EGHI Faculty Seed Grants

• FACULTY NAME: BECKLENBERG, AMY (SON)
• PERIOD: June 1, 2022 - June 1, 2023
• AMOUNT: $20,000 
• TEAM:  Jennifer Stapel-Wax (SOM), Susan Brasher (SON), Rachel Hall-Clifford (ECAS), John Cranmer (SON),  Abebe Gebremariam (SON)
• COUNTRY: Ethiopia 
• PARTNERS: Ethiopia Ministry of Health, Directorate of Maternal and Child Health, Focal Person for Early Childhood Development (ECD); Department of Psychiatry, Addis Ababa University (AAU); Department of Pediatrics, AAU; George Washington University, School of Nursing. 
• PURPOSE: To adapt an existing curriculum (early language nutrition intervention) to align with Ethiopian clinical practice (in Amharic) based on feedback from Ethiopian subject matter experts.  
• SIGNIFICANCE:  LBW infants are particularly susceptible to neurocognitive development delays. There are no known health system level interventions being used in Ethiopia to mitigate neurocognitive developmental delays. These Ethiopia-specific discoveries can provide novel insights for expanding in similar global contexts.

• FACULTY NAME: GILLESPIE, THOMAS (ECAS)  
• PERIOD: June 1, 2022 - Dec 1, 2023 
• AMOUNT: $20,000 
• TEAM: Bethany Caruso (RSPH), Jessica Deere (ECAS) 
• COUNTRY:  Tanzania 
• PARTNERS:  Jane Goodall Institute (JGI) Tanzania and it’s USAID-funded Landscape Conservation in Western Tanzania (LCWT) Project 
• PURPOSE:   To develop a multi-disciplinary, community-driven One Health platform identifying spatiotemporal factors associated with zoonotic disease spillover at the community and ecosystem level. 
• SIGNIFICANCE: Establishing a One Health Hub in the GMUE will allow us to elucidate risk factors for, and create mitigation measures to prevent, disease transmission events. This project will explore and describe the demographic and spatiotemporal dynamics of zoonotic transmission at the rural and agricultural human-animal interface. Spillover of novel pathogens from wildlife to people, such as the virus responsible for COVID-19 pandemic, is increasing & this trend is strongly associated with anthropogenic disturbance in tropical systems. 

• FACULTY NAME:  VAZQUEZ-PROKOPEC (ECAS) 
• PERIOD: June 1, 2022 - June 1, 2023 
• AMOUNT:  $20,000 
• TEAM: Lance Waller (RSPH), Oscar David Kirstein (ECAS), Pablo Manrique-Saide (Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán. México), Yoosook Lee (University of Florida) 
• COUNTRY: Mexico, USA 
• PARTNERS: University of Florida, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán. 
• PURPOSE: To perform an unprecedented, in-depth genome-wide analysis using whole-genome sequencing technology to evaluate Ae. aegypti genetic structure in response to an insecticide-based intervention occurring in the city of Merida, Mexico.  

• FACULTY NAME: ZEIDAN, AMY (SOM)  
• PERIOD:  June 1, 2022 - June 1, 2023 
• AMOUNT: $20,000 
• TEAM:  Roxana Chicas (SON), Randi Smith (SOM, RSPH) 
• COUNTRY: USA 
• PARTNERS:  Sur Legal Collaborative 
• PURPOSE: To explore the extent of work-related injuries among immigrant populations seeking care at Grady; and to develop hospital-based injury prevention interventions in partnership with Sur Legal Collaborative, an immigrant and worker rights non-profit based out of Atlanta, GA.  
• SIGNIFICANCE:  Work-related injury remains a high cause of morbidity among limited English proficiency (LEP) non-English speaking individuals in the United States (U.S), the majority of whom are immigrants and are more likely to work in physically demanding jobs that are hazardous. Few hospital-based workplace injury prevention interventions exist. 

Glenna Brewster, Assistant Professor, Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing

This project is a collaborative relationship focused on dementia care interventions between Emory faculty and researchers at the Caribbean region’s leading health research institute and a partnering non-governmental organization focused on mental and cognitive health in Jamaica, Jamaica Mental Health Advocacy Network (JaMHAN).

Dabney P. Evans, Associate Professor and Co-Director of Graduate Studies, Rollins School of Public Health, Department of Global Health

This project aims to create a beta version of myPlan for use among Brazilian populations, leading to the reduction of intimate partner violence and femicide in Brazil.

Nadine Kaslow, Professor and Vice-Chair for Faculty Development in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine

This project aims to develop and pilot test a culturally responsive, evidence-informed wellness toolkit for the healthcare workers in 4 hospitals in two large Chinese cities.

Gonzalo Vazquez-Prokopec, Associate Professor, Emory College of Arts & Sciences, Department of Environmental Sciences

The goal of this project is to perform an unprecedented, in-depth characterization of the antibody response to DENV and/or ZIKV infection at the individual and population level in an endemic city.

Michael Woodworth, Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, Emory School of Medicine  

WE-Seq aims to collaboratively enhance Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR)) genomic surveillance capacity through peer mentored research and practical workshops, and to evaluate the perception and acceptability of microbiome therapeutics with qualitative research methods.