Falk College strives to achieve excellence in education not only through good teaching but also through participation in active research. Our students benefit by learning from researchers who are working at the cutting-edge of knowledge, within well-equipped laboratories, and in projects that are both domestic and abroad. We encourage both undergraduates and graduate engagement to achieve not only a rewarding educational experience but also enhanced career opportunities upon graduation. Learn more about the different types of research awards.
Seed Grants:
2023-2024 Falk Tenure-Track Assistant Professor Seed Grant AwardPatterns of Adverse Childhood Experiences and Drug Use, Abuse, and Dependence
Sara Vasilenko (HDFS) PI and Xiafei Wang (SWK) co-PI, Patterns of Adverse Childhood Experiences and Drug Use, Abuse, and Dependence Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are associated with substance use, abuse, and dependence, making them an important…
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2023-2024 Falk Tenure-Track Assistant Professor Seed Grant AwardInvestigating the Role of Fish oil in Altering the Genetic Markers in Sperm of Obese Mice
Latha Ramalingam (NFS-NSD) PI, Investigating the Role of Fish oil in Altering the Genetic Markers in Sperm of Obese Mice Maternal obesity has been a primary focus in the study of early-life nutrition and children’s health. The effect of paternal obesit…
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2023-2024 Falk Tenure-Track Assistant Professor Seed Grant AwardInvestigating the Complex Pathway from Environmental Adversity during Childhood (9-11 years of age) to Young Adult (age 18-20) Social Functioning and Behavior
Stefanie Pilkay (SWK) PI and Xiafei Wang (SWK) co-PI, Investigating the Complex Pathway from Environmental Adversity during Childhood (9-11 years of age) to Young Adult (age 18-20) Social Functioning and Behavior Based on a sample from the Syracuse Lea…
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2023-2024 Falk Tenure-Track Assistant Professor Seed Grant AwardCollaborator, Is Our Living Environment Safe? Longitudinal Changes of Neighborhood Crime, Maternal Parenting Stress, and Immigration in Fragile Family
Fei Pei |Fei Pei (SPM) PI and Steve Dorus (BIO), Collaborator, Is Our Living Environment Safe? Longitudinal Changes of Neighborhood A robust body of previous studies discussed the cross-sectional relationships between various types of neighborhood factors and i…
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2023-2024 Falk Tenure-Track Assistant Professor Seed Grant AwardSocial Work in Palliative Cancer Care: A Mixed-Method Study
Ting Guan (SWK) PI, Social Work in Palliative Cancer Care: A Mixed-Method Study Palliative care is an interdisciplinary model of care with the goal of improving the quality of life for patients with cancer and their families. Social workers are vital i…
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2023-2024 Falk Tenure-Track Assistant Professor Seed Grant AwardEsports for All: Measuring the Rates of Toxicity Towards Women and Girls in Esports and Gaming
Lindsey Darvin (SPM) PI, Esports for All: Measuring the Rates of Toxicity Towards Women and Girls in Esports and Gaming Excitement over the tremendous growth and opportunity that gaming has experienced is largely overshadowed by the persistent misogyny…
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2022-2023 Falk Tenure-Track Assistant Professor Seed Grant AwardRole of Fish oil in Reducing Risks of Paternal Obesity and thereby Improving Offspring Metabolic Health
Paternal obesity impacts early-life nutrition and offspring health yet is infrequently considered as a priority contributing factor to child health.
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2022-2023 Falk Tenure-Track Assistant Professor Seed Grant AwardLongitudinal Patterns of Adverse Childhood Experiences and Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health
Adverse childhood experiences (ACES) are associated with early onset of sexual intercourse, having more sexual partners, and contracting HIV, making them an important public health concern
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2022-2023 Falk Tenure-Track Assistant Professor Seed Grant AwardPsychological and Biological Effects on Child Development
Psychological and biological stressors such as poverty, parental mental illness, and environmental toxicants influence child health and development.
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2022-2023 Falk Tenure-Track Assistant Professor Seed Grant AwardLocal Agroecological Knowledge and Farmers’ Responses to Global Environmental Change in Small-scale Urban Farms and Community Gardens of Central New York
Efforts to conserve biodiversity, adapt to climate change, and address food sovereignty are critical for the survival of small farms in rural and urban areas of Central New York. This research focuses on the challenges of rural and urban small-scale farmers and community gardeners in the face of global environmental change, and their adaptation strategies.
