# data[].attributes.title
LEAPS-MPS: Incorporating Stratification by Vaccination Status and Virus Variants in Mathematical Models of Infectious Disease Spread

# data[].attributes.funder_divisions[]
Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS)

# data[].attributes.abstract
This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2).Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, mathematical modeling has played a significant role in assessing and forecasting the impacts of the disease and guiding public health policy. Existing mathematical frameworks, however, have been slow to adapt to sudden changes in disease spread dynamics resulting from the waning vaccine immunity and emergence of COVID-19 variants such as delta and omicron. This project will address these challenges by developing data-driven mathematical modeling tools which divide populations according to factors that have distinct characteristics, such as those due to differences in vaccination status and the spread of virus variants. As COVID-19 evolves and becomes endemic in the global population, the developed frameworks will guide public health officials in evaluating the effectiveness of potential vaccination strategies and assessing the capacity of variants to alter the course of disease spread. This will facilitate targeted and impactful policies rather than disruptive population-wide restrictions and lockdowns. The project will engage undergraduate students in topical applied mathematics research and support underrepresented students in STEM with a particular focus on the African American community in Metro Detroit.  The project will additionally advance curricular and program development at Lawrence Technological University, which will enhance the institution's research environment and further the principal investigator’s professional goal of establishing a sustained, student-focused, and interdisciplinary research program in mathematical biology at Lawrence Technological University.Traditional mathematical modeling frameworks of infectious disease spread often ignore factors of heterogeneous spread within a population. This can lead to poor estimates of epidemiological parameters (such as the basic reproduction number and herd immunity threshold), mistaken assessments of the mechanisms of disease spread, and inaccurate forecasts. This project will develop the theory and application of compartmental SIR-type (Susceptible-Infectious-Recovered) models, which are associated with a system of ordinary differential equations, to incorporate variances in a population's vaccination coverage level, differing waning immunity periods, and competition between virus variants with distinct epidemiological characteristics. Waning immunity will be incorporated through a gamma-distributed delay on return to susceptibility after vaccination or previous infection. The resulting distributed delay differential equations will be analyzed and numerically simulated using the linear chain trick, which reduces gamma-distributed delays to a linear chain of exponential delays. Case data from The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services will be used to parametrize and validate the models with the goal of providing insightful forecasts for the spread of COVID-19 under different immunization schedules. Virus variants will be incorporated by dividing the infectious class into distinct compartments with variant-specific parameters, such as variances in transmissibility, severity, vaccine resistance, reinfection rate, and diagnostic detection. The goal will be to establish novel critical thresholds for when a virus variant can persist or become dominant in a population as well as address the inverse question of estimating a variant's epidemiological parameters from its early-stage growth. By controlling a population's vaccination coverage level, the developed models will be able to cut through the complexity of case incidence data to provide critical insights into the primary factors driving disease spread. User-friendly computational packages capable of implementing the models and interfacing with public health databases will be developed.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
What explains ambitious climate policy? Comparing updated climate targets and Covid-19 recovery packages and their drivers

# data[].attributes.funder_divisions[]
Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (SBE)

# data[].attributes.abstract
Many countries updated their national climate targets or Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) during the COVID-19 pandemic.  At the same time, these countries introduced vast COVID-19 economic recovery packages and fiscal reforms that may either serve to strengthen or upset existing carbon-intensive economic systems. This project will study how long-term climate goals, as indicated in countries’ NDCs, and short-term implementation of climate policies through pandemic recovery spending plans affect each other and why some countries lead in climate policy implementation, while others lag.  The study is based on the collection of and analyses of large data sets across several countries.  This study, to be carried out by research teams from several countries, will help identify opportunities for policymakers and international financial institutions on how to promote and implement climate change policy ambitions.  In addition to helping to understand cross country differences in climate policy implementation, the results of this research will provide inputs into formulating efficient and innovative climate policies in the US.This research project will study two inter-related issues.  First, it studies the links between long-term national climate ambitions enshrined in NDC updates and short-term implementation plans embedded in COVID-19 recovery packages, and fiscal reform. Second, it investigates the political and economic drivers underlying differences in climate ambitions and implementation abilities in these types of policy intervention across countries. To do so, the project integrates political science and economics, focusing on the role of policy feedback and financing conditions in driving climate ambition and climate policy interventions. In a mixed-methods design, the project combines descriptive statistical analyses with qualitative comparative case studies in the three analytical tasks. The intellectual merit of this project lies in identifying patterns in the relationship of long-term climate targets and plans (NDCs) and short-term implementation (economic recovery spending) as well as the causes of cross-national variation in this relationship. The results of this research will provide inputs into formulating efficient and innovative climate policies in the US.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: Amplifying threats during cascading crises: Media's role in shaping psychological responses to the war in Ukraine

