01/22/2026
By Anne Maglia

The Office of Research Development is pleased to announce the award recipients under the FY26 Community-Engaged Research and Scholarship Fund. This fund supports projects that create new knowledge, approaches and practices that address regional challenges through collaborative efforts. The goal of the fund is to support the creation and sustenance of strong, mutually beneficial relationships by supporting work that addresses an urgent problem, need or opportunity. The Community-Engaged Research and Scholarship Awards are funded by The Public Service Endowment.

Congratulations to the teams of the two awarded projects:

Amplifying Asian Voices: Perspectives on Substance Use in Greater Lowell and Lawrence
PI: David Cornell, Associate Professor, Physical Therapy and Kinesiology, Zuckerberg College of Health Sciences
Co-PI: Sabrina Noel, Associate Professor, Public Health and Biomedical and Nutritional Sciences, Zuckerberg College of Health Sciences
Co-PI: Angela Consentino, Graduate Research Assistant, Biomedical and Nutritional Sciences
Award Amount: $10,000

Introduction and Immersion to Multilingual Learner Education in the United States: A Pilot Study to Expand the Teacher Diversification Pipeline
PI: Christine Montecillo Leider, Assistant Professor, School of Education, College of Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Co-PI: Stacy Szczesiul, Associate Dean of Online Education, Accreditation & Licensing, College of Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Co-PI: Phitsamay Uy, Associate Professor, School of Education, College of Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Co-PI: Robai Werunga, Assistant Professor, School of Education, College of Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Co-PI: Colleen Tapley, Assistant Professor, School of Education, College of Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Award Amount: $9,978

We look forward to seeing the progress of these projects and the impact they will have on the community.