Four MPH faculty awarded grants through VU’s Trans-Institutional Programs initiative
Among the seven interdisciplinary projects awarded grants through Vanderbilt University’s transformational Trans-Institutional Programs initiative in 2018, two are from Vanderbilt MPH Program faculty members and graduates. The grants are meant to seed and expand research and teaching collaborations across disciplines. The awards also support projects and groups that collectively aim to answer big questions and address grand challenges.
Vanderbilt Initiative for Interdisciplinary Geospatial Research
MPH Participants: Carolyn Audet, Ph.D., M.Sc., and Catheryne Clouse, Ph.D., M.P.H.
Many of the biggest challenges facing humanity, and the biggest research questions facing faculty from across disciplines, have significant spatial dimensions that require sophisticated geospatial thinking, technology, modeling and analysis. Effective geospatial research and education requires intentionally transdisciplinary programs aimed at producing creative and innovative geospatial thinking. This program will coordinate disparate research efforts across campus, enhance Vanderbilt’s geospatial facilities, and catalyze transdisciplinary projects that immerse students in impactful research. Program faculty will develop consultation resources and assess Vanderbilt’s long-term research and teaching needs, with the goal of eventually establishing of a geospatial center.
Vanderbilt Initiative for the Study of Antimicrobial Resistance Drivers
MPH Participants: Carlos Grijalva, M.D., M.P.H., Leigh Howard, M.D., M.P.H., and Marie Griffin, M.D., M.P.H.
This project aims to challenge the existing paradigm and expand the understanding of the environmental drivers of antimicrobial resistance through research and teaching activities. This program will place Vanderbilt at the forefront of efforts to disseminate awareness, educate and identify effective strategies to reduce the global threat of antimicrobial resistance. The goal of the project is to increase institutional and community awareness of the problem of antimicrobial resistance, understand the environmental sources of antimicrobial resistance, design effective strategies to modify unwarranted practices, and generate an informed global framework for assessments of antimicrobial resistance and its impact on human health and our environment.