Faculty and Staff Grants from April 2021

Congratulations to the following faculty and staff members who received grants and awards in April 2021.

Daniel Brisson, professor at the Graduate School of Social Work and executive director of the Burnes Center on Poverty and Homelessness

• Grant from Shopworks Architecture for "Trauma Informed Design" (TID)
• Project abstract: This pilot study will allow us to identify attributes of the built environment in supportive housing that can facilitate healing from trauma. We will be able to use this pilot study to communicate TID to broader audiences and deepen the conversation about TID across disciplines.

Elysia Clemens, deputy director and chief operating officer of the Colorado Evaluation and Action Lab; Amy He, assistant professor at the Graduate School of Social Work; and Suzanne Kerns, research associate professor at the Graduate School of Social Work and executive director of the Center for Effective Interventions

• Grant from the Colorado Department of Human Services "Strategy for Evidence-Based Aspects of the Family First Service Continuum"
• Project abstract: The overall goal of this scope of work is to develop a short, medium and long-term strategy for expanding Family First-eligible prevention services statewide. Through data analysis, interactive discussion and implementation science principles, the end product will not only identify services for the state to pursue, but also offer concrete recommendations regarding strategic investments needed to build capacity for services implementation.

Cara DiEnno, associate director of the Center for Community Engagement to advance Scholarship and Learning (CCESL), and Anne DePrince, professor in the Department of Psychology at the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, and director of CCESL

• Grant from the University of Colorado Denver, subaward from the National Science Foundation, for "SCC-CIVIC-PG Track A"
• Project abstract: This project will complement and help inform the technological innovations implemented within one of the identified neighborhoods (Valverde) for this proposal. The University of Denver will put together a community engagement team to develop and test a place-based community engagement process.

Lotta Granholm-Bentley, founding executive director at the Knoebel Institute for Healthy Aging

• Grant from DreamFace Technologies LLC, subaward from the National Institutes of Health, for "Development of Ryan Companion Robot"
• Project abstract: In this project, blood biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias, AD/ADRD (amyloid-beta and phospho-Tau) and depression (brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and serotonin (5-HT)) in individuals with early stage AD/ADRD before, during and after their experience with the CompanionBot Ryan 2.0 will be analyzed.

Scott Horowitz, assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics and the Knoebel Institute for Healthy Aging

• Grant from the National Science Foundation for "Collaborative Research: CIBR: Incorporating Crystallography and Cryo-EM tools into Foldit"
• Project abstract: Foldit is a citizen science project in which users aid in many biochemistry problems, including model building and real-space refinement in protein structure solving projects. Early tests suggest that these ventures produce high-quality crystal and cryo-EM structures. With recent improvements, Foldit will be a state-of-the-art structure solving suite for crystallography and cryo-EM.

Alex Huffman, associate professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics

• Grant from Handix Scientific LLC, subaward from the Department of Energy, for "An Airborne, Miniaturized Cloud Condensation Nuclei Counter"
• Project abstract: The instrument to be developed through the grant offers a unique approach to monitoring cloud condensation nuclei by providing measurements at substantially lower cost and power requirements and by allowing airborne measurements in situations that are currently impossible. The miniaturized instrument will provide tremendous opportunities for atmospheric scientists to fill in gaps of knowledge related to understudied geographical areas and with respect to variability in both horizontal and vertical dimensions.

Kristin Klopfenstein, director of the Colorado Evaluation and Action Lab

• Grant from the State of Colorado for "GEER Evaluation"
• Project abstract: The purpose of this project is to support RISE award recipients in building evidence of effectiveness for their educational interventions. The Colorado Lab's role is to support each awardee in meeting its own long-term goals including successful development and implementation of their interventions, effective communications with and buy-in from internal and external stakeholders, and long-term sustainability.

• Grant from the Gates Family Foundation for "RISE Geer Evaluation"
• Project abstract: The purpose of this project is to support seven RISE award recipients in building evidence of effectiveness for their educational interventions. The Colorado Lab's role is to support each awardee in meeting its own long-term goals including successful development and implementation of their interventions, effective communications with and buy-in from internal and external stakeholders, and long-term sustainability. 

