Previous Awardees of the Dean’s Emergency Research Response Fund

2020 Awardee:

Michael Mina, Assistant Professor of Epidemiology (PI)
Marc Lipsitch, Professor of Epidemiology, Yonatan Grad, Melvin J. and Geraldine L. Glimcher Associate Professor of Immunology and Infectious Diseases (Co-PIs)
Advanced Immunological and Epidemiological Tools in Response to the Global Threat of SARS-CoV-2

The rapid spread of the novel virus made clear the need to develop modern diagnostic tools to better understand the epidemiological and immunological responses to SARS-CoV-2 for control, mitigation, and prevention of transmission, as well as for the treatment of clinical disease. Tools were urgently needed to monitor spread and provide information about the human response to the virus. With the Dean’s Emergency Research Response Fund, Dr. Mina and colleagues developed a coronavirus-specific phage display library that allowed characterization and monitoring of the immunological humoral response to infection for diagnostics, surveillance, and mathematical modeling of SARS-CoV-2 transmission. This library provides useful data for the development of therapeutics and vaccines.

2021 Awardee:

Alan Geller, Senior Lecturer on Social and Behavioral Sciences (PI)
STARTS: Strategic Toolkit Advising the Return to School

With a recent surge in coronavirus and the emergence of new, more transmissible variants, getting students and teachers back in the classroom safely requires a major re-evaluation. To address this need, Alan Geller developed the Strategic Toolkit Advising the Return to School (STARTS), a combination of targeted public health metrics, mental health resources, and School-based mitigation interventions designed to help school leaders and communities make comprehensive, science-based decisions about schooling. Through his work with STARTS, Mr. Geller and colleagues received the 2021 Massachusetts Teacher’s Association President’s Award.

2022 Awardee:

Alan Geller, Senior Lecturer on Social and Behavioral Sciences (PI) Forging Leading Organizations to Achieve COVID 19 Pediatric Vaccine Equity: The PEDVAX Project

Worried about side effects, many parents of children aged 5–11 are hesitant to vaccinate their children against COVID-19. Coupled with inherent inequities, the vaccine rollout for children of this age may present the toughest vaccination challenge yet. To vaccinate young people and their families in our highest risk communities, we propose PEDVAX, an immediate initiative to: Use school districts as vaccination sites for communities with low vaccination rates; and recruit more pediatricians and family physicians as Covid-19 vaccine providers, give them adequate supply of vaccine, and train them to counsel school administrators to offer advice on vaccinations to concerned parents.  PEDVAX will empower the crucial yet diverse constituencies involved to be a powerful, collective and effective force in advancing vaccinations to more than 1M Massachusetts children yet to be immunized.

2023 Awardees

Cindy Leung, Elite and Hungry: Understanding and Addressing Food Insecurity Needs at the Harvard Longwood Campus

Food insecurity is a critical issue for college students’ health, academic achievement, and future well-being. In 2019, a Harvard Chan survey found that food insecurity affected one in three students. These results and other anecdotal evidence have spurred the establishment of the Countway Cupboard, a permanent food pantry opening May 2023. Given this imminent timeline, the goal of this project is to provide a better understanding of food insecurity among students and postdocs at the Harvard Longwood Campus (HLC), and to use evidence-based research to inform the design of interventions to effectively alleviate food insecurity on campus. In Spring 2023, we will field a comprehensive survey to 5,000 students and postdocs at HMS, HSDM, and Harvard Chan, and conduct 80 in-depth, semi-structured interviews with participants with lived experiences of food insecurity. Results of this project will have an immediate and direct impact by providing estimates of the scope of food insecurity and identifying characteristics of the at-risk groups, understanding students’ propensity to use the Cupboard, and providing guidance as to which items the Cupboard should stock. Furthermore, results will encourage discussions with HLC stakeholders about how to improve institutional strategies to better address food insecurity and its consequences.

Alecia McGregor, Ensuring Equity in Maternal Health Care Access, Quality, and Outcomes Amidst Recent Shocks to the Washington, DC Maternity Care System

The U.S. faces a maternal health crisis, characterized by two decades of worsening rates and staggering inequities in maternal mortality and morbidity. During COVID 19, U.S. maternal mortality rates have increased, with Black and Latinx birthing people bearing the brunt of this surge. In Washington, DC, these challenges are particularly evident, with Black people comprising 90% of pregnancy-related deaths. The closures of the only two maternity wards in the predominantly Black eastern part of the District in 2017 created a “maternity care desert,” devoid of obstetric facilities. Our multi-methods research aims to understand the twin impacts of obstetric unit closures and COVID-19 on maternity care access, quality, and outcomes in DC. This research will inform time-sensitive decisions to be made in conjunction with the construction of a new maternity hospital in Southeast DC, scheduled to open by December 2024. Our findings will inform national and local decisions on providing adequate prenatal, intrapartum and postpartum care with the unwinding of the COVID public health emergency and additional obstetric unit closures. Progress in reducing the nation’s maternal health crisis requires use of evidence-based policies to prevent avoidable maternal deaths among racially and economically marginalized people, both locally and nationally.