# data[].attributes.title
Barriers and potential solutions for effective integration of depression care into non-communicable diseases clinics in Malawi: a qualitative end-point evaluation of the SHARP randomized controlled trial

# data[].attributes.title
Smart Masks for in situ Exhaled Breath Condensate Harvesting and Analysis

# data[].attributes.grants[].title
CAREER: Rationale Design of Autonomous Biomimetic Wearable Sensor for Personalized Molecular Monitoring of Long COVID

# data[].attributes.grants[].abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has upended the lives of billions of people, spreading globally to hundreds of million cases. Recent studies show that a large number of recovered patients (even those with initially mild or no symptoms) will have prolonged post-COVID complications (long COVID). Many types of biomarker molecules in our body are reported to be closely linked to these post-COVID conditions. As the current COVID-19 pandemic remains uncontrolled around the world, there is a pressing need for developing wearable sensors to monitor an individual’s health status at home. Most of the medical examinations are currently based on blood tests that require invasive blood draws and physical clinic visits. Human sweat contains a wealth of chemicals including that can reflect the body’s physiological state. Compared with blood tests, sweat analyses could serve as a non-invasive and more attractive candidate for continuous health monitoring in daily life. Wearable sweat sensors could allow personalized monitoring of long-COVID-related biomarkers in people’s daily activities. Such technology could help people better understand post-COVID conditions and how to treat the patients with these longer-term effects.This project aims to develop a wearable biosensor platform that can efficiently extract and sample sweat across activities, and perform in situ, non-invasive molecular analysis of a broad spectrum of biomarkers toward personalized molecular monitoring of long COVID. This project will address multiple research challenges in the wearable sensor field.  Firstly, to enable wearable monitoring of a variety of trace-level sweat biomarkers related to long COVID, a unique wearable molecular sensing strategy will be developed based on artificial bioreceptors. This biosensing approach will be optimized with both computational and experimental approaches. Secondly, considering that current wearable sweat sensors mostly rely on exercise to access sweat and are not suitable for daily at-home uses or for sedentary individuals, this project will develop the fully integrated microfluidic wearable system for autonomous sweat induction, efficient sweat sampling, and in situ multiplexed analysis across activities. Lastly, in vivo evaluation of the wearable senor will be performed in patients with long COVID for retrospective and prospective monitoring in post-COVID complications. The currently unavailable molecular information collected continuously by the wearable sweat biosensors could have a profound public health impact and greatly facilitate our fundamental understanding of the roles of circulating biomarkers in long COVID to reduce susceptibility to post-COVID complications.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

# data[].attributes.title
Insights into Risk Preferences of Transportation Construction Workforce Managers Amid Pandemic

# data[].attributes.grants[].title
RAPID/Collaborative Research: An Empirical Investigation of Risk Preferences of Transportation Construction Workforce Managers under COVID-19 Pandemic Uncertainties

# data[].attributes.grants[].abstract
The objective of this Rapid Response Research (RAPID) project is to identify new challenges and determine factors impacting workforce decision-making processes in the transportation construction industry under COVID-19 pandemic uncertainties. Never in the history of modern transportation infrastructure construction, has the industry had to adapt to a nationwide threat to their workforce and changing public health guidelines and constraints. How are workforce managers seeking to operate, maintain, and construct lifeline transportation infrastructure projects without risking the safety and health of their vital resources (workers, operators, engineers, fabricators, and project managers)? Workforce decision makers are dealing with a daunting task. The public expects no disruptions in receiving critical infrastructure services in these challenging times. And more importantly, the public expects limited risk of virus infection while using these critical infrastructures. COVID-19 continues to have substantial impacts on workstyle in the transportation construction industry. The pandemic challenges threaten the operations of transportation infrastructure systems that are facing ever-increasing impacts of weather-related disasters. Yet, transportation infrastructure construction and inspection cannot be delayed. Transportation infrastructure is essential to not only fulfill the daily needs of human beings but also combat the COVID-19 outbreak. The success of this research is contingent upon the collection of time-bound data on the workforce managers’ thought processes during the COVID-19 pandemic. This project will not only enhance the science of decision making under pandemic uncertainty, but also provide critical information for the transportation construction industry regarding best practices during a pandemic and effective strategies for adapting to the uncertainties emerging and evolving from this unprecedented event.Because of the exploratory nature of this research, PIs will use a combination of methods, such as surveys and follow-up interviews with key informants in state transportation agencies, to identify new challenges of workforce decision-making during the COVID-19 pandemic and determine factors impacting decision-making processes. Supporting documents will be collected from the key informants following the interviews (e.g., collecting and analyzing their revealed choices manifested in COVID-19 actions, organizational COVID-19 daily updates, internal operations memos, and public news) for further content analysis. The PIs will assemble a variety of questions that enable a thorough investigation of critical factors impacting workforce decision-making in the unique pandemic condition. These factors will include major pandemic issues, such as essential versus non-essential operations, construction site shutdown (planned or unplanned), project suspension at any stage of construction (for a designate or unknown period of time), restarting construction, project continuation, suspension, and delay, expedited construction operations to take advantage of the declined traffic and receive early completion incentives, and occupational safety policies (social distancing and wearing N95 masks). Employing the ephemeral empirical evidence rigorously collected in this RAPID project, the PIs will be able to examine and model the risk preferences of workforce decision makers under pandemic uncertainties. Successful identification of the factors impacting decision-making processes will be critical for the develop of a novel multi-attribute utility choice models that capture the risk preferences of decision makers in the transportation construction industry under pandemic uncertainties. Revealing factors impacting decision-making processes will pave the way to inform workforce policies under pandemic uncertainties. The findings will be disseminated widely through the creation of easy-to-understand and practical educational materials that are integrated with the research components so that they can improve each other. This project will also engage underrepresented students from diverse backgrounds in research activities.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

