We are delighted to announce award decisions for the fourth cycle of Springboard, sponsored by the Office of the Provost and the Office of the Vice Provost for Research (OVPR). Each of these high quality, high impact research, scholarship and educational initiatives bodes well for vibrant research at Tufts by having an explicit plan leading to extramural funding or other outcomes that further influence research, scholarship, and/or policy.

These grants represent a significant investment in the future vitality of Tufts as a thriving R1, very-high research activity university.  In keeping with this cycle’s emphasis on supporting Tufts’ efforts to be an antiracist institution, many of the projects focused on racial inequities and/or the promotion of anti-racist interventions.

Please join us in congratulating the following individuals/teams who were selected for awards:

TIER 1

Developing and Piloting a Measure for Mathematical Mindsets and Identities

Principal Investigator: Barbara Brizuela (A&S)

Advancing Equity in Treatment of Kidney Failure Among Older Latinx Populations: The Decision Aid for Renal Therapy-Spanish (DART-S) Trial

Team Lead: Keren Ladin (A&S)

Team Members: Susan Koch-Weser (TUSM), Dan Weiner (TUSM/TMC), and John Wong (TUSM/TMC)

TIER 2

First test of the Potential of Gene Therapy to Correct Motor Disabilities in a Mouse Model of CTNNB1 Syndrome

Principal Investigator: Michele Jacob (TUSM)

Covalent Camelid Antibodies: Elucidating Design and Engineering Principles

Team Lead: James Van Deventer (SOE)

Team Members: Rebecca Sheck (A&S) and Charles Shoemaker (Cummings)

TIER 3

Investigation of the Impact of Medication Storage Location on Medication Adherence

Principal Investigator: Lisa Gualtieri (TUSM)

Dental Dictionary Initiative: Development and Usability Testing of a Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Online Oral Health Resource for Dental Patients

Team Lead: Nicole Holland (TUSDM)

Team Member: Kathryn Dolan (TUSDM)

The Refugees in Towns (RIT) Project: Understanding How Refugees Learn about Race in the United States

Principal Investigator: Karen Jacobsen (Fletcher)

Monitoring for International Hydropolitical Tensions

Principal Investigator: Melissa McCracken (Fletcher)

Translating Race Lab

Team Lead: Kamran Rastegar (A&S)

Team Member: Kris Manjapra (A&S)