SMITHFIELD, RI - This summer, the Center for Health and Behavioral Sciences (CHBS) Faculty Fellows from the College of Business and the College of Arts and Sciences are serving as mentors for 22 students participating in summer research projects exploring issues in health sciences and health care. These projects are paid internships made possible by funding from the CHBS and partner organizations including the National Science Foundation (NSF), Rhode Island IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE), Rhode Island Consortium for Coastal Ecology Assessment Innovation & Modeling (RI C-AIM), and Rhode Island NSF Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR); and corporate partners including CVS Health.

This year’s research is part of ongoing programming at the CHBS, established last summer, and a precursor to the Summer Research Institute slated to launch next year. Through the Summer Research Institute, 10 rising juniors will work in teams to design original interdisciplinary research. Each group will be paired with one of 15 recently appointed Faculty Fellows (full story here) who will provide mentorship as well as intensive training in conducting high level, interdisciplinary research in health and behavioral sciences.

"The mission of the Center for Health and Behavioral Sciences is to ensure that students understand the scientific foundations of human health and disease along with the core concepts in their chosen field of study, while gaining a holistic view of the healthcare industry, human behavior, and mental processes," says Kirsten Hokeness, Ph.D., Professor and Chair of Science and Technology, and Director of the Center for Health and Behavioral Sciences. "Student research is a critical part of this mission. Bryant students participating in these summer research projects gain a critical skillset required for leadership and emerge with the ability make a positive difference in their communities."

Here is an overview of this year’s research projects, students, and faculty mentors.

Projects: Supply chain mapping project in health care; and Assessment of the fourth industrial technologies in health care supply chains

Faculty mentor
Michael Gravier, Ph.D., Professor of Marketing and Global Supply Chain program faculty member

Students
Adrian Lopez ‘22
Ciara Reilly ‘23
 

Project: Analyzing a data set of millions of tweets to understand impact of COVID-19

Faculty mentor
Suhong Li, Ph.D., Professor and Chair of the Department of Information Systems and Analytics
 

Students
Brenna Rojek ‘22 and Jason Michaud ’23 are analyzing a data set that has over 800 million tweets to understand COVID-19 impacts on behavioral health.

Project: Fostering development of “Sci-Tea” bridging behavioral science researchers and practitioners

Faculty mentor
Nanci Weinberger, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology

Student
Mia Skowron ’23 is fostering the development of Sci-Tea, a series of conversations bridging behavioral science researchers with multidisciplinary practitioners who share common interests and express their distinct perspectives. One of the core objectives is to bridge the gap between research and practice by affirming the work of researchers and practitioner.

Project: Interviews with members of African Alliance of Rhode Island on African immigrants’ medicines and remedies

Faculty Mentor
Alex Perullo, Ph.D., Professor of English and Cultural Studies
 

Student
Valerie Hartnett ’22 is assisting in conducting interviews with members of African Alliance of Rhode Island that focuses on traditional medicine and remedies used in the United States by African immigrants.

Project: Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship Program (SURF) program

Faculty Mentors
Christopher Reid, Ph.D., Professor of Science and Technology; Steven Weicksel, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Science and Technology; and Kristin Scaplen, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Psychology; are working with 10 students participating in SURF (Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship Program), a 10-week paid fellowship program for undergraduates that offers experience and insight into real-world scientific research.

Students in Professor Reid’s Lab
Jett Duval ’24
Paige Ring ’23
Nicholas Lorenz ’23
Elimelec Aponte ’23
Katelyn Kirves ’23

Students in Professor Scaplen’s Lab
Taryn Rauff ’22
Thi Mai Anh Nguyen ’22
Sam Pollack ’23

Students in Professor Weicksel’s lab
Nathan Angell ’22
Alyvia Beaudion ’22
Jarrod Dube ’23
Logan O’Donnell ’22
Jillian Sylvia ’24

Project: CHBS, CVS Health Design Thinking Summer Challenge

Faculty mentor
Allison Butler, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology and Director of the Bryant IDEA (Innovation and Design Thinking for All) Program, has partnered with CVS Health to create the CHBS Design Thinking Summer Challenge.

Students
Jenna Knight ‘22
Emma McGovern ‘23
Willa Norman ‘22
Alexa Kelley ‘22
Cathryn Johnson ‘22
Angela LeBel ‘22