# data[].attributes.grants[].title
RAPID/Collaborative Research: An Empirical Investigation of Risk Preferences of Transportation Construction Workforce Managers under COVID-19 Pandemic Uncertainties

# data[].attributes.grants[].abstract
The objective of this Rapid Response Research (RAPID) project is to identify new challenges and determine factors impacting workforce decision-making processes in the transportation construction industry under COVID-19 pandemic uncertainties. Never in the history of modern transportation infrastructure construction, has the industry had to adapt to a nationwide threat to their workforce and changing public health guidelines and constraints. How are workforce managers seeking to operate, maintain, and construct lifeline transportation infrastructure projects without risking the safety and health of their vital resources (workers, operators, engineers, fabricators, and project managers)? Workforce decision makers are dealing with a daunting task. The public expects no disruptions in receiving critical infrastructure services in these challenging times. And more importantly, the public expects limited risk of virus infection while using these critical infrastructures. COVID-19 continues to have substantial impacts on workstyle in the transportation construction industry. The pandemic challenges threaten the operations of transportation infrastructure systems that are facing ever-increasing impacts of weather-related disasters. Yet, transportation infrastructure construction and inspection cannot be delayed. Transportation infrastructure is essential to not only fulfill the daily needs of human beings but also combat the COVID-19 outbreak. The success of this research is contingent upon the collection of time-bound data on the workforce managers’ thought processes during the COVID-19 pandemic. This project will not only enhance the science of decision making under pandemic uncertainty, but also provide critical information for the transportation construction industry regarding best practices during a pandemic and effective strategies for adapting to the uncertainties emerging and evolving from this unprecedented event. Because of the exploratory nature of this research, PIs will use a combination of methods, such as surveys and follow-up interviews with key informants in state transportation agencies, to identify new challenges of workforce decision-making during the COVID-19 pandemic and determine factors impacting decision-making processes. Supporting documents will be collected from the key informants following the interviews (e.g., collecting and analyzing their revealed choices manifested in COVID-19 actions, organizational COVID-19 daily updates, internal operations memos, and public news) for further content analysis. The PIs will assemble a variety of questions that enable a thorough investigation of critical factors impacting workforce decision-making in the unique pandemic condition. These factors will include major pandemic issues, such as essential versus non-essential operations, construction site shutdown (planned or unplanned), project suspension at any stage of construction (for a designate or unknown period of time), restarting construction, project continuation, suspension, and delay, expedited construction operations to take advantage of the declined traffic and receive early completion incentives, and occupational safety policies (social distancing and wearing N95 masks). Employing the ephemeral empirical evidence rigorously collected in this RAPID project, the PIs will be able to examine and model the risk preferences of workforce decision makers under pandemic uncertainties. Successful identification of the factors impacting decision-making processes will be critical for the develop of a novel multi-attribute utility choice models that capture the risk preferences of decision makers in the transportation construction industry under pandemic uncertainties. Revealing factors impacting decision-making processes will pave the way to inform workforce policies under pandemic uncertainties. The findings will be disseminated widely through the creation of easy-to-understand and practical educational materials that are integrated with the research components so that they can improve each other. This project will also engage underrepresented students from diverse backgrounds in research activities.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

# data[].attributes.title
RAPID/Collaborative Research   Examining Household Movements and Evacuation Decision-Making in a Compounding Risk Event

# data[].attributes.grants[].title
RAPID/Collaborative Research:  Examining Household Movements and Evacuation Decision-Making in a Compounding Risk Event