# data[].attributes.abstract
On February 24, 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine with hostile force, starting the most intense military conflict in Europe since World War II and leading to thousands of injuries and deaths and over 4 million Ukrainian refugees in the first month of the war. Reports of this international geopolitical crisis have instantaneously flooded traditional and social media outlets with graphic videos and images of injuries, death, and destruction – media coverage known to correlate with poor physical and mental health outcomes. But the Ukraine War is occurring in the broader context of the COVID-19 pandemic whose worldwide death toll exceeds 6 million people, escalating climate-related crises, economic volatility and inflation, race-driven social unrest, extreme partisanship, and low confidence in the scientific and social institutions tasked with protecting the public. Direct and media-based exposure to these unprecedented cascading collective traumas are likely to have profound effects on the mental and physical health of Americans. Effective management of these compounding crises requires policies that people support and public adoption of recommended behaviors. This project assesses psychological reactions to the Ukraine War among a large probability-based nationally representative sample of over 6,500 Americans from the NORC AmeriSpeak panel. They have been surveyed three times since March 2020. Early responses and beliefs about the war in Ukraine are collected as the media transitions from heavy coverage of COVID-19 to heavy coverage of the conflict. Analyses examine how intolerance for uncertainty, emotion regulation, trust in government, and social identities may explain the association between media exposure and emotional, cognitive, and behavioral responses to the war. This study investigates how fears and worries about these multiple ongoing threats are compounding negative mental health outcomes and impacting those for whom this multiplicative effect is most detrimental. Finally, this project investigates how war-related media exposure may motivate people to take positive action (e.g., prosocial behavior) to help refugees and defend Ukraine’s democracy. Embedding this project in the larger study of the COVID-19 pandemic allows examination of national responses to compounding global crises as they evolve, producing theoretically rich research with practical importance. Results inform policy makers when communicating publicly about multiple existential threats and their potential solutions so they can better promote public well-being without inducing further worry, distress, or emotional exhaustion.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
Deaton Review Country Studies: A Trans-Atlantic Comparison of Inequalities in Incomes and Outcomes over Five Decades

# data[].attributes.funder_divisions[]
Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (SBE)

# data[].attributes.principal_investigator.affiliations[].name
University of Kentucky Research Foundation

# data[].attributes.awardee_organization.name
University of Kentucky Research Foundation

# data[].attributes.abstract
Economics researchers and policy makers have worried about inequality in labor market outcomes for several decades.  The debate focuses on changes in skill composition of the labor force, returns to skills such as education attainment and unobserved skills, and in institutions such as unions, minimum wage, and trade agreements. The Covid-19 pandemic shocked the global economy with implications for earnings, education, skills, and jobs, and thus inequality and the design of public policy responses.  This project will use a coherent framework, across the major economies of Europe and North America, to study  a broad set of inequalities and how the COVID-19 pandemic has changed these inequalities , and how policy in each economy has responded. This research project goes beyond the description and causes of inequality trends across countries, to study the potential role of policies at different stages on different groups.  It also looks at how human capital policies and labor market regulations influence market inequalities, and how taxes and transfers can reduce inequalities in disposable income.  The results of this will provide important inputs into labor market policies that could increase incomes and reduce income inequality in developed countries.  The results will also help establish the US as the global leader in equality of labor market outcomes.The project involves a network of 17 groups of researchers from across Europe and North America to understand the drivers of economic inequalities across high income countries. The teams will mobilize a vast array of data sources to study in detail differences across educational attainment, race, ethnicity, and immigration status, and the mechanisms by which households are able to smooth income shocks. In some countries the survey data include a direct link to administrative records, permitting a more rich and accurate assessment of inequalities across countries and the life course. The team from the United States will use both public-access data from the Current Population Survey (CPS) Annual Social Economic Supplement (ASEC), as well as restricted access survey and administrative that provides a direct link between the CPS ASEC and Social Security Administration’s Detailed Earnings Records (DER). The project then proceeds with four related research strands. The first strand uses harmonized data to study the evolution of several economic inequalities before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The second strand examines labor market inequalities in detail. The third strand highlights the role of education and training for non-university attendees and focusses on the impact of large cross-country differences in educational systems on inequality.  The final strand looks at the tax and welfare systems and their effectiveness at addressing family income inequality.  The results of this will provide important inputs into labor market policies that could increase incomes and reduce income inequality in developed countries.  The results will also help establish the US as the global leader in equality of labor market outcomes.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
Rebuilding Care in a Post-Pandemic World

