Awardees 20-21

Scaling Grants

Scaling Grants support the detailed project planning, gathering of proof-of-concept results, and reduction of technical risk so that teams can competitively pursue large, complex extramural funding.

Elizabeth Miller: Promoting Trustworthiness of the SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine Among Black and Latinx Communities

Esohe Osai: Improving Educational Opportunities for Black Youth in Pittsburgh: A Justice-Centered Intervention

Teaming Grants

Teaming Grants support the early-stage planning and capacity building of large multidisciplinary projects.

Kevin Ashley: Center for Text Analytic Methods in Legal Studies

Richard Boyce: Reducing Language Obstacles that Deaf Students Face When Developing Scientific Competencies

Lori Delale-O’Connor: Freedom Dreaming: Black Communal and Familial Educational Practices in Pittsburgh’s Hill District Before, During and After COVID-19

Emily Elliott: Transcending Disciplines to Advance Regional Water Equity

Brandon Grainger: Advanced Magnetics for Power and Energy Development – A Multidisciplinary Consortium between the Pitt, CMU, NCSU

Jamie Hanson: Understanding the Role of the Brain in Race/Ethnicity Based Stressors and Behavioral Challenges Among Youth of Color

Hang Lin: Discovering Drugs to Treat Osteoarthritis with a Knee Joint-on-a-Chip Model

Maya Ragavan: Developing a Latinx Youth Research Advisory Board to Address and Dismantle Structural Inequities in Emerging Latinx Communities

Seeding Grants (now Priming)

Seeding Grants, which provide up to $25,000 per year, support significant and innovative scholarship by individual or small groups of faculty at all ranks at the University of Pittsburgh. In constructing each year’s portfolio of awards, attention is given to supporting early career faculty and areas where opportunities for extramural funding are extremely limited. Proposals are reviewed in four tracks: Creative Arts, Performing Arts and Humanities; Engineering, Technology, Natural Sciences, and Mathematical Sciences; Health and Life Sciences; and Social Sciences, which includes business, policy, law, education, and social work.


Anti-Racism Action Development Among Latinx Youth
Josefina ​Bañales, Dietrich School of Arts & Sciences

A Pilot Exploring Self-Advocacy as a Factor in Maternal Mortality and Morbidity in Pregnant Black Women
Betty ​Braxter, School of Nursing 
 
Hemispheric Conversations Urban Art Project
Caitlin Bruce, Dietrich School of Arts & Sciences
 
Toward Effects of Collective Animal on Larger-scale Ocean Transport and Mixing
Lei ​Fang, Swanson School of Engineering
 
Detailed Unemployment and the Resilience of Urban Workers
Morgan Frank, School of Computing and Information
 
Coastal Rivers: The Missing Link in Source to Sink Understanding of Sediment Flux in a Changing World
John ​Gardner, Dietrich School of Arts & Sciences
 
Determining Gene Expression Control During Neural Differentiation Through Coupled Protein Localization and RNA-seq in Single Cells
Sarah ​Hainer, Dietrich School of Arts & Sciences
 
Conceptualizing Corporate Reparations
Paul Harper, Katz School of Business
 
Physics-Guided Machine Learning for Scientific Knowledge Discovery
Xiaowei Jia, School of Computing and Information
 
Seed Imbibition Monitoring Using Millimeter-Scale Wireless Sensing Systems
In Hee Lee, Swanson School of Engineering
 
Community-Centric Building of Digital Infrastructures Against Systemic Oppression: G2A Police Misconduct Complaint Support System
Sera ​Linardi, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs 
 
Pittsburgh is Our Home, Too: Refugee Arts and Education for Well-Being
Josue ​Lopez, School of Education
 
Supporting the Education of Youth in Foster Care During the Pandemic: Foster Parent and Agency Perspectives
Mary Elizabeth ​Rauktis, School of Social Work

Multimedia Archival Work in Paris: The Reception of LGBTQ French Cinema
Todd Reeser, Dietrich School of Arts & Sciences
 
Exploring the Cause and Effect of Ribosomal RNA Hidden Breaks in Various Plants
Laura ​Ritchey, Pitt-Johnstown
 
Developing Communities of Research and Practice to Support Teacher Use of Proactive Behavior Management
Rachel ​Robertson, School of Education
 
Characterization of Microplastics in Sediments and Surface Waters of a Headwater Catchment
Mitzy ​Schaney, Pitt-Johnstown
 
Embracing Heterogeneity in Modern GPUs
Xulong ​Tang, School of Computing and Information
 
Overlearning Speaker Race in Sociolinguistic Auto-Coding
Daniel ​Villarreal, Dietrich School of Arts & Sciences