Two Teams Receive Health, Well-Being and the Built Environment Seed Grant Funding

January 24, 2023

Two Teams Receive Health, Well-Being and the Built Environment Seed Grant Funding

by Chelsea Julian

Through a new seed funding opportunity supported by the OU Norman Office of the Vice President for Research and Partnerships, the OU Health Sciences Center Vice President for Research and the Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture, two teams will each receive up to $30,000 to support interdisciplinary research at the intersection of health, well-being, and the built environment. This seed funding is intended to foster the creation and development of multidisciplinary research teams to tackle grand challenges at the intersection of these subjects and to increase the competitiveness of OU multidisciplinary research teams in gaining external funding.

The funded projects are:

Improving Nursing Home Dementia Care Outcomes Through Evidence-Based Building Design Capturing Missed Opportunities

Co-led by team leader and OU-HSC principal investigatorJulie Gordon, DRPH, CPHQ, in the Fran and Earl Ziegler College of Nursing, with OU Norman principal investigator Xiaobo Quan, Ph.D., in the Gibbs College of Architecture. Team members include Hongwan Li, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Hudson College of Public Health; Diana Sturdevant, Ph.D., APRN, assistant professor of research in the College of Nursing; Kim Cassie, Ph.D., MSSW, assistant professor in the Anne and Henry Zarrow School of Social Work at OU-Tulsa; Javeed Kittur, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Gallogly College of Engineering; and Shakil Shimul, Ph.D., assistant professor, Gibbs College of Architecture.

Child with virutal reality goggles in wheelchair

The Therapeutic Impacts of Virtual Reality Multi-Sensory Environments on Children with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities in Central Oklahoma

Co-led by OU Norman principal investigator Negar Heidari Matin, Ph.D., assistant professor in the College of Architecture, with OU-HSC principal investigator Anna Nguyen, Ph.D., RN, CPN, assistant professor in the Fran and Earl Ziegler College of Nursing, and co-PI Ye Ji Yi, Ph.D., lecturer in the College of Architecture. Team members include Steve Couch, M.D., neurodevelopmental pediatrician, and Kissy Heiskell, occupational therapist.