# data[].attributes.funder_divisions[]
Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (SBE)

# data[].attributes.abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of care as a necessary service for people at different stages of their lives, yet very little is known about the structure of the industry.  This multi-country project will investigate the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on care providers and recipients, identify care system’s strengths and weaknesses, and recommend policy improvements.  Teams from Brazil, Colombia, Canada, France, UK, and US will coordinate research on national care systems to understand why care systems proved inefficient in providing care and protecting care workers.  Project teams will collect and analyze large and innovative  data sets on the care industries in these countries. By providing a unified approach to studying a fractured care system across countries, this research project will make a significant contribution to the literature on the care industry.  The results of this research project will provide important inputs into policies to improve care as well as the care labor market.  The results of this research will also help to establish the U.S. as a global leader in care giving research and policy.The project will study the matrix of fragmented and uncoordinated care provision and identify polices and regulations that shape care and its provision at different levels of governance. This cross-national study will explore four aspects of the care market: (i) the impact of the pandemic on needs and modalities of care provision; (ii) labor conditions and rights in a post pandemic world; (iii) care as a strategic dimension and pillar for public policies on social infrastructure rebuilding;  and (iv) care giving strategies when the state fails.  Brazil, Colombia, Canada, France, UK, and US will serve as test beds and provide variation in societal characteristics crucial to understanding the different configurations of care across national governance, welfare regimes, health-care systems’, and jurisdiction over health policy.  The research results will provide major inputs into the formulation and implementation of care giving and care labor market policies in the world.  It will thus not only help to improve care but also establish the US as a global leader in care giving.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: STEM faculty support to address impacts from COVID-19 on Tribal Colleges and Universities Program institutions

# data[].attributes.abstract
A goal of the Tribal Colleges and Universities Program (TCUP) is to increase the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) instructional and research capacities of specific institutions of higher education that serve the Nation's indigenous students. Expanding the STEM curricular offerings at these institutions expands the opportunities of their students to pursue challenging, rewarding careers in STEM fields, provides for research studies in areas that may be culturally significant, and encourages a community and generational appreciation for science and mathematics education. The sustainability of STEM instructional capacity gains is significantly enhanced by retaining the talent of credentialed STEM faculty. This project aligns directly with that goal.The COVID-19 pandemic caused major disruptions to institutions of higher education. For tribal colleges and universities, whose core operating funds are directly aligned with student enrollment, drops in enrollment equate to loss of funding. To mitigate against detrimental pandemic-related effects on STEM instructional capacity, this award will support the salary and professional development of one full-time STEM faculty member at Salish Kootenai College. This TCUP STEM Faculty award is intended to help maintain Salish Kootenai College’s STEM program as the college recovers from the deleterious impact of the pandemic.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: STEM faculty support to address impacts from COVID-19 on Tribal Colleges and Universities Program institutions

# data[].attributes.abstract
A goal of the Tribal Colleges and Universities Program (TCUP) is to increase the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) instructional and research capacities of specific institutions of higher education that serve the Nation's indigenous students. Expanding the STEM curricular offerings at these institutions expands the opportunities of their students to pursue challenging, rewarding careers in STEM fields, provides for research studies in areas that may be culturally significant, and encourages a community and generational appreciation for science and mathematics education. The sustainability of STEM instructional capacity gains is significantly enhanced by retaining the talent of credentialed STEM faculty. This project aligns directly with that goal.The COVID-19 pandemic caused major disruptions to institutions of higher education. For tribal colleges and universities, whose core operating funds are directly aligned with student enrollment, drops in enrollment equate to loss of funding. To mitigate against detrimental pandemic-related effects on STEM instructional capacity, this award will support the salary and professional development of one full-time STEM faculty member at Salish Kootenai College. This TCUP STEM Faculty award is intended to help maintain Salish Kootenai College’s STEM program as the college recovers from the deleterious impact of the pandemic.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
Security and Privacy Implications of Remote Proctoring for School Policies and Practices

