Please join us in congratulating the recipients of our 2019 Early Stage Urban Research Award! For a summary of all awardees and their projects, click here.

Economy

Building Community and Health Equity through Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Financial Services 
PI: Lucy Marcil, MD MPH; Assistant Professor, School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics
Co-PI: Yoonsook Ha, PhD; Assistant Professor, School of Social Work

Environment

 The Impact of Tourism on Environmental Sound Levels in Urban and Park Environments 
PI: Erica Walker, MSc, ScD; Department of Environmental Health, School of Public Health
Co-PI: Richard Primack, PhD; Professor, Department of Biology

Health 

Community Engagement to Explore Heat Exposure for Urban-Dwelling Older Adults in Boston 
PI: Leila Heidari, PhD student; Department of Environmental Health, School of Public Health
Co-PI: Patrick L. Kinney, ScD; Professor, Department of Environmental Health, School of Public Health 

Understanding Open-Air Drug Markets Configuration
PI: Andrea Beltran-Lizarazo, PhD Student; Department of Sociology

Urban Refuge: Access to Information and Access to Aid for Syrian Refugees in Istanbul
PI: Noora Anwar Lori, PhD; Assistant Professor, International Relations, Frederick S, Pardee School of Global Studies

Housing

Evictions and Substandard Housing in Boston: The Unfulfilled Promises of the Public Health and Legal System
PI: Wendy Heiger-Bernays, PhD; Clinical Professor, Environmental Health, School of Public Health
Co-PI: Ethan Mascoop, MPH, MUA, RS; Adjunct Clinical Instructor, Environmental Health, School of Public Health
Collaborator: Andrea M. Park, JD, MA; Housing and Homelessness Attorney, Massachusetts Law Reform Institute (MLRI)  

Locked Out: Examining the Use of Urban Housing Admissions Policies to Systematically Exclude Poor Renters
PI: Megan Smith, MSW, PhD student; School of Social Work
Co-PI: Thomas Byrne, PhD; Assistant Professor, School of Social Work

Media

Constructing City Images through Local Media: An Intermedia Agenda-Setting Analysis of Big Media Data
PI: Lei Guo, Assistant Professor, Division of Emerging Media Studies, College of Communication
Co-PI: Yiyan Zhang, PhD student; Division of Emerging Media Studies, College of Communication

Race/Ethnicity/Gender

Urban Policing and Racial Health Inequities
PI: Julia Raifman, ScD; Assistant Professor, Health Law, Policy & Management, School of Public Health
Co-PI: Michael Ulrich, JD, MPH; Assistant Professor, Health Law, Ethics & Human Rights, Health Law, Policy & Management, School of Public Health
Mentor: Michael Siegel, MD; Professor, Community Health Sciences, School of Public Health

Theology

Congregations in Contested Space: Gentrification and Latinx Churches in East Boston
PI: Jonathan Calvillo, PhD; Assistant Professor of Sociology of Religion, School of Theology

Dislocated Gods, De-territorialized Bodies: Temples, Space and Social Resilience in Urbanizing China
PI: Robert P. Weller, PhD; Professor, Boston University Department of Anthropology
Co-PI: Keping Wu, PhD; Associate Professor, Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University Department of China Studies

Youth

Partnering with Families with Limited English Proficiency to Promote Language Justice and Equity in Education Settings
PI: Catalina Tang Yan, MS, PhD student; School of Social Work
Co-PI: Linda Sprague Martinez, PhD; Assistant Professor, School of Social Work

Reducing Identity-Based Harassment for Marginalized Youth: An Evaluation of the Anti-Defamation League’s Peer Leader Program among Urban Youth
PI: Melissa Holt, PhD; Associate Professor, Counseling Psychology and Applied Human Development; Wheelock College of Education and Human Development (WCEDHD)
Co-PIs: Christine Marsico, PhD student; Counseling Psychology, WCEDHD and Jennifer Greif Green, PhD; Associate Professor, Special Education, WCEDHD