February 4, 2022
The Graduate School has named eleven graduate students as recipients of its 2022 Impact Award, generously supported by its Graduate Education Advancement Board, which showcase graduate students and recent graduate alumni whose research contributes to the educational, economic, physical, social or cultural well-being of North Carolina communities and citizens.
The eleven students, whose research interests range from car crash risk to the migration of fish, come from many areas of campus, including from the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. They all have one thing in common: a commitment to service and to improving the lives of North Carolinians.
Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz said graduate student research positively impacts our state every day and is a critical piece of the University’s research mission.
“Our graduate students are committed to serving our state. The Impact Awards are emblematic of this commitment — all supported by a world-class research enterprise,” Guskiewicz said. “I look forward to these awards every year and enjoy learning the ways in which our graduate students are leading research and discovery across the state and beyond.”
The 2022 Impact Award recipients are:
- Phillip Hughes; Ph.D. student; Pharmaceutical Sciences; UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy
- Project title: Simulating the impact of psychologist prescribing authority policies on unmet need for mental health care
- Suruchi Shrestha; post-doctoral researcher; Department of Microbiology and Immunology; UNC School of Medicine
- Project title: Vaginal delivery of multivalent anti-sperm antibodies for effective non-hormonal contraception
- Lindsay Savelli; master’s degree student; Health Equity, Social Justice and Human Rights concentration; UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health
- Project title: Addressing environmental racism and asphalt plant pollution: Anderson community environmental quality and health
- Lewis Naisbett-Jones; Pd.D. candidate; Earth, Marine and Environmental Sciences; College of Arts & Sciences
- Project title: The marine migrations of teleost fishes: sensory and telemetry-based investigations
- Montana A. Eck; Ph.D. candidate; Department of Geography; College of Arts & Sciences
- Project title: The influence of precipitation characteristics on car crash risk across the rural-urban continuum of the Carolinas
- Elise Hickman; Ph.D. candidate; Curriculum in Toxicology and Environmental Medicine UNC School of Medicine
- Project title: Effects of e-cigarettes on respiratory immune health
- Irene Newman; Ph.D. student; Department of American Studies; College of Arts & Sciences
- Project title: Friendly folks in robes: white nationalist women and organized terror in the Triad, 1979
- Caitlin Biddell; Ph.D. student; Department of Health Policy and Management; UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health
- Project title: Understanding financial assistance processes in rural and non-rural oncology care settings in North Carolina
- Sofia Benson-Goldberg; post-doctoral researcher; Division of Speech and Hearing Sciences; Department of Allied Health Sciences; UNC School of Medicine
- Project title: Minimized text complexity usability testing
- Jeliyah “Liyah” Clark; Ph.D. candidate; Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering; UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health
- Project title: Nutritional modulation of fetal susceptibility to inorganic arsenic (iAs)-associated lower birth weight
- Irene Mulloy Manning; Ph.D. candidate; Department of Chemistry; College of Arts & Sciences
- Project title: Ionic fluorogels for remediation of per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances from water
Students from 21 different academic programs were nominated this year, said Suzanne Barbour, dean of The Graduate School.
“Our graduate students continue to demonstrate the ways in which their research directly affects the lives of North Carolinians, which provide us with hope and a vision for the future,” Barbour said. “I have every confidence that the graduate students who receive Impact Awards drive change in our communities and beyond, and that’s worth celebrating.”
More than 300 individuals have received Impact Awards since their inception. Graduate students and recent graduate alumni apply for the annual awards and are nominated by their academic departments. A cross-disciplinary team reviews the nominations and selects award recipients based on the significance of their work to North Carolina and on their ability to effectively communicate their research.
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