# data[].attributes.funder_divisions[]
Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE)

# data[].attributes.abstract
Higher education institutions have steadily expanded online course offerings, especially after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. For the first time, many instructors were faced with the dilemma of how to administer exams, quizzes effectively, and other in-class assignments in an online setting in which live, in-person proctoring was not available. Online proctoring quickly became an attractive option to monitor students remotely while completing an assignment. In response to this increasing shift towards learning (and testing) from home, this project will examine the security and privacy implications of remote proctoring services as they pertain to school policies and educational practices. This multi-pronged research program will examine how these services impact students, educators, and institutions' security and privacy. The research program is inspired by the widespread adoption of remote proctoring services in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the findings will be more broadly applicable as institutions will likely continue to offer virtual classes and online technology services to support those classes.The research activities are multidisciplinary and will advance knowledge in pedagogy as well as address vulnerabilities that stem from human behaviors and choices in security and privacy. Online proctoring technology requires extensive monitoring capabilities to work properly; these include systems for observing behavior (e.g., screen capture and video/audio recording) and restricting behavior (e.g., lock-down browsing and the installation of network firewall rules). In combination, these monitoring and restricting functionalities impose privacy and security risks on the students who are completing assignments in this setting. The research activities will directly address how students, educators, and institutions understand this exposure and its impact. Additionally, the project will identify the kinds of monitoring and restrictions that are effective and necessary. The research activities and findings will also contribute to fundamental research in usable security/privacy and educational research that considers the pedagogy and efficacy of online proctoring tools.This project is supported by the Secure and Trustworthy Cyberspace (SaTC) program, which funds proposals that address cybersecurity and privacy, and in this case specifically cybersecurity education. The SaTC program aligns with the Federal Cybersecurity Research and Development Strategic Plan and the National Privacy Research Strategy to protect and preserve the growing social and economic benefits of cyber systems while ensuring security and privacy.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
Security and Privacy Implications of Remote Proctoring for School Policies and Practices

# data[].attributes.funder_divisions[]
Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE)

# data[].attributes.abstract
Higher education institutions have steadily expanded online course offerings, especially after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. For the first time, many instructors were faced with the dilemma of how to administer exams, quizzes effectively, and other in-class assignments in an online setting in which live, in-person proctoring was not available. Online proctoring quickly became an attractive option to monitor students remotely while completing an assignment. In response to this increasing shift towards learning (and testing) from home, this project will examine the security and privacy implications of remote proctoring services as they pertain to school policies and educational practices. This multi-pronged research program will examine how these services impact students, educators, and institutions' security and privacy. The research program is inspired by the widespread adoption of remote proctoring services in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the findings will be more broadly applicable as institutions will likely continue to offer virtual classes and online technology services to support those classes.The research activities are multidisciplinary and will advance knowledge in pedagogy as well as address vulnerabilities that stem from human behaviors and choices in security and privacy. Online proctoring technology requires extensive monitoring capabilities to work properly; these include systems for observing behavior (e.g., screen capture and video/audio recording) and restricting behavior (e.g., lock-down browsing and the installation of network firewall rules). In combination, these monitoring and restricting functionalities impose privacy and security risks on the students who are completing assignments in this setting. The research activities will directly address how students, educators, and institutions understand this exposure and its impact. Additionally, the project will identify the kinds of monitoring and restrictions that are effective and necessary. The research activities and findings will also contribute to fundamental research in usable security/privacy and educational research that considers the pedagogy and efficacy of online proctoring tools.This project is supported by the Secure and Trustworthy Cyberspace (SaTC) program, which funds proposals that address cybersecurity and privacy, and in this case specifically cybersecurity education. The SaTC program aligns with the Federal Cybersecurity Research and Development Strategic Plan and the National Privacy Research Strategy to protect and preserve the growing social and economic benefits of cyber systems while ensuring security and privacy.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
STTR Phase I:  Rapid Point-of-Care Sterilization of Personal Protective Equipment for Frontline Healthcare Workers (COVID-19)

# data[].attributes.funder_divisions[]
Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (TIP)

# data[].attributes.abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Technology Transfer, Phase I project is to improve public health.  During the COVID-19 pandemic, personal protective equipment (PPE), including filtering facepiece respirators (FFRs), have been critical to containing disease spread and protecting first responders and healthcare workers on the frontlines. Shortages of FFRs have led public health agencies to provide guidance in favor of FFR decontamination and re-use as a crisis capacity strategy. This project seeks to develop a cost-effective approach to support sterilization and re-use of personal protective equipment at the point-of-care. The technology seeks to develop and evaluate a simple, low-cost, sterilization receptacle for the effective, automated decontamination of FFRs. The aim is to enable first responders and healthcare workers to sterilize FFRs and prepare them at the point of care for re-use within minutes.  This capability can be useful both in the current and potential future pandemics.This STTR Phase I project seeks to harness high voltage pulsed electric fields (PEFs) for decontamination and re-use of FFRs. In addition to killing bacteria and fungi, PEF has been observed to rapidly inactivate enteric viruses within seconds of exposure. PEF can also be used to electrically recharge FFR mask fibers prior to re-use.  The filtration efficiency of N-95 FFRs is improved by an intermediate layer of charged polypropylene electret fibers that trap small particles through electrostatic or electrophoretic effects.  A prototype will be constructed and evaluated on FFRs inoculated with respiratory viruses, including SARS-CoV2, in a clinical virology lab to directly demonstrate sterilization and recharge efficacy. The project will establish whether such a system will allow multiple sterilizations and fiber recharging cycles without affecting FFR function or efficacy.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.