Autumn Liguori-Bills Wins CLACLS Undergraduate Community Project Award
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Autumn Liguori-Bills, a public health sciences and Spanish double major, has been selected by the Center for Latin American, Caribbean and Latino Studies (CLACLS) as one of the recipients of its inaugural Undergraduate Community Project Award.
The award – created to encourage student projects that engage Latin America, the Caribbean, and Latino communities in the United States through applied, creative, and community-centered work – drew 14 proposals submitted by students representing 12 majors across five colleges.
Liguori-Bills received a third-place award for her project titled “Infant co-sleeping practices among Puerto Rican caregivers.” Her project – part of her senior honors thesis work with Associate Professors Meghan Abrami-Armstrong (Spanish and Portuguese Studies) and Lucinda Canty (Nursing) – addresses a critical gap in infant health by examining culturally rooted co-sleeping practices among Puerto Rican caregivers, an underrepresented population in sleep-related research that also experiences disproportionately high rates of infant mortality. In partnership with Cooley Dickinson Hospital and the New North Citizens Council in Springfield, the project engages caregivers directly through interviews and surveys to better understand beliefs, routines, and motivations surrounding infant sleep.
Using a harm-reduction framework, the project will produce bilingual, evidence-based educational materials that acknowledge the cultural significance of co-sleeping while promoting safer practices. By centering caregivers as experts in their own lived experiences, this work aims to reduce stigma, improve culturally responsive health communication, and support healthier outcomes for infants and families. The materials will be integrated into existing prenatal, postpartum, and parenting programs, creating a sustainable model for community-engaged public health practice.
“This project is motivated by my passion for community-based health inquiry, a concept that I was introduced to by Dr. Liz Evans while studying abroad in Costa Rica,” says Liguori-Bills. “I am honored to receive this award and motivated to continue pursuing interdisciplinary scholarship.”
“This award highlights the tremendous creativity, community commitment and multidisciplinary perspectives that undergraduates bring to projects connected to Latin America, the Caribbean, and Latino communities in the United States,” states CLACLS Director Patricia Gubitosi.
Award certificates were presented on December 11, 2025, during La Peña de CLACLS, a community dinner reception held at the Old Chapel. Liguori-Bills also received a monetary award as part of the recognition.