HHS Faculty Research Grants (formerly HHS Research Excellence Grants) & Top-Off Funding Program

The HHS Office of Research provides competitive internal research grants for which all HHS faculty may apply; this includes tenured and tenure track faculty. Also, AP faculty whose positions require external research funding may apply.

• The HHS Faculty Research Grants are for projects showing strong potential for leading to subsequent external funding. Collaborative efforts are encouraged. At this time, these grants are awarded once a year. Awards are up to $5,000 for individual investigator awards and up to $10,000 for collaborative projects.
• The HHS Top-Off Funding Program is to allow faculty to request additional funds to further enhance the quality or quantity of data they are able to collect/analyze in an effort to support projects that generate compelling data that will increase the likelihood of external funding and publications. Individuals who had recently received university-based internal funding are eligible to apply for between $5,000 and $10,000 in “Top Off Funds” to expand upon ongoing work.

2023 HHS Faculty Research Grant and Top-Off Funding Program Recipients

1. Emily Janke (Peace and Conflict Studies): Restorative Relational Practices for Higher Education.
2. Jared McGuirt (Nutrition): ROSA (Rural Online Shopping Assistant).
3. Traci Parry (Kinesiology): Effect of Exercise Timing on Cancer Cachexia-Mediated Muscle Dysfunction and Metabolism.
4. Sudha Shreeniwas (Human Development and Family Studies): A study of “The New ‘Doctor’s Orders’: Arts on Prescription as a Healthcare Tool for Older Americans”.

2022 HHS Faculty Research Grant and Top-Off Funding Program Recipients

1. Jessica Dollar (Kinesiology) and Jaclyn Maher (Kinesiology): Identification of biopsychosocial factors that influence physical activity in adolescent females using ecological momentary assessment methods.
2. Tamar Goldenberg (Public Health Education), Amanda Tanner (Public Health Education), and Jennifer Erausquin (Public Health Education): Transgender Stigma in the Dominican Republic: A Developmental Approach to Measurement.
3. Jared McGuirt (Nutrition): ROSA (Rural Online Shopping Assistant).
4. Jessica McNeil (Kinesiology) and Laurie Wideman (Kinesiology): Linking Insufficient Sleep with Body Weight in Black Young Adults.
5. Sandra Shultz (Kinesiology) and Randy Schmitz (Kinesiology): Maturity Status at the Time of Pediatric ACL Injury: A Pilot Study.

2021 HHS Faculty Research Grant and Top-Off Funding Program Recipients

1. Jeff Milroy (Public Health Education) and David Wyrick (Public Health Education): The Esport Athlete Mental well-being Study (TEAMS)
2. Traci Parry (Kinesiology): The Effect of Exercise on Cachectic Muscle Metabolism
3. Jeremy Rinker (Peace and Conflict Studies): Understanding South Asian Social Identity in the U.S.: Justice and Solidarity Building in the Diaspora
4. Kierra Sattler (Human Development & Family Studies): Investigating Foster Care Environments and Their Associations with Children’s Health and Well-being

2020 HHS Faculty Research Grant and Top-Off Funding Program Recipients

1. William Adams (Kinesiology): Fluid Intake Behaviors Across the Menstrual Cycle in Naturally Cycling Females.
2. Lucia Mendez (Communication Sciences & Disorders) and Jessica Obermeyer (Communication Sciences & Disorders): Examining cross-cultural differences in narrative cohesion.
3. Tracy Nichols (Public Health Education): Perinatal Substance Use Service Provision: Understanding the End-User Experience.
4. Judy Kinney (Community and Therapeutic Recreation): A Pilot Study on the Efficacy of Virtual Reality as a Treatment Intervention to Reduce Pain.
5. Benjamin Hickerson (Community and Therapeutic Recreation): Public opinions of homelessness in municipal public park and recreation settings.
6. William Adams (Kinesiology) and Laurie Wideman (Kinesiology): Habitual Fluid Intake on Health and Wellness in College-aged Men and Women.

2019 HHS Faculty Research Grant and Top-Off Funding Program Recipients

1. Donna Duffy (Women’s Health & Wellness/Kinesiology) and Chris Rhea (Kinesiology): Developing a methodology for tracking the menstrual cycle in middle school and high school female athletes.
2. Sandra Echeverria (Public Health Education): Enhancing diabetes care and self-management for Latino workers.
3. Traci Parry (Kinesiology) and Justin Harmon (Community and Therapeutic Recreation): Nature Immersion Therapy in Cancer Survivors.
4. William Adams (Kinesiology), Jaclyn Maher (Kinesiology) and Jared McGuirt (Nutrition): Physical activity, sedentary behavior, and dietary intake behavior among African American college freshman: A within-person approach.
5. Rachel Boit (Human Development and Family Studies): Teachers and parents use of shared book reading with preschoolers in a multilingual setting.
6. Stephanie Coard (Human Development and Family Studies): Black Parenting Strengths and Strategies: Warnersville Recreation Implementation Wave II.
7. Yarneccia Dyson (Social Work): Expanding the Reach: Exploring The Sexual Health Needs and Black College Students at HBCU’s.
8. Jocelyn Smith Lee (Human Development and Family Studies) and Erica Payton (Public Health Education): Assessing the Aftermath of Community Violence in Greensboro.

