亚洲AV

Through NSF funding, graduate students and community partners find novel solutions to public health problems

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One of the ways 亚洲AV is All Together Different is its approach to research. Students in the (CASBBI) learn how to apply interdisciplinary, community-focused research to find solutions to the world鈥檚 grand challenges.听

Students discuss their presentation at CASBBI NRT orientation
2023-24 NRT cohort members. Photo by Sarah Holland

Since the program began in 2019 with the support of the National Science Foundation (NSF), the NRT Program has bought together graduate students from engineering, data science, and social science for one-year fellowships. Students work in multidisciplinary teams of other fellows and community partners to define a problem within the community and . Thus far, 82 听graduate students have participated in the five cohorts.

鈥淣o one is doing this level of interdisciplinary convergence,鈥 explained Samuel Acu帽a, research professor in the and assistant director of CASBBI. 鈥淵ou'll see other programs with, say, mechanical engineers working with electrical engineers, but we have groups with computer scientists, social workers, and linguists working together. Psychologists, engineers, and neuroscientists. It鈥檚 novel.鈥

In the program, students are assigned to groups and matched with community partners working to solve public health problems. The groups work with these partners to establish a project that will best meet their needs: This could be anything from data collection to mobile application development to further developing the work of the previous cohort.听

Some groups have even continued their work long after their time in the program concludes; iConnect, an app to connect those suffering from substance abuse to local resources and support, continues beyond the program with their community partner .听

鈥淭o have, say, a computer science student work with the community and think about people and problems in a way they wouldn鈥檛 otherwise, that鈥檚 the type of experience that they can draw on for years and years to come,鈥 Acu帽a said. 鈥淭he fellowship helps them think more deliberately about how they approach their research through a toolbox of techniques. So, when they鈥檙e done, they can approach any issue or problem they might be assigned from this perspective.鈥

Community-centered and human-centered research is a big draw for some NRT fellows. Morgan Lamarre, BA 鈥22, BS Bioengineering 鈥24, master鈥檚 student in bioengineering and a member of the 2024-25 cohort, said, 鈥淢any of us hope that our careers are in community-facing work, so to have these skills and experience in engaging with the community will be really helpful. And these methods are different from what we see in our classrooms and labs.鈥

鈥淎s engineers, we鈥檙e often given a problem to solve how we want and how we think is best without input from the community, and there鈥檚 a bit of mistrust between the overall community and the scientific community as a result,鈥 said Kirubel Tadesse, BS 听Bioengineering 鈥24, current master鈥檚 student in and incoming cohort member. 鈥淏ut through this method, we鈥檙e actively engaging with the community and stakeholders to ensure that our designs are meeting their specific needs. We鈥檙e bridging that gap.鈥

Three students present their research at the CASBBI NRT orientation
2023-24 Team FIRE (First-responers, Innovation, Research, and Exploration) presents their research at NRT orientation. Photo by Sarah Holland

鈥淚t鈥檚 a completely new way for us to approach our work,鈥 said Brady Stinson-Smith, master鈥檚 student in bioengineering, and fellow member of the incoming cohort. 鈥淲e can be so siloed in our fields, but this program helps us make the connections between not only the community, but also with researchers in other fields like sociology, psychology, and social work who can help us think better and differently about our approaches and solutions.鈥

This is the philosophy upon which the NRT program is built. 鈥淣o one field is enough to solve these problems,鈥 said Acu帽a. 鈥淭he leaders of tomorrow need to know how to navigate across multiple disciplines and groups of stakeholders in order to create impactful change.鈥

鈥淲e all come from different approaches,鈥 said Yosef Shaul, PhD student in and 2023-24 cohort member. Shaul was a member of team VIRTUE (Violence Intervention and Resolution through Unifying Efforts), focused on addressing barriers to domestic violence prevention and management in Northern Virginia. 鈥淓veryone brings their own advantages and attributes. It makes the whole greater.鈥澨

Now that he has completed the fellowship, Shaul plans to adjust his research process for his PhD to incorporate more community-centered practices. 鈥淢y outcomes,鈥 he said, 鈥渨ill now better meet community needs.鈥