Summer 2021 Community-Academic Scholars Projects

Community-Academic Scholar Izabelle Jaquet will work with recreation, sport and tourism professor Suiwen (Sharon) Zou and the Champaign County Forest Preserve District to examine CCFPD's 2020 public referendum campaign to identify elements of the campaign that secure support from voters.

Community-Academic Scholar Paola Ahumada will work with kinesiology and community health professor Sandraluz Lara-Cinisomo and Chez Veterans Center and the Caregiver Advisory for Research Engagement (CARE) Team to understand changes in responsibilities and capabilities of older caregivers of veterans with TBI and to identify support and services these caregivers need for sustained wellbeing.

Community-Academic Scholar Sharbel Yako will work with speech and hearing science professor Raksha Mudar and CJE SeniorLife to test the benefits of technology-based social engagement using a video-technology platform called OneClick in older adults with and without mild cognitive impairment.

Community-Academic Scholar Hannah Caraway will work with national resources and environmental sciences professor Warren Lavey and the Champaign County Forest Preserve District (or the nonprofit Forest Preserve Friends Foundation) to develop recommendations for improving the health of disadvantaged people in the county through greater access to CCFPD’s natural and other resources.

Community-Academic Scholar Rebecca Latham will work with animal sciences professor Amy Fischer and the CARE (Companion Animal Resource and Education) Center to clarify and strengthen the network of agencies providing pet retention services, in order to keep more families together.

Community-Academic Scholars Michelle Garcia and Jacqueline Nunez will work with special education professor Meghan Burke, Family Matters Parent Training and Information Center, and the Early Intervention Clearinghouse to conduct qualitative and quantitative research about the technology loan program to determine if the program closes inequities in the delivery of early-interventions services via telehealth.

Community-Academic Scholar Allison Nofziger will work with social work professor Kevin Tan, the Mahomet Area Youth Club, the Mahomet-Seymour School District, and Roots to Branches to conduct a needs assessment study focusing on social-emotional learning (SEL) with Mahomet-Seymour youths and families.

Community-Academic Scholar Husna Hassaini will work with kinesiology and community health professor Wendy Rogers and CRIS Healthy Aging Center on a continuing project to  expose older adults to Amazon Echo devices using a systematic method to foster technology adoption allowing social engagement and reducing isolation. This project will build upon the work completed by the 2020 Community-Academic Scholar and serve as a demonstration project for the use of these devices among older adults to positively impact social engagement as well as general wellbeing.

Community-Academic Scholar Emily Albert-Stauning will work with kinesiology and community health professor Laura Rice and the Urbana Park District to design, develop, implement, and sustain a Multiple Sclerosis-specific physical activity program. This project builds on the ongoing implementation of the community program MOVE MS in central Illinois and will address challenges identified during program implementation.

Community-Academic Scholar Royal Shrestha will work with educational psychology professors Melissa Goodnight and Cherie Avent, and the Champaign Urbana Public Health Department (CUPHD) to address COVID-19 racial health disparities in Champaign and Urbana in African American faith-based communities and explore the impact COVID-19 has had on wellbeing and education.

Community-Academic Scholars Caterina Kim and Emily Pasetes will work with human development and family studies professor Courtney Cuthbertson and Uniting Pride of Champaign County to gain a better understanding of the unique aspects, concerns, and priorities of LGBTQ community in Champaign County in order to find programming and communication strategies that will help Uniting Pride to be more inclusive across the LGBTQ population in Champaign County, and contribute to LGBTQ health.

Community-Academic Scholar Muskaan Sawhney will work with food science and human nutrition professor Manabu Nakamura and Avicenna Community Health Center (ACHC) to deliver a sustainable, cost-effective, and community-based dietary-focused weight loss management program to local, low-income patients who are overweight or obese.

Community-Academic Scholar Sophia Sato will work with kinesiology and community health professor Chung-Yi Chiu and Illinois Joining Forces to help reduce the existing barriers to healthcare utilization among rural veterans. They will investigate experiences and challenges among different types of rural veteran healthcare consumers and examine various characteristics of individual providers and organizations which serve rural veterans.

Community-Academic Scholar Graciella Abbey will work with sociology, African American studies, urban and regional planning, and social work professor Ruby Mendenhall, and Unity in Action Magazine on the Nobel Project, a unique ecosystem that will nurture future computer scientists in industry and the academy.