John Latham, assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics

• Grant from the National Science Foundation for "CAREER: Defining the chemical contributions of Val29 and Tyr30 in mycofactocin biosynthesis for the development of novelredox molecules"
• Project abstract: Ribosomally synthesized and post-translationally modified peptides (RiPPs) have emerged as a structurally diverse class of secondary metabolites. In cases where significant modifications must occur, the limited understanding of required chemistry, biosynthetic machinery, and/or product restricts the effectiveness of identifying and engineering of pathways. Thus, there is a critical need to further our understanding of the chemical underpinnings for the biosynthesis of small molecule RiPP products to fully harness the power of bioinformatics and bioengineering. The overall objective is to define the chemical contributions of Val29 and Tyr30 in mycofactocin biosynthesis.

Robin Leake, research associate professor; Jennifer Greenfield, associate professor; and Michael Holcombe, research coordinator at the Butler Institute for Families at the Graduate School of Social Work

• Grant from the Colorado Department of Human Services for "Attaining Employment in Colorado Literature Review: Best practices for helping Colorado Works families attain sustainable, high-quality employment at a wage that allows them to thrive in Colorado"
• Project abstract: The Butler Institute for Families will complete a systematic literature review of best practices and strategies for helping Colorado Works (Colorado's Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program) attain sustainable, high-quality employment at a wage that allows them to thrive in Colorado.

• Grant from the Colorado Department of Human Services for "Attaining Employment in Colorado Literature Review: Best practices for engaging and supporting families"
• Project abstract: The Butler Institute for Families will conduct a second systematic literature review of best practices and strategies for helping Colorado Works (Colorado's Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program) engage and support families to meet work requirements for Colorado Works.

Justin Marceau, professor at the Sturm College of Law

• Grant from the Brooks Institute for Animal Rights Law & Policy, Inc. for "Sturm College of Law Animal Law Program"
• Project abstract: The Brooks Institute grant will support the expansion of the Sturm College of Law's Animal Rights Law and Policy Program and position this program among the ranks of the world's elite animal law programs. Led by Professor Justin Marceau, the grant will support enhanced staffing, a distinguished practitioner-in-residence series, and support for recruiting outstanding students dedicated to the field of animal law.

Jonathan Moyer, assistant professor at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies and director of the Frederick S. Pardee Center for International Futures

• Grant from the United Nations Development Programme for "Background Paper on Assessing the Impact of COVID on SDGs"
• Project abstract: UNDP Egypt is in the process of supporting the preparation of the 2021 VNR for Egypt, with a focus on including longer-term projections related to the impact of COVID-19 and potential recovery pathways. This document describes potential points of collaboration between UNDP Egypt and the Pardee Center that would leverage ongoing work exploring related questions at the global level (referred to as the COVID-SDG project).

Jessica Purcel, program manager, and Scott Stanley, research professor and co-director of the Center for Marital and Family Studies, in the Department of Psychology at the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences

• Grant from Washington Park Research and Evaluation LLC, subaward from the Administration for Children and Families for "Evaluation of Family Expectations"
• Project abstract: This project will support Washington Park Research and Evaluation's (WPRE) evaluation of Public Strategies' Family Expectations Program. In this role, Stanley, the research assistant professor and project coordinator, will support WPRE's independent evaluation of Family Expectations to set comparative evaluation standards, assess program performance, and provide a final, summative evaluative judgement that synthesizes our findings into a final report.

Breigh Roszelle, teaching associate professor and associate dean of undergraduate studies, and Kevin Shelburne, research professor, at the Ritchie School of Engineering and Computer Science

• Grant for "In vivo measurement of shoulder kinematics"

Timothy Sisk, professor at the Josef Korbel School for International Studies

• Grant from the United Nations Development Programme for "Inclusive Governance and Fragility Research Project"
• Project abstract: The purpose of this research initiative is to produce research reports that explore several dimensions of UN "inclusive governance" interventions in fragile and conflict-affected contexts with the goal of generating evidence-based and scenario-driven guidance for future UNDP programming.