Research Office News

Jaclynn Hawkins has been named a member of the Institute for Implementation Science Scholars 2022-24 cohort. The two-year mentored training program is for investigators interested in applying dissemination and implementation methods and strategies to reduce the burden of chronic disease and address health inequities.

PhD student Valerie Taing has been awarded a 2022-2023 Rackham Predoctoral Fellowship. The Rackham Predoctoral Fellowship is one of the most prestigious awards granted by the Rackham Graduate School. Doctoral candidates who expect to graduate within six years after beginning their degrees are eligible to apply, and the strength and quality of their dissertation abstract, publications and presentations, and recommendations are all taken into consideration when granting this award.

Finn McLafferty Bell, Joint Doctoral Program in Social Work and Sociology, has successfully defended his dissertation entitled “Marginalized Food Growers in a Changing Environment: Tracing Collective Survival Strategies.” His committee consisted of Sandra Danziger and Katie Richards-Schuster. Bell has accepted a tenure-track assistant professor of Human Services at the University of Michigan-Dearborn.

The inaugural Innovation in Research and Teaching Award recognizes research — with either incremental innovation that builds over time, with its impact to be felt in the future, radical Innovations that current issues in the moment they occur and disruptive innovation that challenges the status quo — or existing theories, methods, and pedagogies.

Assistant Professor Katrina Ellis has been named an inaugural Rogel Scholar in Cancer Health Equity. The award recognizes exceptional faculty dedicated to achieving impact on cancer prevention, patient outcomes and quality of life.

“It's truly an honor to be selected as an inaugural Rogel Scholar in Cancer Health Equity. I am very passionate about improving the support we provide to families after a cancer diagnosis as part of larger efforts to address the disproportionate burden of cancer we see among certain racial and ethnic groups in the United States. This award provides valuable support for my ongoing work in this area, particularly projects that will work in a participatory manner with African Americans families to better understand and address their cancer-related health needs while building on the strengths and resources that already exist within these family systems.” said Ellis.

Professor Trina Shanks is an editor on the latest edition of the Grand Challenges for Social Work and Society. This second edition outlines bold innovation and collective action powered by proven and evolving scientific interventions to address critical social issues facing society. The chapters tackle problems such as homelessness, social isolation, mass incarceration, family violence and economic inequality.

Professor Andy Grogan-Kaylor’s corporal punishment research was cited in the Guardian. Wales and Scotland have recently banned hitting, smacking and slapping children – and the children’s commissioner for England wants to introduce the same ban in England.

The 2016 meta-analysis of more than 160,000 children found that hitting as a form of discipline is ineffective at positively changing a child’s behavior, in the short and the long term. The analysis also found that children who were disciplined with physical punishment were more​​ likely to become aggressive, display antisocial behavior and exhibit mental health problems.

Associate Professor Terri Friedline’s op-ed in The Emancipator on how reviving post office banking could advance racial equity. “More than 60 million Americans – one-fifth of the population – live in communities without a bank. They’re left either to travel long distances to handle their money or use more expensive nearby options like check-cashing companies, payday lenders and currency exchanges,” writes Friedline. Boston University’s Center for Antiracist Research and The Boston Globe’s Opinion team are collaborating to resurrect and reimagine The Emancipator, the first abolitionist newspaper in the United States, founded more than 200 years ago.