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2022-2023 Falk Tenure-Track Assistant Professor Seed Grant AwardContext Matters: How Do Neighborhood Structural Factors Affect Parenting Stress among Asian Immigrant Families?
Fei Pei |This study focuses on the connections of neighborhood structures, cultural orientation, and social support to parenting stress among Asian immigrant families. Parenting stress is prevalent and persistently high levels of parenting stress has individual, familial, and societal consequences such as increased risk of poor maternal mental health, child maltreatment, and traumatized child development.
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2021-2022 Falk Tenure-Track Assistant Professor Seed Grant AwardInvestigating the Role of Fish Oil in Preventing Paternal Obesity, and Improving Metabolic Health of the Offspring
Impact of early-life nutrition on offspring health had traditionally focused on maternal (mostly intrauterine) obesity leaving paternal obesity out of the picture. Currently in the United States, about 2 in 3 males of reproductive age are either overweight or suffer from obesity. Moreover, obesity in fathers appears to initiate changes in sperm genetics, including alterations in gene regulators called miRNAs. Fish oil (FO) derived from fatty fish is beneficial in regulating body weight and lowering inflammation. FO reduces adverse effects of maternal obesity and improves offspring health.
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2021-2022 Falk Tenure-Track Assistant Professor Seed Grant AwardNarrative Intervention to Reduce Caregiver Stress and Aid Schizophrenia Medication Adherence via WhatsApp (NIRC-SASMAW)
Schizophrenia, a severe form of mental illness, is a global health challenge, with about 1.3 million patients in Sub-Saharan Africa having this disease. Adhering to medications for controlling schizophrenia is a challenge. Patients and caregivers suffer schizophrenia-induced psychological burden (stress and anxiety), which negatively impacts adherence. Thus, efforts to improve adherence among patients would need to tackle the psychological well-being of patients and their caregivers.
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2020-2021 Falk Tenure-Track Assistant Professor Seed Grant AwardInterpersonal and Leadership Skills Family Based Brief Intervention with Youth: Determining Effectiveness, Feasibility, and Acceptability
Primary-age students with social, emotional, and behavioral difficulties (SEBD) are at a significantly higher risk of experiencing poor outcomes such as high school dropout rates, poor academic achievement, poor post-school outcomes, and social outcomes. Adverse intrapersonal and interpersonal outcomes may be particularly increased for students with SEBD who face challenges in their well-being, connectedness to peers, and relationships with peers and adults.
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2020-2021 Falk Tenure-Track Assistant Professor Seed Grant AwardIntergenerational Transmission of Trauma in Military Families
Child maltreatment is a significant issue in the U.S. military, with evidence showing elevated levels of fatal child maltreatment and shaken baby syndrome in military communities. The unique characteristics and circumstances of military families underscore the need for understanding child maltreatment in military families.
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2020-2021 Falk Tenure-Track Assistant Professor Seed Grant AwardAge at League Entry and Early All-Cause Mortality Risk Among NFL Players
Is age at entry associated with all-cause mortality among NFL players, after controlling for position-of-play cluster, career NFL game exposure, birth year, body mass index, entry year, and ability? In this cohort study of 9,049 National Football League players, an earlier age at NFL entry was associated with a statistically significant increase in the hazard ratio of death controlling for position-of-play cluster, career NFL game exposure, BMI, birth year, and expected ability at League entry.
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2019-2020 Falk Tenure-Track Assistant Professor Seed Grant AwardAssessing the Social-Emotional Pathways between Organized Sports and Young Adult Outcomes
This study investigates the social-emotional mechanisms through which organized sports participation is associated with long-term educational and health outcomes. Large numbers of young people engage in sports through organized activities outside of school hours. Organized sports – which include athletic activities that are supervised and/or facilitated by adults in the contexts of sports teams, athletic lessons, or community athletics centers – offer young people important opportunities to develop social-emotional skills and prosocial beliefs that foster healthy development.
