Second round of Seed Program funding announced

The Pitt Seed Program, now in its second year, has announced funding for 24 faculty or staff projects that align with the strategic goals in the Plan for Pitt.

This year, 24 projects from all five of Pitt’s campuses will split nearly $1 million in funding from the Office of the Chancellor. The office received 83 applications, which were reviewed by a team of 85 faculty and staff members.

“These ideas represent a range of interests and individuals within the University and support all six goals outlined in our institution’s strategic plan. And, by design, they are poised to advance Pitt’s mission in new and meaningful ways,” Chancellor Patrick Gallagher said in a website post

Last year, 23 projects were funded out of 171 applicants.

See the projects getting funding and their primary contact below. For full details go at @Pitt or the Pitt Seed Project website.

Art’s Work in the Age of Biotechnology
Elizabeth Pitts, assistant professor, Department of English, Dietrich School of Arts & Sciences

A School-Based Trauma Intervention to Build Social and Cognitive Resilience     
Brianna Lombardi, assistant professor, School of Social Work

Creating a Student Outreach Services Program at Bradford Campus
Y. Ken Wang, director and associate professor of Computer Information Systems and Technology Program and director of Asian Collaborations, Pitt–Bradford

Creating Connections Through CREATES          
Max Fedor, director Pittsburgh CREATES Innovation in Surgery

Development of the Broadening Equity in STEM Center (BE STEM Center)                                          
Alison Legg, Senior Lecturer and Director of Outreach Programs, Department of Biological Sciences, Dietrich School

Food Insecurity, Nutritional Literacy, and Heart Disease: A Novel Interdisciplinary University of Pittsburgh Initiative                                
Jared Magnani, associate professor, School of Medicine

Graduate Certificate in Regional Intergovernmental Organization Management
George Dougherty, assistant professor, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs

Inclusive Staff Mentoring in the Dietrich School          
Michele Montag, chief of staff, executive director for staff personnel and senior assistant dean, Dietrich School

Justice Scholars Expansion — Pitt Enhanced College Support                         
Esohe Osai, director of services for Pitt-Assisted Communities and Schools,  School of Social Work

Leveraging Technology to Treat Anxiety Disorders in Community Pediatrics
Jennifer Silk, professor, Department Psychology, Dietrich School

LRDC Undergraduate Summer Internship Program
Natasha Tokowicz, associate professor, Department of Psychology and Department of Linguistics, Dietrich School, and research scientist, Learning Research and Development Center

MilTeenChat App for the Military Community: Developing Gamification to Strengthen Teens’ Decision-Making Skills
Kathryn Puskar, professor emeritus and past associate dean and director of Honors Nursing, School of Nursing

Mobile Visual Feedback for Gait Training
Goeran Fiedler, assistant professor, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences

Obama Academy-Mathematics Assistance Center
Angela Athanas, lecturer, Department of Mathematics, Dietrich School

Pitt-Greensburg Military and Veterans Program (SITREP)            
Lisa Reffner, data and registrar specialist, Pitt–Greensburg

Pitt Participation in the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program                                                         
Ravi Patel, lead innovation advisor, Pharmacy and Therapeutics, School of Pharmacy

Pittsburgh Public Schools Partnership: Entertainment Technology 
Kelly Hammonds, assistant athletic director for broadcast and video production, Athletics

Pitt Startup Incubator for Students and Recent Alumni               
Babs Carryer, director, Big Idea Center, Innovation Institute

Raising GIRL: Gender Inequality Research Lab at Pitt
Melanie Hughes, professor and co-founder and co-director of Gender Inequality Research Lab, Department of Sociology, Dietrich School

ReligYinz: Mapping Religious Pittsburgh     
Benjamin Gordon, assistant professor and Rosenberg-Perlow Fellow in Classical Judaism, Department of Religious Studies, Dietrich School

Surveying Latin American Legislators                       
Scott Morgenstern, professor and director of the Center for Latin American Studies, Department of Political Science, Dietrich School

The Center for Applied Research (CFAR) at Pitt-Greensburg: Developing Infrastructure and Training to Grow Our Center
Geoffrey Wood, assistant professor of Sociology; Director, CFAR, Pitt–Greensburg

Vibrant Media Lab
Zach Horton, assistant professor, Department of English, Dietrich School

Women in International Security Seed Project
Julia Santucci, senior lecturer, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs

Any Pitt faculty or staff member is eligible to serve as a principal investigator on a Pitt Seed Project. All Pitt students, postdoctoral associates, scholars and fellows are eligible to serve as project team members.

More information will be available this fall on the next round of Seed Project funding. Find details about applying here.