Grants and Sponsored Programs Well-Respected Thought Leaders

KAGYA AMOAKO PH.D.
Tagliatela College of Engineering

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Kagya Amoako, associate professor of biomedical engineering and coordinator of the University’s master’s degree program in biomedical engineering, is developing new surfaces that will help thwart the bacteria he says are rampant in the areas astronauts in space use every day.

The work is being supported by a grant from the NASA Connecticut Space Grant Consortium.

"Microbial contamination of walls and surfaces of habitable spacecraft compartments poses a health hazard to astronauts on long missions," said Amoako, the head of the University’s Biomaterials and Medical Device Innovation Laboratory. "Several bacteria species have been found on surfaces of the control center, dining area, sleeping quarters, hygiene facilities, and exercise and scientific equipment of the international spaceship and the Russian-manned space stations."

Both undergraduate and graduate students are working on the project. "The project provides experiential learning opportunities for students and could attract future grants and industry partnerships," Amoako said.

MARIO GABOURY, J.D., PH.D.
Henry C. Lee College of Criminal Justice & Forensic Sciences

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The University’s Lee College of Criminal Justice and Forensic Sciences and its Tow Institute for Youth Justice are research partners on a series of federal grants – totaling more than $1.5 million – that are aimed at reducing recidivism.

"We are excited about this unprecedented partnership between government, private nonprofits, and our University," said Mario Gaboury, dean of the Lee College. "Together, we have a clear and unmistakable goal – to reduce juvenile and adult recidivism so that our state will be an even safer place than it already is and ensure that individuals and families in our state will have the supports needed to make the dream of our second-chance society a true reality."

The University is working with the State Department of Corrections, the City of New Haven’s Fresh Start Reentry Initiative, and the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

"We are proud to join with the state, city, and private providers and others who are responding to this ambitious calling," Gaboury said. "That the University is here is a clear recognition that the sponsoring organizations want academic research and evaluation to ensure the best outcomes for our money and the best outcomes for our communities. Rigorous research and evaluation will be a key ingredient in making the second-chance society what we all hope it will be."

Richard Wormser, a University of New Haven adjunct faculty of criminal justice, is the director of American Reds, a documentary film about the history of the Communist Party in the United States that aired on nearly 170 PBS stations.

The film was funded with a $500,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

A Peabody Award-winning filmmaker, Wormser describes American Reds as the first documentary to comprehensively examine both the history and the contemporary relevance of the Communist Party in the United States. He wrote the film and co-produced it with Bill Jersey, who is considered one of the founders of the modern documentary.

"American Reds is a valuable primer into the tragic turn of events that betrayed the hopes and aspirations of everyday working people during the great confrontation between capitalism and communism in the early 20th century," said Bill Moyers, a former White House press secretary, longtime PBS commentator, and preeminent journalist who has won more than 30 Emmy awards. "It’s an important addition to public television’s mission to throw light on obscured corners of our history and on the forgotten people lost in the shadows."

The PBS stations that aired the film reached nearly 75 percent of all U.S. households.

Wormser has written, produced, and/or directed more than 50 programs for television and educational institutions that have received numerous awards and 18 grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities.