2020-2021 Bass Connections Awards
Bass Connections Leadership Award
- Deborah Koltai, Associate Professor, Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences and Neurology: Healthcare Provider Education to Reduce Epilepsy Care Disparities in Uganda
- Jason Somarelli, Assistant Professor, Medicine, Bioremediation of Plastic Pollution to Conserve Marine Biodiversity
Finalists
- Andrea Thoumi, Research Director, Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy: Community-based Testing and Primary Care to Mitigate COVID-19 Transmission
- Kristal Riska, Assistant Professor of Head and Neck Surgery & Communication Sciences: Impact of Face Covering on Patient Communication and Health Outcomes
- Lee Reiners, Lecturing Fellow in Law; Debbie Goldstein, Executive Director, North Carolina Leadership Forum; Joseph Smith, Senior Fellow, Law; Ed Balleisen, Vice Provost for Interdisciplinary Studies: American Predatory Lending and the Global Financial Crisis
Bass Connections Award for Outstanding Mentorship
- Jin Zhou, Ph.D. student, Electrical & Computer Engineering: Smart Toilet: A Disruptive Technology to Improve Health and Wellness
- Bridget Eklund, J.D. student, Law: Regenerative Grazing to Mitigate Climate Change
Finalists
- Arianna Fischer, master’s student, Public Policy: Assessing an Innovative Community-based Response to COVID-19 in Rural North Carolina
- Keren Hendel, master’s student, Public Policy: Community-based Testing and Primary Care to Mitigate COVID-19 Transmission
- Anna Holleman, Ph.D. student, Sociology: U.S. Immigration Climate and Mental Health Outcomes of Latinx Immigrants
Bass Connections Student Research Awards
Collaborative Projects
- Analyzing Access to Modern Contraception and Understanding Reproductive Rights Among Women with Intellectual Disabilities in North Carolina (Lauren Mitchell, Linda Tang, Bhamini Vellanki)
- Breaking the Delivery Barrier: Fulfilling Gene Therapy’s Promises with Split Intein Systems (Mohanapriya Cumaran, Sahil Malhotra)
- Education for Conservation: Systematic Review of Ecological, Social and Conservation Outcomes of Education Programs in Tropical Coastal Communities (Claire Huang, Maddie Paris)
- Ensuring Equity in Early Childhood Autism Spectrum Disorders Services in North Carolina (Ainsley Buck, Sophie Hurewitz)
- Examining Access to Water, Sanitation and Hygiene during COVID-19 in Egypt and Sudan (Sama Elmahdy, Hadeel Hamoud)
- Implementation of a Virtual Family Strengthening Intervention in Kenya (Cameron Cucuzzella, Savannah Johnson, Mahgul Mansoor, Justin Rasmussen)
- Utilization of Free Volunteer Pop-up Clinics in Medically Underserved Communities in the United States (Athanasios Burlotos, Emily Campbell, Rishi Dasgupta, Kelly Goo, Rishabh Jain, Jonathan Nunez)
Individual Projects
- Assessing the Impact of a Cervical Cancer Screening Intervention on Women’s Empowerment in Rural Kenya (Kelly Hunter)
- Elucidating the Role of Genetic and Epigenetic Factors in the Development of Neuropsychiatric Symptoms in Alzheimer’s Disease Patients (Suraj Upadhya)
- Reducing Psychological Barriers to Men’s Healthy Engagement on College Campuses (Adam Stanaland)
