Research Seed Funding

Grow Public Health Innovation Heading link

The UIC School of Public Health (SPH) seed funding program develops early-stage, cutting-edge research that contributes to the school’s mission to protect and improve the health and well-being of the people of the metropolitan Chicago area, the State of Illinois, the nation, and others throughout the world.

SPH annually awards seed grants to innovative research projects and early-career investigators. Seed funding allows SPH to support individual faculty research projects. Specifically, seed funding supports preliminary and formative research. These competitive awards fund one year of research and prepare awardees to secure future external funding, primarily from federal organizations, and  grow their research program at SPH.

Seed Funding Sparks Success Heading link

Leslie Williams headshot

Dr. Leslie Williams received SPH seed funding to conduct a trial of a social network-based HIV testing intervention. She and her team had two key research goals: (1) link previously undiagnosed cases of HIV to treatment; and (2) reduce HIV-related stigma among groups of peers.

$6.9 million secured

Data from seed-funded project helped secure $3.2 million over five years from the National Institute of Mental Health to conduct a larger trial in 32 communities in South Africa. Additionally, Dr. Williams secured $3.7 million over five years from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to develop interventions to reduce substance use-related stigma and prevent opioid overdose in Chicago, supported by data from seed-funded projects.

 

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Pillars of Seed Funding Heading link

  • Research Innovation

    Seed funding is an important investment in research development. It creates opportunities for small studies that generate compelling data to form the basis of more extensive external funding proposals. Importantly, these small-scale opportunities are a significant proof point for established researchers to develop new or emerging research areas.

  • Faculty Development

    Seed funding is an instrumental opportunity for new or junior faculty to test and credential their research programs. Seed funding also helps recruit and retain the brightest scholars in public health research since it is recognized by faculty as a critical mechanism to support faculty research innovation.

  • Student Engagement

    Students gain experience in research, under the direction of a faculty investigator, as most seed awards include wages for research assistants to work on research projects. Some projects also offer opportunities for students to travel internationally or connect with local communities.

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Funded Projects Heading link

Doula Enhanced Breastfeeding Community of Practice and Training Program Development & Pilot Test
Funded by the SPH Dean’s Office, Office of Research Services
PI: Larelle Bookhart, PhD, Assistant Professor, Community Health Sciences

Surveillance of Work-Related Injuries in Chiropractors
Funded by the SPH Dean’s Office, Office of Research Services
PI: Dana Madigan, PhD, Research Assistant Professor, Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences
Lee Friedman, PhD, Professor, Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences

Development of an mHealth Educational Intervention to Improve the Prevalence of Viral Suppression among Persons Living with HIV and Low Literacy in India
Funded by SPH Global Health
PI: Mark Dworkin, PhD, Professor, Epidemiology and Biostatistics

Development of multimodal methods for studies of prenatal stress and offspring iron status in humans and mice
Funded by the SPH Dean’s Office, Office of Research Services
PI: Rebecca Campbell, PhD, Assistant Professor, Epidemiology and Biostatistics
Irina Buhimschi, MD, Professor, Obstetrics and Gynecology

Academic-Community Capacity-building for Community-Level Environmental Incident and Air Quality Data Collection in Chicago Environmental Justice Network (CEJN) Communities
Co-funded by the ChicAgo Center for Health and EnvironmenT (CACHET) and the SPH Policy, Practice and Prevention Research Center (P3RC)
PI: Jeni Hebert-Beirne, PhD, MPH, Associate Professor, Community Health Sciences
Co-PI: Serap Erdal, PhD, Associate Professor, Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences

A triple climate-change threat: modifications of associations between heat waves and mortality by simultaneous exposure to PM2.5 and O3 and sociodemographic inequalities in a U.S. population
Funded by the SPH Dean’s Office, Office of Research Services
PI: Honghyok Kim, PhD, Assistant Professor, Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences

The relationship between multi-jurisdictional employment policies and food insecurity in six U.S. cities
Funded by the SPH Policy, Practice and Prevention Research Center (P3RC)
PI: Elizabeth Porter, JD, Clinical Assistant Professor, Health Policy and Administration
Vanessa Oddo, PhD, MPH, Assistant Professor, Kinesiology and Nutrition
Emily Stiehl, PhD, Clinical Assistant Professor, Health Policy and Administration
Sage Kim, PhD, Associate Professor, Health Policy and Administration

Mobile monitoring of community air quality in southwest Chicago
Funded by the SPH Dean’s Office, Office of Research Services
PI: Yuan Shao, PhD, CIH, CSP, Assistant Professor, Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences

Metals in Drinking Water Sources in Western Kenya
Funded by SPH Global Health
PI: Mehdi Amouei Torkmahalleh, PhD, Assistant Professor, Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences
Sam Dorevitch, MD, MPH, Professor, Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences

PFAS contamination of anchovies and anchovy consumers
Co-funded by the ChicAgo Center for Health and EnvironmenT (CACHET) and the SPH Dean’s Office, Office of Research Services
PI: Mary Turyk, MPH, PhD, Professor, Epidemiology and Biostatistics
Susan Buchanan, MD, MPH, Clinical Associate Professor, Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences
Kathryn Nagy, PhD, Professor and Dept Head, Earth and Environmental Sciences

State-driven innovation to improve equitable access of federal nutrition support programs: A mixed methods action research study
PI: Yuka Asada, PhD, Clinical Assistant Professor, Community Health Sciences

Understanding the role of the social and physical environments on cancer care and outcomes through linkage to residential histories
PI: Garth Rauscher, PhD, Associate Professor, Epidemiology and Biostatistics

