We are delighted to announce award decisions for the sixth cycle of Springboard, sponsored by the Office of the Provost, Office of the Vice Provost for Research (OVPR) and Tufts Medical Center. 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

Hopes, Fears, and Illusions: How Migrants Assess Risk and Process Information on their Journey to El Norte

Team Lead: Katrina Burgess (Fletcher)
Team Member: Kimberly Howe (Friedman)

Using Augmented Reality for Autistic Contexts

Team Lead: Fahad Dogar (SOE)
Team Members: Eileen Crehan (A&S) and Peter Levine (Tisch)

TIER 2

Do Atypical Astrocytes Exist in the Aged Human Brain?

Team Leads: Chris Dulla (TUSM) and Knarik Arkun (Tufts Medical Center)
Team Member: Mary Sommer (TUSM)

Environmental problems in informal settlements: Plastics waste and Flooding, Case Study and Climate Solutions, Kampala, Uganda

Team Lead: Justin Hollander (A&S)
Team Members: Karen Jacobsen (Fletcher), Daniele Lantagne (SOE), and Melissa McCracken (Fletcher)

Development of a Race-agnostic Pulse Oximeter Device

Team Lead: Valencia Koomson (SOE)

Toward a Medical Treatment for Spinal Stenosis: Elucidating the Role of Amyloid and Inflammatory Markers Associated with Ligamentum Flavum Thickening

Team Lead: Ron Riesenburger (Tufts Medical Center)
Team Members: James Kryzanski and Knarik Arkun (Tufts Medical Center)

Deciphering the Role of Wnt7a in Mast Cell Inflammation in Osteoarthritis

Team Lead: Li Zeng (TUSM)
Team Members: Matthew Gordon (Tufts Medical Center) and Eirini Tsilionin (TUSM)

TIER 3

Integrating the Material and Textual Records of Greco-Roman Culture

Team Lead: Gregory Crane (A&S)
Team Members: Alison Babeu and Lisa Cerrato (A&S)

Dictatorship or Democracy? How Opposing Regime Styles Impact the Lived Experiences of Urban Violence in El Salvador and Honduras

Team Lead: Anjuli Fahlberg (A&S)

Examining the Interconnections between Neighborhood-level Discrimination and Mental Health on Childhood Racial and Ethnic Obesity Disparities

Team Lead: Danielle Krobath (Friedman)
Team Members: Wenhui Feng (TUSM) and Jayanthi Mistry (A&S)

The First Asians in the Americas

Team Lead: Diego Luis (A&S)

Evaluation of Mind-Body Wellness Training to Reduce Clinical Anxiety in Dental Students

Team Lead: Christina Pastan (TUSDM)
Team Members: Matthew Finkelman and Trace Mathews (TUSDM)

Accelerating the Development of International Standards for Food, Water, and Nutrition on Board Fishing Vessels

Team Lead: Jessica Sparks (Friedman)