Several CNS Researchers Among Recipients of Institute of Diversity Sciences’s 2024 Seed Grants

Careers
Plants sprouting

To support STEM research that addresses social problems that create or exacerbate inequities, the UMass Amherst Institute of Diversity Sciences (IDS) recently awarded four grants to multidisciplinary teams of faculty and student researchers—including several from the College of Natural Sciences—through its annual seed grant competition.

IDS awarded $59,498 in total to the four teams, each of which received a grant of approximately $15,000. The winning teams, which include researchers from eight departments at UMass Amherst, will address cancer in Ethiopia, water pollution and environmental justice, the health toll that work conditions take on black mothers, and the genetic defenses that make treating cancer particularly difficult for people of African descent.

The projects funded by this year’s grants are:

  • Juggling Jobs and Parenthood: Measuring the Impact of Work Conditions on Black Mothers’ Health
    Ciara Venter, Psychological and Brain Sciences; Lucinda Canty, Nursing; Maureen Perry-Jenkins, Psychological and Brain Sciences; Favorite Iradukunda, Nursing; Diego Barcala-Delgado, Psychological and Brain Sciences
  • Breaking Cancer's Shield: A Revolutionary Approach to Unlocking Drug Resistance
    Ashish Kulkarni, Chemical Engineering; Hung-Hsun Lu, Chemistry; Mehak Malhotra, Chemical Engineering; Jithu Krishna, Chemistry; S. Thayumanavan, Chemistry and Biomedical Engineering
  • From Addis Ababa to Amherst, a Cross-Continental Team Investigates Cancer’s Genetic Mysteries
    Shelly Peyton, Chemical Engineering; Courtney Babbitt, Biology
  • The EPA Has a New Policy for Water Pollution. How Can We Ensure It Is a Solution Rather Than a Setback for Marginalized Communities?
    Tihitina Andarge, Resource Economics; Sean McBeath, Civil & Environmental Engineering; Mohammad (Kiron) Shakhawat, Civil & Environmental Engineering

Additionally, gifts from three alumni donors to IDS will allow the institute to award additional supplemental funding in the amount of $15,512 to support six undergraduate Diversity Science Fellows who will gain valuable hands-on research experience working on one of these funded projects.

“I’m excited by the range of work proposed by this year’s winning teams,” says Nilanjana Dasgupta, director of IDS. “They focus on cancer, water quality, and work – and reveal disparities in social class and race that have a greater impact on vulnerable people’s health. This work is so important. I’m happy that IDS funding allows these teams to test their ideas and advance their projects toward something bigger to attract external research grants.”

Full information about the teams awarded grants and their projects, as well as past grant-funded projects, can be found on the IDS website.

This story was originally published by the UMass News Office.

Article posted in Careers for Public