Adaptation and Implementation of a Responsive Parenting Intervention for Latinx Families in Chicago
PI: Jessica Rothstein, PhD, Clinical Assistant Professor,  Community Health Sciences

Novel EHR-Based Computational Methods for Disease Subtyping and Risk Prediction
PI: Jiehuan Sun, PhD, Assistant Professor, Epidemiology and Biostatistics

Medicare Health Plan Choice, Inertia, and Mortality Effects
PI: Jennifer Kwok, PhD, Assistant Professor, Health Policy and Administration

Tomographic Reconstruction of Spatial Aerosol Distribution using Multispectral Light Extinction Measurement – A Chamber Study
PI: Yuan Shao, PhD, Assistant Professor, Environmental and Occupational Health

Epidemiology of Neonatal Iron Status in Twin Pregnancy
PI: Rebecca Campbell, PhD, Assistant Professor, Epidemiology and Biostatistics

A Novel Approach to Bacterial Sample Preservation and Transportation at Ambient Temperature
PI: Abhilasha Shrestha, PhD, Research Assistant Professor, Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences

Caminos a Seguridad: Creating Culturally-Tailored Safety Planning “Pathways” for Chicago’s Latinas in a Pandemic
PI: Alisa Velonis, PhD, Assistant Professor, Community Health Sciences

Academic Year 2019-2020

Joint and Two-Stage Prognostic Models in Pain Trajectory Research
PI: Saria S. Awadalla, PhD, Assistant Professor, Biostatistics

Out-of-pocket costs and coverage for chronic diseases in high-deductible health plans
PI: Betsy Cliff, PhD, Assistant Professor, Health Policy and Administration

PrEP in Practice: Analyzing PrEP Persistence and the Relationship Between PrEP Initiation and HIV Infections
PI: Marcus Dillender, PhD, Assistant Professor, Health Policy and Administration

An Expanded Social Network Approach to Locating People who Use Drugs and Recently Infected and/or Undiagnosed Positive Cases for HIV
PI: Leslie D. Williams, PhD, Assistant Professor, Community Health Sciences

Academic Year 2018-2019

Addressing Suicidal Risk in Harm Reduction Services for People Who Inject Drugs
PI: Dr. Mary E. Mackesy-Amiti, Research Associate Professor, Community Outreach Intervention Projects

Understanding Geographic Variation in Medicare: Theory and Evidence
PI: Dr. Pierre Thomas Leger, Associate Professor, Health Policy and Administration

Intergenerational transmission of neighborhood disadvantage and its effects on cancer risk
PI: Dr. Sage Kim, Associate Professor, Health Policy and Administration

Characterization and Feasibility of Novel Instrument for Real-Time Respirator Fit
PI: Dr. Margaret Sietsema, Research Assistant Professor, Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences

Academic Year 2017-2018

Characterization of Agricultural Herbicide Exposures In Reproductive Age Women
PI: Kirsten Almberg, Research Assistant Professor, Division of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences

Women’s Health Care at the Well-Baby Visit: An Integrated Approach to Women’s Mental and Reproductive Health Needs in the Postpartum Period
PI: Arden Handler, Professor, Community Health Sciences

The Effect of Hospital/Physician Integration on Health Care Prices, Insurance Quality, and Patient Outcomes
PI: Nicholas Tilipman, Assistant Professor, Health Policy and Administration

Academic Year 2016-2017

Feasibility of Recruiting Suburban Opioid Users for Studies on HCV Prevention
PI: Mary E. Mackesy-Amiti, PhD, Research Associate Professor, Community Outreach Intervention Projects

Identifying Optimal Strategies to Achieve Future Healthy People Objectives: Comparative Economic Analyses of Two Approaches to Promote Guideline-Concordant Breast Screening Among Latinas​
PI: Yamile Molina, PhD, Assistant Professor, Community Health Sciences,  Faculty Affiliate | Center for Research on Women and Gender | Member, Cancer Center

Academic Year 2015-2016

Novel Multiple Imputation Methods for Incomplete Intensive Longitudinal Data
PI: Hakan Demirtas, PhD, Associate Professor of Biostatistics, Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics

Adaptation of an HIV/STI Prevention Intervention for 11-13 year old African-American Girls and their Female Caregivers
PI: Anna Hotton, PhD, Visiting Research Assistant Professor, Community Outreach Intervention Projects

The Relationship of Manganese Exposure with Pulmonary Function and School Performance
PI: Victoria Persky, MD, Professor of Epidemiology, Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics
Co-PI: Maria Argos, PhD, Assistant Professor of Epidemiology, Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics

Academic Year 2014-2015

Social Geography of Risk among People Who Inject Drugs Pilot Study
PI: Mary Ellen Mackesy-Amiti, PhD, Research Associate Professor, Community Outreach Intervention Projects

Implementation of a State Medicaid Policy Initiative to Promote Long-Acting Reversible Contraception (LARC) Access during the Delivery Hospitalization:  A Study of Women’s Perspectives
PI: Kristin Rankin, PhD, Assistant Professor of Epidemiology, Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics

Academic Year 2013-2014

Evaluation of environmental exposures in Chicago youth with metabolic dysfunction
PI: Maria Argos, PhD, Assistant Professor of Epidemiology, Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics
Co-PI: Mary Turyk, PhD, Associate Professor of Epidemiology, Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics

Long Term Care Policies and Caregiving: Time Use in Japan and the United States
PI: Naoko Muramatsu, PhD, Associate Professor, Division of Community Health Sciences; Fellow, Institute for Health Policy and Research