Faculty and Staff Grants From January 2021

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

Elaine Belansky, Nick Cutforth, Benjamin Ingman, Carla Loecke and Shirley Berg, faculty and staff at the Morgridge College of Education and the Center for Rural School Health & Education (CRSHE)

• Grant from the Colorado Health Foundation for "Rural Mental Health Equity Project: A Systems-Level Approach"
• Project abstract: This project seeks to improve the mental health of rural educators, students and families, with special attention given to the historically disadvantaged. This proposal builds on a community-university planning grant and is based on input from rural students, school staff and community partners. To ensure project success, the Center for Rural School Health & Education will provide facilitation, support and technical assistance to schools and community partners engaged in mental health work.

Kim Bender, Philip D. and Eleanor G. Winn Professor for Children and Youth at Risk at the Graduate School of Social Work

• Grant from Karis, Inc. for "Development and implementation of a study examining: outcomes associated with permanent supportive housing, cost benefit analysis and experiences of young people living in permanent supportive housing community"
• Project abstract: This project aims to study the impacts of permanent supportive housing on young peoples' psychosocial wellbeing, understand their experience living in permanent supportive housing and assess the economic costs and benefits of permanent supportive housing for young people experiencing homelessness. The long-term objective is to inform policies, programs and future funding decisions around permanent supportive housing for young people experiencing homelessness.

Elysia Davis, professor and director of the Neurodevelopmental Research Program, and Jenalee Doom, assistant professor, in the Department of Psychology at the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences

• Grant from the National Institutes of Health for "Reducing maternal prenatal depression to improve child cardiovascular health"
• Project abstract: Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death worldwide. Prenatal maternal depressive symptoms predict offspring cardiovascular risk, though this association has not been demonstrated experimentally, as such, the proposed research will follow up a sample of offspring from pregnant mothers who participated in a randomized controlled trial to test whether reducing prenatal maternal depressive symptoms improves offspring cardiovascular health in early childhood.

Xin Fan, assistant professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics

• Grant from the National Science Foundation for "CAREER: Unlocking New Spin-Charge Conversion in Symmetry-Broken Systems"
• Project abstract: Conventional spin-charge conversion, bounded by symmetry, must have spin current, charge current and spin polarization orthogonal to each other. This restriction can be lifted by using material systems with broken symmetries. In this proposal, we will generate out-of-plane polarized spin current from magnetic materials and nonmagnetic materials with tilted columnar grains to switch perpendicular magnetization via anti-damping process. The proposed research will expedite the development of next-generation non-volatile memory and logic devices with enhanced energy efficiency.

Ashley Hamilton, assistant professor in the Department of Theatre at the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences

• Grant from RedLine Contemporary Art Center for "SoJourn: An Art Journal"
• Project abstract: Even in the best times, incarcerated people face isolation and separation from society. This coronavirus moment has increased this isolation, with the termination of visits, volunteer programs and classes. The DU Prison Arts Initiative's art book, "SoJourn: An Art Journal," provides the opportunity for incarcerated artists to create literary and visual art while on COVID-19 lockdown, helping them connect to friends, family and loved ones on the outside.

Amin Khodaei, professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Rozhin Eskandarpour, postodctoral research associate at the Ritchie College of Engineering and Computer Science

• Grant from the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade for "Quantum Computing-Enhanced Security and Sustainability for Next Generation Smart Grids"
• Project abstract: The growing proliferation of clean renewable energy resources, need for increased security and resilience against natural and manmade disasters, and growing expectations of electricity customers to high reliability and quality power, has highlighted the importance of fast and accurate power flow studies more than ever. The main objective of this project is to research and develop quantum computing based models to increase security and sustainability in smart grids.

Kristin Klopfenstein, director of the Colorado Evaluation and Action Lab

• Grant from the State of Colorado for "Response, Innovation and Student Equity (RISE) Education Fund"
• Project abstract: Response, Innovation and Student Equity Education Fund is a competitive grant program sponsored through federal Governor's Emergency Education Relief Funds to address the learning challenges related to the economic, social and health impacts of COVID-19. This project shall meet with the grant recipients' organizational representatives to identify their implementation, evaluation and communications needs, strengths and weaknesses.

Whitney LeBoeuf, director of data integration and analytics and acting LINC director at the Colorado Evaluation and Action Lab

• Grant from the Colorado Department of Human Services for "Early Childhood Education Workforce Data Support"
• Project abstract: The goal of the Early Childhood Workforce Data support is to inform the rebuild of the Office of Early Childhood's early childhood workforce registry and learning management system. The rebuilt system will serve the entire state of Colorado's early childhood workforce by offering professional development opportunities and making more efficient the state's childcare licensing processes as they relate directly to early childhood workforce members.

Kevin Morris, research associate professor and American Humane Endowed Chair at the the Institute for Human-Animal Connection at the Graduate School of Social Work

• Grant from the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation for "Green Chimneys Study"
• Project abstract: Because adolescence is a period of tremendous psychosocial development, psychological strengths such as emotion and behavior regulation are especially important. Our long-term goal is to understand how animal-assisted interventions can improve treatment outcomes for adolescents with mental health and educational challenges by improving self-regulation competencies that further global developmental outcomes. Our central hypothesis is that these types of interventions contribute to immediate changes in emotion and behavior regulation competencies and, subsequently, to improved global intentional self-regulation and positive youth development.

Jonathan Moyer, Barry Hughes, Kaylin McNeil, David Bohl, Anajulia Barney, Taylor Hanna and Whitney Doran, faculty and staff at the Frederick S. Pardee Center for International Futures at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies

• Grant from the United Nations Development Programme for "International Futures Support for Regional SDG Platform for Central Asia"
• Project abstract: The Pardee Center for International Futures will conduct modeling of scenarios related to COVID-19 in central Asia. The aim of modeling would be to better understand how COVID-19 is unfolding and assess policy tradeoffs and scenarios.

Karen Riley, dean, and Jeanine Coleman, clinical associate professor at the Morgridge College of Education

• Grant from the University of California-Davis, subaward from the National Institutes of Health, for "A Cognitive Test Battery for Intellectual Disabilities"
• Project abstract: The basic science and preclinical studies of intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDDs) have outpaced the development and validation of tools to measure treatment response in human clinical trials. Persons with IDD will almost certainly have comparatively decreased access to effective treatment, compared to typically developing persons, if these knowledge and measurement gaps are not filled.