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2019-2020 Falk Tenure-Track Assistant Professor Seed Grant AwardEstimating the Causal Effects of Organized Activities: Testing the Efficiency of Propensity
This study tests the utility of propensity score matching to study the effect of organized activity participation in adolescence on long-term outcomes. The potential of organized activities has taken on new importance in recent years as content that can help support the healthy development of youth. Organized activities – including after-school programs, extracurricular activities, and summer programs – receive substantial federal, state and private investments, and rigorous methods are needed to assess their impact on young people’s educational and labor market outcomes.
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2019-2020 Falk Tenure-Track Assistant Professor Seed Grant AwardHealth Behaviors among Pregnant Women with Prior Pregnancy Loss
During pregnancy, the presence of maternal stress significantly increases the risk for adverse birth outcomes, including preterm birth and intrauterine growth restriction, both of which can result in low birth weight. Exposure to stress during pregnancy may affect food choices, exercise habits, use of tobacco or other drugs, and sleep patterns. Levels of psychosocial stress specifically may be particularly elevated for pregnant women who have previously experienced a miscarriage or stillbirth, which occurs in 1 in 4 pregnancies.
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2019-2020 Falk Tenure-Track Assistant Professor Seed Grant AwardManagerial Diversity and Misconduct by Male Professional Athletes
Organizations and managers have a strong interest in preventing and redressing employee misconduct, which is voluntary behavior that deviates from prevailing norms. When employees are admired public figures, as is often the case with professional athletes, the negative consequences of misconduct to organizations may be more likely and more severe than in other contexts. This research project represents the first examination of the organizational determinants of misconduct by high-profile employees of professional sports teams.
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2019-2020 Falk Tenure-Track Assistant Professor Seed Grant AwardOlympic Sponsorship in Small States; Strategies and Partnerships for Caribbean National Olympic Committees
The Caribbean Association of National Olympic Committees (“CANOC”) consists of 28 National Olympic Committees (“NOC”) in the Caribbean region. A key agenda of CANOC’s member NOCs is developing an Olympic sponsorship program to provide the needed support for their national team and sport events and to diversify the revenue stream heavily reliant on the International Olympic Committee and government subsidies. Being placed in a unique sport market of small states (cf. characterized by a small population, confined economy, small private sectors), Caribbean NOCs have struggled to bring sponsorship revenue and existing knowledge on sponsorship had limited applicability (cf. as mainly derived from advanced sport markets).
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2018-2019 Falk Tenure-Track Assistant Professor Seed Grant AwardAgricultural Guestworkers and the New Immigrant Economy
This research will look at the circumstances and experiences of farmworkers who participate in federally sponsored guestworker programs, as well as farmers who use these programs, throughout New York State. This pilot study will consist of approximately sixty in-depth interviews at four sites, with farmworkers and farm owners who participate in the Department of Labor’s H-2A agricultural guestworker program. Due to historically low wages and physically demanding work conditions, labor shortages are a consistent challenge in production agriculture.
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2018-2019 Falk Tenure-Track Assistant Professor Seed Grant AwardA Logistic Regression Analysis of Reported Concussion Risk among NCAA FBS Football Players
The present research seeks to analyze and estimate a salient concussion risk factor for NCAA FBS football players. The results of this study have the potential to inform NCAA student-athlete concussion policy. College gridiron play features student-athletes who are faster, larger, and stronger, on average than their high school counterparts. While learning this new level of play as freshmen and sophomores, players may be at increased risk of concussion due to increased incidence of improper positioning and lower average strength, ceteris paribus.
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2018-2019 Falk Tenure-Track Assistant Professor Seed Grant AwardCoping with Losses: Need Un-fulfillment and its Influence on Sport Consumer’s Temporal Psychological Well-being
Losing is an imperative part of sport, but has garnered relatively less attention in sport consumer well-being research. Therefore, this research project investigates how sport consumers psychologically process their sport team’s loss and how the process impacts one’s well-being state.
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2018-2019 Falk Tenure-Track Assistant Professor Seed Grant AwardIdentification of the Gene-diet Nexus in Depression in U.S. Adults
Depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide, and more than 300 million people of all ages suffer from depression according to the World Health Organization. Epidemiological studies have shown that both dietary and genetic factors play a predominant role in mental health such as depression. The effect of dietary exposures on the risk of depression may vary by genetic predisposition, with potential for interactions between genes and dietary factors.
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