SPHHS Teams Receive 2026-27 SPARC Seed Grants
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Nineteen UMass Amherst teams will receive 2026-27 Strategic Partnerships to Advance Research and Creative activity (SPARC) seed grants, which are designed to empower creativity, support interdisciplinary collaborations, strengthen the campus’ areas of excellence, and, ultimately, attract external funding and bring other forms of recognition to UMass Amherst faculty.
The SPARC awardees include 5 teams with SPHHS faculty in leading and key roles on their respective projects with collaborators in the Manning College of Information & Computer Sciences, the College of Education, the Riccio College of Engineering, the College of Humanities & Fine Arts, the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, the Stockbridge School of Agriculture, and the Offices of Student Development, Student Affairs & Campus Life, and Campus Planning.
They include:
Developing Interprofessional Education for Future Interprofessional Practice Leaders in Public Schools (SPARC 1)
Tim DeLuca (Speech, Language, and Hearing Science) and Alexandra Lauterbach (Student Development)
Urban Greening for Healthy Communities in Massachusetts and Beyond (SPARC 1)
Theodore Eisenman (Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning), Raphael Arku (Environmental Health Sciences), Peter Dunn (Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning), and key personnel from the School of Public Health and Health Sciences
Force-sensing Natural Grass Sports Fields: A Novel Platform for Athlete Safety and Performance (SPARC 2):
Evan Mascitti (Stockbridge School of Agriculture), Katherine Boyer (Kinesiology), Meghan Huber (Mechanical & Industrial Engineering), and Donghyun Kim (Computer Science)
Development of Wearable Device Methods for Detecting Cerebral Palsy in Infants and Toddlers (SPARC 2)
John Sirard (Kinesiology), Ivan Lee (Computer Science), Melanna Cox (Kinesiology), and Christine Woodward (Kinesiology)
Spatial Well-being Lab (SPARC 2)
Caryn Brause (Architecture), Elizabeth Bertone-Johnson (Biostatistics and Epidemiology), and key personnel from the College of Education, Student Affairs & Campus Life, and Campus Planning
SPARC seed grants are awarded across four tiers to teams of faculty members and librarians, with strong preference for teams that include members from at least two different schools/colleges within the university. The projects proposed by each team are expected to represent a new direction or aspect of interdisciplinary collaboration, align with one of the themes of interdisciplinary excellence, and generate significant and tangible outcomes that “spark” continued momentum in research and creative activity.