2018 HHS Research Excellence Grant Recipients

1. William Adams (Kinesiology), Jaclyn Maher (Kinesiology), and Jared McGuirt (Nutrition): Physical activity, sedentary behavior, and dietary intake behavior among African American college freshman: A within-person approach.
2. Rachel Boit (Human Development and Family Studies) and Linda Hestenes (Human Development and Family Studies): Teachers and parents use of shared book reading with preschoolers in a multilingual setting.
3. Stephanie Coard (Human Development and Family Studies): Black Parenting Strengths and Strategies: Warnersville Recreation Implementation.
4. Yarneccia Dyson (Social Work): Addressing the sexual health needs of African American College Students enrolled in HBCus and MSIs at Risk for HIV: A pilot study.
5. Keith Erikson (Nutrition): Sex and genetic factors involved in the alterations of brain iron biology due to obesity.
6. Jonathan Tudge (Human Development and Family Studies): Developing the Virtue of Gratitude: A School-Based Intervention.

2017 HHS Research Excellence Grant Recipients

1. Seth Armah (Nutrition): Almond meal consumption to improve iron homeostasis in mice model of obesity.
2. Steven Fordahl (Nutrition): The use of flax seed oil to prevent or reverse deficits in dopamine neuron function caused by a high fat diet.
3. Justin Harmon (Community and Therapeutic Recreation): Art imitates life: How arts-based therapies affect quality-of-life in people with cancer.
4. Michael Hemphill (Kinesiology) and Emily Janke (Peace and Conflict Studies): Restorative Justice Practices in Sport-based Youth Development Programs.
5. Maryanne Perrin (Nutrition): Retention of nutrients in fortified human milk during prolonged refrigerator storage.
6. Erin Reifsteck (Kinesiology), Laurie Wideman (Kinesiology), and Lenka Shriver (Nutrition): Alterations in Habitual Physical Activity and Cardiometabolic Disease Risk in Athletes Transitioning out of College Sports.
7. Jeremy Rinker (Peace and Conflict Studies) and Jigna Dharod (Nutrition): The Bhutanese Health and Wellness Project:  Overcoming Barriers and Building Community Resilience.

2016 HHS Research Excellence Grant Recipients

1. Kristine Lundgren (Communication Sciences and Disorders): Traumatic Brain Injury and Intimate Partner Violence:  Development of a Screening Tool to Identify at Risk Survivors.
2. Louisa Raisbeck (Kinesiology): The Effects of Short Term Attentional Focus Training on the Retention of Functional Changes in the Brain.
3. Robert Strack (Public Health Education): Storytelling and the Social Determinants of Health.

2015 HHS Research Excellence Grant Recipients

1. Donna Duffy (Kinesiology and Center for Women’s Health & Wellness) and Chris Rhea (Kinesiology):  Concussion effects on neurocognitive and neuromotor performance in female football players.
2. Jennifer Etnier (Kinesiology) and Lee Beverly (Nutrition):  Establishment of a novel animal model to evaluate the interaction of dietary protein and chronic exercise on cognitive performance.
3. Heather Helms (Human Development and Family Studies) and Andrew Supple (Human Development and Family Studies):  Advanced dydadic approaches applied to the study of marriage and co-parenting among Mexican immigrant parents of young children.
4. Kay Lovelace (Public Health Education):  Developing quality, value and cost measures for community health assessments.
5. Sudha Shreeniwas (Human Development and Family Studies) and Sharon Morrison (Public Health Education):  Biosocial factors in hypertension among SE Asian refugee communities in the US South.
6. Sandra Shultz (Kinesiology) and Laurie Wideman Gold (Kinesiology):  Associations between relaxin and knee laxity profiles in eumenorrheic women.

2014 HHS Research Excellence Grant Recipients

1. Candice Bruton (Community and Therapeutic Recreation) and Mark Schulz (Public Health Education):  Park-based Physical Activity: Good Medicine for Type 2 Diabetes Management?
2. Justin Lee (Social Work) and Jay Poole (Social Work):  From Patients to Providers: What is Working to Reduce Health Disparities among Latinos in Greensboro?
3. Lenka Shriver (Nutrition) and Cheryl Buehler (Human Development and Family Studies): Parental Strategies to Encourage Fruit and Vegetable Consumption in Preschool-aged Children: Development and Testing of a New Research Measure.
4. Laura Taylor (Peace and Conflict Studies):  Daily Stressors and Positive Development among Immigrant and Refugee Youth.
5. Joseph Starnes (Kinesiology):  Exercise-induced Cardioprotection: Role of the Sodium-Hydrogen Exchanger.