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.

Michigan State University received a five-year, $4,150,000 grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences for research on how a high-fat diet interacts with a common chemical used in sunscreens and how this affects the risk for breast cancer. Sandra Haslam, a professor physiology in the College of Human Medicine is co-director of the research study.

Emory University in Atlanta received a five-year, $1,560,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health for its career development program entitled “Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women’s Health.” The program will provide mentors for junior faculty members who are conducting research on women’s health and gender differences. The grant program is under the direction of Claire Sterk, provost at Emory University. Dr. Sterk is a native of The Netherlands and holds a Ph.D. in sociology from Erasmus University in Rotterdam.

The University of California, Merced received a five-year, $639,000 grant from the National Cancer Institute to create a program aimed at improving the eating habits of Latina women to reduce their risk of breast cancer. The grant program is under the direction Susan Ramirez, an assistant professor of public health communication at the university. Dr. Ramirez is a magna cum laude graduate of Santa Clara University. She holds a master of public health degree from Harvard University and a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in communication from the University of Pennsylvania.

Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, received a grant from the Women Physicians Section of the American Medical Association for a research project entitled “Female Faculty Development in Radiology.” The research will be under the direction of Lucy Spalluto, an assistant professor of radiology and radiological sciences. Dr. Spalluto holds a bachelor’s degree in biology and a medical degree from the University of Virginia.

The American Association of Physics Teachers received a five-year, $742,648 grant from the National Science Foundation for a the development of a mentoring program to support isolated women faculty members in physics. The mentoring program is being developed by Barbara Whitten, a professor of physics at Colorado College.

Tulane University in New Orleans received a $3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to study how neurotoxins from mining and agricultural development are affecting the health of pregnant women and their children in Caribbean nations. The study will track pregnant women and their babies for four years to examine how chemical exposure impacts brain development in the children. The grant program is under the direction of Maureen Lichtveld, who holds the Freeport McMoRan Chair of Environmental Policy at Tulane University.