After last year’s move to a virtual poster show and presentations, this year’s third annual College of Health and Human Sciences Research Day was back in person – and the excitement was evident among both participants and visitors.
CHHS Research Day is the brainchild of Dean Lise Youngblade, who launched the event as a way to bring people together to spark potential collaborations, celebrate innovation and discovery, and feature the outstanding research and scholarship conducted by the talented faculty, postdocs, and students across the College.
“While we were happy to make CHHS Research Day happen virtually last year, we were thrilled to be back in person this year,” said Dean Lise Youngblade. “There is no substitute for the personal exchange of ideas and the spark of creativity that happens when we get everyone together in a room. The energy was simply amazing!”
At the morning Poster Show, 85 presenters made up of undergraduates, graduate students, faculty, staff, and post-docs explained their research in short talks to visitors and judges with the help of their posters and creative work on display. No matter what the discipline, the thread that ran through all of the work was the incredible ways College researchers are improving physical, mental, and social well-being and transforming lives.
Winning poster presentations came from each of the College’s academic units and featured a broad array of topics including the effects of cannabidiol on kidney and liver function; causes and implications for project delays in highway construction; addressing food insecurity among CSU students; positive human and animal interactions and mental health in young adults; unexplored potential of white matter to understand aging and dementia; and an adaptive rain kit for people who use a wheelchair.
Keynote speaker
This year, the keynote address was given by Rebecca Hasson, associate professor in the School of Kinesiology and director of the Childhood Disparities Research Laboratory at the University of Michigan. Hasson’s talk, supported by the College of Health and Human Sciences Mary Scott Lecture Series, was titled “Merging Implementation Science and Health Equity Research to Eliminate Youth Physical Activity Disparities.”
Hasson has examined the effects of built and social environments on pediatric physical activity and child health disparities. Her research has focused on the development and implementation of physical activity interventions in school and home environments, especially for low-income and ethnic minority children. Through her research on the “Interrupting Prolonged sitting with ACTivity” or InPACT program, she has tested the feasibility of implementing activity breaks in classroom settings. She also adapted InPACT for dissemination in the home environment during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Barry Braun, department head in Health and Exercise Science, has known Hasson for many years.
“Rebecca’s commitment to health equity, diversity, and social justice has been relentless and firm, and goes back 20-plus years to when she was a student,” Braun said. “Her talk was centered on developing and implementing physical activity interventions in grade school environments, but she managed to incorporate aspects of all eight academic units in the College – a triumph of multi-disciplinary thinking!”
Lightning Talks
What do the brain’s role in controlling movement, supporting children with intellectual disabilities, the lack of culturally comprehensive counseling for underserved populations, and accessibility to healthcare all have in common? They are just a few of the research areas covered in the six-minute Lightning Talks at CHHS Research Day.
This year’s Lightning Talks again featured one speaker from each academic unit along with the two Dean’s Fellows, who are Ph.D. students: Mehmet Ozbek – Construction Management, Vivian Li – Design and Merchandising, Sarah Johnson – Food Science and Human Nutrition, Brett Fling – Health and Exercise Science, Debbie Fidler – Human Development and Family Studies, James Graham – Occupational Therapy, Jessica Gonzalez-Voller – School of Education, Jen Currin-McCulloch – School of Social Work, and Dean’s Fellows Patricia Grady-Dominguez and Susan Mingils from Occupational Therapy.
“Our Lightning Talk presenters shared groundbreaking ideas and research collaborations,” said Matt Hickey, associate dean for research and graduate studies who emceed the event and had the unenviable task of keeping time. “Topics ranged from the micro level, such as nanofiber technology for healthcare garments and the impact of functional foods like blueberries on healthy aging, to the macro level, including imagining the construction materials and opportunities for future megacities in the year 2070. Each presenter enlightened the audience with their expertise, passion, and alignment with our College’s mission, sparking questions and dialogue.”
