Each spring, the Health Promotion Research Institute awards a minimum of two mini-grants to faculty members to develop a proposal for an externally funded grant by May 31. Awardees are selected through a competitive process, with a Call for Applications sent in October. Each application is reviewed and scored by two or more HPRI’s Steering Committee members; and awardees are notified in early December to allow time for classroom release requests. Successful applicants will receive one course release in the spring semester, or overload or summary salary (upon approval from applicant and chair).
Below is a list of current and previous faculty members and their project funded under HPRI’s Mini-Grant Program.
CSUF Faculty: Alice Lee
Department: Health Science
Purpose: To assess the effect of estrogen-progestin combined therapy and its various regimens on risk of ovarian cancer.
CSUF Faculty: Niroshika Keppetipola
Department: Chemistry and Biochemistry
Purpose: To characterize the role of each PTB modification on its activity, and identify pathways and proteins involved in the addition of these modifications and determine PTB modifications in non-cancer cells to understand whether PTB is modified differently in cancer vs. non-cancer cells.
CSUF Faculty: Nina Robson
Department: Mechanical Engineering
Purpose: To develope an augmented reality wearable device for patients with limited mobility in their upper extremity.
CSUF Faculty: Maria Soledad Ramirez
Department: Biological Science
Purpose: To explore novel approaches to control development of antibiotic resistance in A. baumannii.
CSUF Faculty: Maria Koleilat
Department: Health Science
Purpose: To assess the use of a weight gain tracker that can be used to monitor gestational weight gain to help pregnant women of color participants avoid gaining too much weight during pregnancy. Community Partners: Asian American Senior Citizens Service Center and
Orange County Asian and Pacific Islander Community Alliance
CSUF Faculty:Yuying Tsong
Department: Human Services
Purpose: To design and develope a new culturally and linguistically specific approach to understand and assess Asian American older adults’ cognitive understanding of mental health literacy, specifically in the area of depression. Community Partners: Asian American Senior Citizens Service Center and Orange County Asian and Pacific Islander Community Alliance
CSUF Faculty:Michele Wood
Department: Health Science
Purpose: To evaluate how has the level of earthquake preparedness within the state of California improved in the past 7 years, since the baseline statewide survey and the first ShakeOut drill, to what degree have California residents been exposed to the ShakeOut earthquake drill and other preparedness efforts and to evaluate how effective has the ShakeOut earthquake drill been in motivating earthquake preparedness. Community Partners: Earthquake Country Alliance, Southern California Earthquake Center at USC,and the California Alfred E. Alquist Seismic Safety Commission
CSUF Faculty:Kiran George
Department: Computer Engineering
Purpose: To design and develope a low-cost, non-invasive Brain-Computer Interface-based assistive robotic arm informed by ALS patient needs to improve their quality of life. Community Partner: ALS Society Orange County Chapter
CSUF Faculty:Yuying Tsong
Department: Human Services
Purpose: To formulate recommendations, strategies, and culturally relevant interventions that can increase older Asian American adults’ mental health literacy and promote help-seeking behaviors. Community Partner: Asian American Senior Citizens Service Center
CSUF Faculty:John Breskey
Department: Health Science
Purpose: To evaluate and assess the ease of use and feasibility of implementation of ambient air purifiers and bench-top fume and dusts fans currently available to the nail salon industry. Community Partner: California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative
CSUF Faculty:Jasmeet Gill
Department: Health Science
Purpose: To evaluate whether disparities in administration of quality cervical cancer care survival; and whether that quality of care is related to healthcare delivery system characteristics, independent of racial/ethnic classification, SES and payer status. Community Partner: UC Irvine Medical Center
CSUF Faculty: Kathleen Wilson Thomas
Department: Kinesiology
Purpose:To evaluate the feasibility of a home-based physical activity program adapted to a preschool population. Community Partner: Orange Children and Parents Together
CSUF Faculty:Jorge Fontdevila
Department: Sociology
Purpose: To evaluate the
syndemic relationship between the HIV and HPV epidemics among men who have sex with men in southern California
CSUF Faculty: Elaine Rutkowski
Department: Nursing
Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy of an after-school physical activity program on adolescents' levels of physical activity, BMI, quality of life, and academic attendance and academic achievement.
CSUF Faculty:Erica Howell
Department: Special Education
Purpose: To conduct a needs assessment of parents with autistic children regarding inclusion in church activities.
CSUF Faculty:Mindy Mechanic
Department: Psychology
Purpose: To explore adaptation to intimate partner violence among ethnic minority women.
CSUF Faculty:Elaine Rutkowski
Department: Nursing
Purpose: To evaluate a community-based physical activity program.
CSUF Faculty:HyeKyeung Seung
Department: Human Communications Studies
Purpose: To pilot test an instrument on early developmental delays among Korean children.
CSUF Faculty:Janna Kim
Department: Child and Adolescent Studies
Purpose: To examine the association between media use and alcohol consumption patterns, intentions to drink in the future and alcohol-related sexual risk-taking in ethnically diverse college students (ages 18-21 years).
CSUF Faculty: Tu-Uyen Nguyen
Department: Asian American Studies
Purpose: To assess a church-based support and navigation program to increase breast health education/screening for the Samoan community.
CSUF Faculty:Carter Rakovski
Department: Sociology
Purpose: To discover prevalent health concerns among nursing assistants, sources of risks to their health, and ways to reduce these health risks.
CSUF Faculty: Michele Wood
Department: Health Science
Purpose: To develop and compare the effects of intervention messages incorporating disaster.
CSUF Faculty:Jorge Fontdevila
Department: Sociology
Purpose: To conduct 20 in-depth interviews of Latino men who have sex with men and women in Orange County, and to explore and expand our knowledge-base on the cultural and gender norms and meanings that these men attach to their HIV risky bisexual behaviors. Community Partner Organization: AIDS Services Foundation Orange County
CSUF Faculty:Sara E. Johnson, Archana McEligot
Departments: Anthropology, Health Science (respectively)
Purpose: To pilot methods related to nutritional knowledge and diet choice
among homeless families in Fullerton.
Community Partner Organization: Fullerton Interfaith Emergency Services
CSUF Faculty:Jessie Jones, Dana Rutledge
Departments: Health Science, Nursing (respectively)
Purpose: Seed money to develop an external grant proposal for the purpose of
optimizing physical and cognitive function among people with chronic pain.
Community Partner Organization:National Fibromyalgia Association
CSUF Faculty:HyeKyeung Seung
Department:Human Communications
Purpose: To identify the needs of the parents who have children with autism,
as well as agencies that serve these children in the Orange County community.
Community Partner Organization:The Korean American Special Education Center
CSUF Faculty: Sora Tanjasiri
Department: Health Science
Purpose: To conduct an in-depth, community-driven asset mapping project. The
overall goal is to increase access to cancer care for all residents in Orange
County.
Community Partner Organization:Orange County Cancer Coalition
CSUF Faculty:Michele Mouttapa
Department:Health Science
Purpose: To develop a pilot study to evaluate “Bully for You,” a FantastiKids
assembly designed to prevent bullying, increase anger management, and promote
tolerance towards others.
Community Partner Organization:FantastiKid
CSUF Faculty:Shari McMahan, Director of Center for Healthy Lifestyles and Obesity Prevention
Purpose: Develop a mobile physical activity unit to promote physical activity
in children living in an urban environment where access to parks or open spaces
is limited.
Community Partner Organization:Latino Health Access
Click here to read a feature article about this project.