Department of Psychology & Neuroscience announces 2021-2022 Faculty Seed Grant recipients

21-22 Faculty Seed Grant Flyer

Eleven faculty members from the Department of Psychology & Neuroscience have been awarded Research Seed Grants via philanthropic support from The Charles Lafitte Foundation Program in Psychological and Neuroscience Research at Duke University.

The faculty projects – all chosen by review committee – show great promise both for generating exceptional research and for providing opportunities for students. “We had to make some tough decisions this year,” said Elizabeth Marsh, department chair, in an email to faculty about the awardees. “It is wonderful to see the diverse research that the Lafitte gift supports.” Marsh also had the following words to share: 

These new grants highlight the breadth of research being done in P&N. The projects range from a mouse model of Autism Spectrum Disorder to an examination of how the pandemic affected feelings of student belonging. The methods include computational approaches, functional magnetic response imaging (fMRI), surveys and behavioral experiments; the focus spans from the prenatal period through adulthood.  Combined, these projects will advance science while also providing Duke undergraduates with amazing opportunities to be involved in cutting-edge research. 

Congratulations to each of the following outstanding 2021-2022 Faculty Research Seed Grant recipients:

  • Elika Bergelson - Connecting Early Social Skills to Robust Word Comprehension In Infancy
  • Staci Bilbo - Role of intestinal macrophages in the sculpting of gut dysfunction and the social brain following prenatal exposures to air pollution and maternal stress
  • Ruth Day - Knowledge Structures in Psychology
  • Mike Gaffrey - Effects of Maternal Experience of Discrimination During Pregnancy on Infant Brain Development
  • Bridgette Hard - Can Metaphorical Language Influence Academic Engagement and Achievement?
  • Scott Huettel - Visualizing the Timing of Decision Processes
  • Tom Newpher and Minna Ng - The student experience in STEM courses during the pandemic: a comparison of traditional face-to-face versus online course versions
  • Jim Shah - The Impact of Feedback Beliefs on Self-Regulation and Well-Being
  • Nancy Zucker and Sarah Gaither - Translating Undergraduate Peer Coaching to Professional Academic Communities