letters, School of Pacific Asian Studies National Resource Centers (East Asia, Pacific Islands and Southeast Asia)
D29	Protecting the health of our native forests	Charlotte Godfrey-Romo, Ambyr Miyake	College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resilience, Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management / Cooperative Extension Service
D30	Building a Bioengineered Marine Resource Platform for Nutrient-Rich Superfoods in Hawai‘i	Zhi-Yan (Rock) Du, Sally Do	College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resilience, Department of Molecular Biosciences and Biotechnology
D31	Kilo (Observe) for Wildlife Disease	Michael Norris, Liam Fressie, Prashant Dahal	College of Natural Sciences, School of Life Sciences
D32	Enhanced Preservation of Fresh Organs Unfrozen at Subzero Temperature using Oscillating Magnetic Field Based Supercooling Technology	Soojin Jun, Dongyoung Lee	College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resilience, Human Nutrition, Food and Animal Sciences
D33	The Public Health Resonance Project	Tetine Sentell, Esme Yokooji	Thompson School of Social Work and Public Health
D34	University-Community Partnerships: Community-Grounded Social Work Workforce Development	Theresa Kreif, Wendy Lum	Thompson School of Social Work and Public Health, Department of Social Work
D35	UH Nutrition Center of Excellence – Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center Partnership	Marla Berry	School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, Pacific Biosciences Research Center
D36	Oceans of Resilience: Engaging youth and community in suicide prevention research	Jeanelle Sugimoto-MatsudaDeborah Goebert	Thompson School of Social Work and Public Health, Department of Public Health Sciences; John A. Burns School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry
D37	The Asian American and Pacific Islander Environmental Humanities and Environmental Justice Initiative	Michelle Harangody, Alexander Mawyer	College of Arts, Letters, and Languages, Department of Asian Studies and the Center for Pacific Islands Studies in the School of Pacific and Asian Studies
D38	Children’s Healthy Living Center for resilient communities across Hawaiʻi and the Pacific	Jordan Oshiro, Christina Young	College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resilience
D39	The Medical-Legal Partnership for Children in Hawai‘i: “Legal Care” As a Social Determinant of Health	Dina Shek, Carol Ann Carl	William S. Richardson School of Law
D40	The UH System Health Sciences Collaborative: Collaborating Across UH for Better Health and Wellbeing for Hawaii and the Region	Katey Pelican, Lara Studzinski, Sam Shoemaker	UH Health Sciences Institute, John A. Burns School of Medicine, and the Office of Strategic Health Initiatives
D41	School-Based Family Resource Centers	Kathleen O’Dell, Sophie Hawpe, Jhanella Gerardo	College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resilience, Human Development and Family Sciences
D42	Hawaiʻi Monitoring and Reporting Collaborative (HIMARC)	Mary Donovan	Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology, School of Ocean Earth Science and Technology
D43	GROW: Grounding Relationships on Wholeness – ʻĀina-Based Relationship Health at Lyon Arboretum	Nathan Hardy, Allison Conforti	College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resilience, Department of Family and Consumer Sciences, Human Development and Family Science Program