Here is this week’s news of grants and gifts that may be of particular interest to women in higher education.
Researchers at the University of Kansas and KU Medical Center have received a $2.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to develop and refine an intervention to boost testing and vaccination — and knowledge about both — among women leaving incarceration. The research team will work with cohorts of women leaving incarceration in Kansas City, Kansas, and Kansas City, Missouri; Oakland, California; and Birmingham, Alabama. Researchers will develop and refine an intervention that addresses concerns, dispels misinformation, and enhances knowledge about the importance of screening and safety and efficacy of vaccines. Megha Ramaswamy, professor of population health at the University of Kansas Medical Center is co-principal investigator of the grant. She is a graduate of New York University, where she majored in journalism. Dr. Ramaswamy holds a master of public health degree from the University of Kansas School of Medicine and a master’s degree and Ph.D. in sociology from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.
The University of California, Los Angeles, has received a $1.3 million gift from Mark Kalmansohn to endow the position of assistant coach for the women’s softball team and to support the women’s athletic program at the university. Kalmansohn, who holds two degrees from UCLA, is a former assistant U.S. Attorney and later practiced entertainment and intellectual property law.
The University of North Carolina at Pembroke has been awarded a three-year, $500,000 grant from Blue Cross Blue Shield and Healthy Blue to reduce racial disparities for expecting and parenting mothers in rural southeastern North Carolina. Faculty will plan, develop and implement training activities using evidence-based strategies to reduce and address structural racism and implicit bias among healthcare and education professionals who engage with mothers who are pregnant or parenting. Veronica Hardy, a professor in the department of social work, is the principal investigator for the grant.