# data[].attributes.grants[].abstract
Selecting protective actions in response to hurricane threats can be a challenging process for households. Adding to the complexity of this process are the risks stemming from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the compounding risks posed by lingering utility outages, high heat, and the remnants of Hurricane Nicholas in the weeks following Hurricane Ida. While many studies have examined protective action decisions of households in response to natural and human-induced risks, less is known about this process in instances where households face simultaneous disasters and compounding risks. The purpose of this grant for Rapid Response Research (RAPID) collaborative project is to examine household protective action decisions during two simultaneous events: Hurricane Ida and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Time-sensitive data gathered through online, phone, and mail surveys and supplemented with GPS/mobile phone data will be used to examine household protective action decision-making and mobility patterns before, during, and after Hurricane Ida. The findings from this project are expected to save lives and minimize stress during evacuations and return trips. Additionally, the findings of the research will benefit the emergency management community and society as new knowledge related to protective action decisions during simultaneous hazard events can help maximize safety and efficiency in coordinating and managing the movements of displaced residents.Decisions pertaining to whether one evacuates or shelters, where to evacuate to, and when to return after a disaster all entail consideration of multiple factors related to risks, warning messages, household socio-demographic characteristics, and available resources. While numerous studies examine these decisions in the context of a single hazard scenario, very little is known as to how protective action decisions are selected during simultaneous disaster events. Furthermore, the nature of tradeoffs and their impact on decisions during dual risk scenarios are not well understood. The goal of this study is to collect ephemeral data to examine household decision-making during Hurricane Ida and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. By advancing the Protective Action Decision Model, this study will gather household data using surveys and GPS mobile phone data that will allow the understanding of three primary research questions: 1. How do households make evacuation, sheltering, post-event relocation and return-entry decisions during simultaneous disasters? 2. What factors influence evacuation and return-entry timing, the selection of evacuation destinations, and shelter-in-place decisions? 3. What is the nature of the multiple movements undertaken by households throughout the response and short-term recovery process? This project will advance theory pertaining to protective action decision-making during simultaneous disaster events and provide important insights into how risk tradeoffs inform these decisions. Specifically, new knowledge will be generated through: 1) gathering ephemeral data of household movements and protective action decisions undertaken during Hurricane Ida and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in order to advance understanding of this dynamic process; 2) documenting locations household move to during the disaster response and short-term recovery phases and why these locations were selected, and 3) providing new insights into how households perceive the tradeoffs in risks when making decisions during simultaneous disasters. Findings from this study will offer a more nuanced understanding of household decisions and movements in response to disasters and provide better insight into the experiences of displaced households during and after disasters.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

# data[].attributes.grants[].title
RAPID/Collaborative Research:  Examining Household Movements and Evacuation Decision-Making in a Compounding Risk Event

# data[].attributes.grants[].abstract
Selecting protective actions in response to hurricane threats can be a challenging process for households. Adding to the complexity of this process are the risks stemming from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the compounding risks posed by lingering utility outages, high heat, and the remnants of Hurricane Nicholas in the weeks following Hurricane Ida. While many studies have examined protective action decisions of households in response to natural and human-induced risks, less is known about this process in instances where households face simultaneous disasters and compounding risks. The purpose of this Grants for Rapid Response Research (RAPID) collaborative project is to examine household protective action decisions during two simultaneous events: Hurricane Ida and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Time-sensitive data gathered through online, phone, and mail surveys and supplemented with GPS/mobile phone data will be used to examine household protective action decision-making and mobility patterns before, during, and after Hurricane Ida. The findings from this project are expected to save lives and minimize stress during evacuations and return trips. Additionally, the findings of the research will benefit the emergency management community and society as new knowledge related to protective action decisions during simultaneous hazard events can help maximize safety and efficiency in coordinating and managing the movements of displaced residents.Decisions pertaining to whether one evacuates or shelters, where to evacuate to, and when to return after a disaster all entail consideration of multiple factors related to risks, warning messages, household socio-demographic characteristics, and available resources. While numerous studies examine these decisions in the context of a single hazard scenario, very little is known as to how protective action decisions are selected during simultaneous disaster events. Furthermore, the nature of tradeoffs and their impact on decisions during dual risk scenarios are not well understood. The goal of this study is to collect ephemeral data to examine household decision-making during Hurricane Ida and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. By advancing the Protective Action Decision Model, this study will gather household data using surveys and GPS mobile phone data that will allow the understanding of three primary research questions: 1. How do households make evacuation, sheltering, post-event relocation and return-entry decisions during simultaneous disasters? 2. What factors influence evacuation and return-entry timing and the selection of evacuation destinations? Similarly, what factors influence shelter-in-place decisions? 3. What is the nature of the multiple movements undertaken by households throughout the response and short-term recovery process? This project will advance theory pertaining to protective action decision-making during simultaneous disaster events and provide important insights into how risk tradeoffs inform these decisions. Specifically, new knowledge will be generated through: 1) gathering ephemeral data of household movements and protective action decisions undertaken during Hurricane Ida and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in order to advance understanding of this dynamic process; 2) documenting locations household move to during the disaster response and short-term recovery phases and why these locations were selected, and 3) providing new insights into how households perceive the tradeoffs in risks when making decisions during simultaneous disasters. Findings from this study will offer a more nuanced understanding of household decisions and movements in response to disasters and provide better insight into the experiences of displaced households during and after disasters.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

