We are delighted to announce award decisions for the fifth 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

3D Printed Silk-Based Tracheal Implants

Team Lead: David Kaplan (SOE)
Team Member: Vincent Fitzpatrick (SOE)

Famine Archive and Data Hackathons

Team Leads: Elena Naumova (Friedman) and Paul Howe (Friedman)
Team Members: Merry Fitzpatrick (Friedman), Anastasia Marshak (Friedman), Daniel Maxwell (Friedman), and Oxana Shevel (A&S)

Engaging Stakeholders in New England to Improve Antibiotic Stewardship Practices in Jails and Prisons

Team Lead: Alysse Wurcel (TMC)
Team Members: Gabriela Andujar-Vazquez (TMC), Maureen Campion (TMC), Shira Doron (TMC), and Jacob van den Berg (TUSM)

TIER 2

Half this History Research and Action Project

Team Leads: Jennifer Burton (A&S) and Julie Dobrow (A&S)
Team Members: Amahl Bishara (A&S), Dina Deitsch (Art Galleries), Nina Gerassi-Navarro (A&S), Barbara Grossman (A&S), Heather Nathans (A&S), and Tasha Oren (A&S)

Characterization of a Novel Inter-tissue Muscle-to-brain Signal in C. elegans

Principal Investigator: Peter Chang-Hwa Juo (TUSM)

A Hybrid Physics and Machine Learning Approach to Diagnostics and Prognostics for Offshore Wind

Team Lead: Usman Khan (SOE)
Team Member: Babak Moaveni (SOE)

Ecologies of Justice: The Rights of Nature in Colombia

Principal Investigator: Kimberly Theidon (Fletcher)

Produce Prescriptions on Maternal and Birth Outcomes: A Food is Medicine Intervention Among Pregnant Women

Team Lead: Fang Fang Zhang (Friedman)
Team Members: Sara Folta (Friedman), Perrie O’Tierney-Ginn (TMC), and Chenchen Sun (TMC)

TIER 3

Disciplinary Identity Development in Computational Biology

Team Leads: Julia Gouvea (A&S) and Lawrence Uricchio (A&S)

Catalyzing Community Change: A Qualitative Study of Black Women Leadership Characteristics

Team Lead: Sara Folta (Friedman)
Team Members: Linda Hudson (TUSM) and Peter Levine (Tisch)