Instructional Leadership, emphasis: K-12 School Leadership (MEd)
Andrew Sanchez studies Flagstaff trees with students.
  1. NAU
  2. Our impact
  3. Research & innovation

NAU's leading research and innovation

Whether it’s exploring deep space or cyberspace, the human microbiome or the global ecosystem, one of the most powerful ways we make an impact is through our research.

Always aspiring

From astrophysicists and climate scientists to bioinformaticists and geneticists, NAU’s talented research faculty are always aspiring to be leaders in their fields. They bring their passion for discovery to their labs and to their classrooms, mentoring students in scholarly inquiry and research methodology, providing unique opportunities for NAU students to engage in hands-on research.

Together, our researchers and students solve the most compelling problems, invent the technologies of tomorrow, and boldly explore the next frontiers of knowledge.

Undergrad researchers join redox biologist, Tinna Traustadóttir in a lab.

Does exercise plus broccoli equal healthy aging?

Undergrad researchers join redox biologist Tinna Traustadóttir in a clinical study of broccoli-based interventions for healthier aging.

N A U director Amir Arzani studies a computer screen with a student.

Modeling blood flow

NSF grant awarded to improve the accuracy of blood flow modeling

Amir Arzani, director of NAU’s Cardiovascular Biomechanics Lab, studies the mechanisms behind initiation and progression of different cardiovascular diseases, developing computational models that can capture the multiscale and multiphysics nature of cardiovascular disease.

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Ines Montano writing on board with students.

Revolutionizing computing

NAU Associate Professor Inès Montaño and Professor Stephanie Hurst are co-leading a major collaborative initiative with the University of Arizona, funded through a $26 million NSF grant, to lay the foundations of the quantum internet.

Professor Katie Mommaerts talks with a student.
Adolescents and mental health

Researcher invites teens to speak about mental health

Interdisciplinary Health PhD student and Assistant Clinical Professor Katie Mommaerts is continuously striving to improve her teaching skills, expand her scholarship, and deepen her research on adolescent mental health.

N A U student, Andres Huerta studies insulin sensitivity in the Hispanic population.

Family loyalty sparks insulin resistance research

First-generation Biomedical Science major Andres Huerta studies insulin sensitivity in the Hispanic population.

Chad Trujillo sitting at computer.

“Farfarout” furthest ever

NAU astronomer Chad Trujillo is on a team confirming a planetoid nicknamed “Farfarout” that is almost four times farther from the Sun than Pluto, making it the most distant object ever observed in our solar system.

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Woman wearing a lab coat pouring liquid into a beaker.

Vaccines to prevent opioid addiction

Chemical biologist Naomi Lee works to improve healthcare for Native populations by developing vaccines to prevent opioid addiction as well as diseases like HPV and HIV.

Clare Aslan doing field research.

Improving habitat, biodiversity in Arizona utility’s rights-of-way

NAU ecologist and conservation biologist Clare Aslan says utility companies have an opportunity to improve the habitat for pollinators in their rights-of-way created through the landscape for power lines.