# data[].attributes.title
NSF BRITE Synergy: Developing and Validating a Framework for Measuring Resilience in Low-Income Housing in the Post-Pandemic World

# data[].attributes.grants[].title
BRITE Synergy: Developing and Validating a Framework for Measuring Resilience in Low-Income Housing in the Post-Pandemic World

# data[].attributes.grants[].abstract
A range of disasters -- including flood, hurricane, typhons, violent storms, earthquakes, collapsed infrastructure, and pandemic -- pose the greatest threat to the poor and most vulnerable in society as they are more likely to live in homes that are more vulnerable to the impact of these disasters. Reliance on ‘hard’ engineering and infrastructure solutions alone cannot solve this problem. This Boosting Research Ideas for Transformative and Equitable Advances in Engineering (BRITE) project aims to integrate findings from past research with findings from a series of multi-level stakeholder engagement activities into a framework that integrates the roles of human, social and natural capital in reducing vulnerability and increasing resilience. The aim is to identify viable pathways for improved resilience for particularly vulnerable, low-income housing communities. 

The research activities are designed to address resilience to multiple disaster events and types, and to focus characteristics of subgroups within the target population: low-income housing residents. Through a multi-level, stakeholder case study approach that draws lessons from the experiences of vulnerable populations, sources and determinants of resilience will be examined. A sensitivity analysis will be performed to identify plausibility indicators for what is and what is not likely to support the resilience of low-income housing to specific sets of shocks.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

# data[].attributes.title
Interview guide for RAPID: Understanding Evacuation, Sheltering, and Reentry Decisions During the Dual Threat of Hurricane and the COVID-19 Pandemic

# data[].attributes.grants[].title
RAPID: Understanding Evacuation, Sheltering, and Reentry Decisions During the Dual Threat of Hurricane and the COVID-19 Pandemic

# data[].attributes.grants[].abstract
This Grant for Rapid Response Research (RAPID) project will study emergency mangers’ and households’ evacuation decisions and their sheltering considerations during Hurricane Laura as individuals cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. It is important for the scientific community, policymakers, and emergency managers to understand how the simultaneous threats of a hurricane and a pandemic affect individual and household decisions about protecting themselves during these events. The findings from this project will help emergency managers and policymakers develop appropriate public health and population protection strategies to help communities be prepared for future events. With a better understating of the determinants of hurricane and pandemic protective actions (e.g. evacuation, social distancing, sheltering) compliance, emergency managers can develop better evacuation plans and warning messages to help reduce the impact of both the pandemic and hurricane, as well as to advance national health and welfare. More specifically, the scientific progress generated by this research will increase understanding of differences between emergency mangers’ and citizens’ concerns regarding the maintenance of shelters, sheltering locations (public shelters, hotels, friends’, and relatives’ house), evacuation routing, and evacuation modeling during a pandemic. Emergency managers will be able to better design and locate shelters and encourage households to take appropriate protective actions in the future when facing similar threats.This project will advance the state of science about households’ and emergency mangers’ protective action decision-making processes by using a sequential mixed methods design. This study will use survey and interview methodologies to collect both quantitative and qualitative data from emergency managers and households in the Hurricane Laura risk areas in Texas and Louisiana. Because of the complexity of the event, this project requires the integration of variables in both the Protection Motivation Theory and the Protective Action Decision Model. The results of this study will build a new theoretical model that captures individuals’ protective action decision-making process in a dual hazard environment (hurricane and pandemic). This project will contribute to emerging research on pandemics and disasters in the United States, but with a focus on how the pandemic is shaping protective action decision-making, which has generalizability to other compound events.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

# data[].attributes.title
Interviews with broadcast meteorologists and emergency managers

# data[].attributes.title
Sentiment Analysis Test Dataset Created from Two COVID-19 Surveys: National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Stanford University

# data[].attributes.title
Altered DNA methylation underlies monocyte dysregulation and immune exhaustion memory in sepsis