New Grants or Gifts Relating to Women in Higher Education

Here is this week’s news of grants and gifts that may be of particular interest to women in higher education.

Loyola University in Chicago received a $270,000 grant from the Office of Violence Against Women of the U.S. Department of Justice for programs to reduce sexual assault, stalking, and dating violence on campus. The money will be used for police training and educational programs. Joliet Junior College in Illinois received a $297,000 grant under the same program.

The University of Arizona has received a grant from the National Institutes of Health to conduct a study to determine if diet and exercise can improve the quality of life for women who have had ovarian cancer. The Lifestyle Intervention for Ovarian Cancer Enhanced Survival project will involve more than 1,000 women nationwide who have completed chemotherapy for ovarian cancer.

Montana State University in Bozeman is the recipient of a five-year, $3.4 million grant from the National Science Foundation that will be used for programs to increase the number of women faculty in STEM fields and in the social and behavioral sciences. Currently, women faculty members are underrepresented in these fields at Montana State. The program will be under the direction of Jessi L. Smith, an associate professor of psychology, special assistant to the provost, and director of the university’s ADVANCE program.

The University of Kentucky received a five-year, $2.7 million grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse for research on lowering the behavioral risks associated with HIV or hepatitis infection among disadvantaged rural women in Kentucky. Principal investigator on the project is Michele Staton-Tindall, an associate professor in the College of Social Work at the University of Kentucky. She states, “The long-term goal of this study is to increase access to health and behavioral-health services in order to improve the quality of health for high-risk rural women.”

Dr. Staton-Tindall holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology, a master of social work degree, and a doctorate in social work, all from the University of Kentucky.

The University of Massachusetts at Amherst received a five-year, $2.56 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to conduct a study of Latina women with a history of gestational diabetes. The goal of the program is to educate these women on diet and lifestyle choices that will help them avoid developing type 2 diabetes.

The study will be led by Lisa Chasan-Taber, professor of epidemiology at the university. Dr. Chasan-Taber is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania. She holds a master of public health degree from the University of Massachusetts and a doctorate in epidemiology from Harvard University.