Learn more about this year’s Lightning Talks presenters and watch their presentations.
Research Day Poster Show award winners
Go to the CHHS Research Day Poster Show webpage for images of the Poster Show award winners and each presenter who submitted a poster to CHHS Research Day. Also, find images in the College of Health and Human Sciences flicker. Congratulations to all of the award winners!
Top Honors for Undergraduate Research and Creativity
Matthew Bomar, Department of Health and Exercise Science
Comparison of the Influence of Five Cannabidiol Formulations on Kidney and Liver Function
Applied Science Category – Distinction in Research Award
Jamie Yoder, School of Social Work
Trauma and maternal attachment as risks for executive function deficits among youth who commit sexual violence
Applied Science Category – Distinction in Graduate Research Award
Bri Risk, Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition
Bacillus Subtilis DE111 Improves Endothelial Dependent Vascular Dilation in Mice Fed a Western Diet
Applied Science Category – Distinction in Graduate Research
Manideep Tummalapudi, Department of Construction Management
Causes; Implications; and Strategies for Project Closeout Delays in Highway Construction
Basic Science Category – Distinction in Research Award
Aga Burzynska, Department of Human Development and Family Studies
White matter – the unexplored potential to understand aging and dementia
Basic Science Category – Distinction in Graduate Research Award
Mohammad Teymouri Moogooee, Department of Construction Management
Chloride binding and desorption behavior of cementitious systems
Basic Science Category – Distinction in Graduate Research
Heidi Tseng, Department of Human Development and Family Studies
AgingPLUS: Examining the Malleability of Implicit Views of Aging
Clinical Science Category – Distinction in Research
Alison Herman, Department of Occupational Therapy
An Occupation-Based Clinic Makeover: Perceptions and Experiences of Occupational Therapists
Clinical Science Category – Distinction in Graduate Research
Laura Taylor, Department of Health and Exercise Science and the School of Biomedical Engineering
The influence of vascular cognitive impairment on driving following stroke
Community Engagement Category – Distinction in Research Award
Jen Weaver, Department of Occupational Therapy
Translating the Coma Recovery Scale-Revised into Clinical Practice Using Person-Centered Measurement Principles
Community Engagement Category – Distinction in Graduate Research
Shayna Lentz, School of Social Work
SNAP4Rams: Addressing Food Insecurity Among Students at Colorado State University
Distinction in Creative Scholarship
Kristen Morris in the Department of Design and Merchandising
See me: Adaptive rain kit for people who use a wheelchair for mobility assistance
Distinction in Creative Scholarship – Graduate Student Award
Alyssa Iedema, Department of Design and Merchandising
Visitors Gaze Behaviors and Spatial Perception in Wayfinding in Therapy Centers
Equity and Social Justice Category – Distinction in Research Award
Jessica Gonzalez-Voller, School of Education
Counseling Client Outcomes and Counselors Multicultural Competence
Equity and Social Justice Category – Distinction in Graduate Research Award
Shivani Kaushik, School of Social Work
Dying for a Change: A Systematic Review of Compassionate Release Policies
Public Health Category – Distinction in Research Award
Kerri Rodriguez, School of Social Work
Relationships among Early Adversity; Positive Human and Animal Interactions; and Mental Health in Young Adults
Public Health Category – Distinction in Graduate Research
Jessi Pettigrew, School of Social Work
Current and Past Environmental Influences on Current Sleep Health
Science of Teaching and Learning Category – Distinction in Research Award
Angela Lewis, School of Education
“I did not know it was possible to make technology dizzy!”: An example of the interdisciplinary partnership work that supported early childhood teacher preparation during the pandemic
Science of Teaching and Learning Category – Distinction in Graduate Research
Mollie Brazile, School of Education
Teaching the Innate: Innovative Approaches to Developing Learner Empathy
Find out more about the Poster Show, Lightning Talks, Keynote Speaker, and Awards Ceremony at the CHHS Research Day website!
