March 21, 2024 | Erin Bluvas, bluvase@sc.edu
Seven of the 25 2023-2024 Support to Promote Advancement of Research and Creativity (SPARC) Graduate Research Grants from the USC Office of the Vice President for Research have been awarded to Arnold School graduate students. The students, who represent four departments (Communication Sciences and Disorders, Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior), will have a little over a year to complete SPARC-funded projects (up to $5,000 each) that support the completion or promotion of their research, creative or other meritorious scholarship.
Previous SPARC awards have been used by Arnold School students to fund projects, such as examining access to telehalth for maternity care, reading among chilren with cochlear implants, accuracy of activity trackers, and the emergence and spread of tick-borne diseases in South Carolina.
Upon completion, the students will present their findings at Discover USC and are encouraged to develop articles and papers based on their projects for publication in scholarly journals. Before the actual projects even begin, however, the students have already learned about the competitive research proposal process that will continue throughout many of their careers.
The Office of the Vice President for Research designs SPARC application materials to simulate the experience of applying for nationally competitive grants, helping applicants develop their skills in these areas. Students must supply the standard components of a comprehensive grant proposal package, such as a detailed research narrative, budget and other supporting documentation.
Congratulations to the following Arnold School graduate students who have earned 2023-2024 SPARC awards.
|
Name |
Department |
Project Title |
| Maxwell Akonde | Epidemiology | Evaluating a multi-biomarker panel for the early detection of ovarian cancer |
| Fahmida Akter | Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior | Impact of prenatal cash transfers and nutrition intervention on maternal-infant attachment-substudy to a randomized trial |
| Taylor Berrier | Communication Sciences and Disorders | Emotion Regulation in Children with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) |
| Morgan Boncyk | Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior | Human Heat Exposure in Food Markets -- Can Thermal Remote Sensing Be Used to Predict Changes in Food Availability and Cost? |
| Freda (Ally) Hucek | Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior | Screening for social isolation among older adults -- An in-depth study of healthcare providers' experiences and practices |
| Emily Owens Pickle | Epidemiology | Unearthing the ecological-epidemiological profile of emerging tick-borne arboviruses in South Carolina |
| Pradeep Sahu | Exercise Science | Physiological Anxiety to Movement in Chronic Low Back Pain Patients- Testing a Novel Movement Simulation Paradigm |