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The Institute of Human Development and Social Change

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Spotlighting IHDSC Grants and Contracts

The IHDSC scholarly community leverages interdisciplinary expertise and partnerships in education, health and healthcare, social and human development, economics, and more to create new knowledge and spark meaningful social change. Join us in celebrating the recent funding awards received by members of our community. 

May-September 2025

Over the summer and early fall (May-September 2025), investigators at IHDSC were awarded 15 grants and contracts totaling over $9 million.  We are thrilled to provide support to these talented and impactful research teams that share our commitment to unraveling inequality and expanding opportunity. 

Institutional Awards

Affiliates received internal NYU funding for groundbreaking interdisciplinary scholarship representing collaborations between Steinhardt, Global Public Health, Grossman School of Medicine, Tandon, and Wagner.

  • Pamela Morris-Perez
    • “Early Stage: Braiding Data to Save Lives: Bringing Context, Co-Design, and Collaborative Arts to Youth Suicide Prevention” funded by NYU Discovery Research Fund for Human Health.
  • Angela Trude
    • “Early Stage: Well Seasoned: Bridging Food, Health, and Community” funded by NYU Discovery Research Fund for Human Health. 

Federal Awards

Affiliates received federal funding from the National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation. 

  • Karen Adolph
    • “Collaborative Research: HNDS-I: Enhancing Infrastructure For Discovery About Human Behavior”  funded by the National Science Foundation.
  • Catherine Tamis-LeMonda
    • “How Toddlers' Everyday Interactions at Home Support Emerging Math Cognition” funded by the National Science Foundation.
  • Angela Trude
    • “OPT-FRESH: Optimizing Online Purchasing of Fruits, Vegetables, and Legumes for Low-Income Families” funded by National Institutes of Health. 

Foundation and Other Awards and Contracts 

Affiliates received awards, prizes, and contracts from a wide variety of foundations, agencies, and organizations.

  • Karen Adolph
    • Dr. Adolph was awarded a gift from Meta to develop an AI-driven version of the Databrary video archive.
  • Elise Cappella
    • The Path Program received continuation funding from NYC Public Schools.
  • Jorge Cuartas
    • “Climate Change and the Early Foundations of Mental Health: Analysis of Global Spatial Data to Assess Impacts, Mechanisms, and Resilience in Early Childhood” funded by the Society for Research in Child Development.
  • Gigliana Melzi
    • “Semillas Matematicas: Exploring Family Math Engagement and Early Math Skills in Latine Head Start Families” funded by the Heising-Simons Foundation.
  • Pamela Morris-Perez
    • “Looking Back, Looking Forward: The Life and Mind of Urie Bronfenbrenner” funded by the Foundation for Child Development.
  • Sophia Rodriguez
    • “Research Use for Legal and Policy Advocates' Efforts to Combat Threats to Plyler v. Doe” funded by William T. Grant Foundation.
  • William Tsai
    • “Writing for Oneself and Others (WOO) Study” funded by the Cyrus Tang Foundation.
  • Niobe Way
    • “The Nanjing Families Project: Longitudinal Study to Understand the Lives of Chinese People” funded by the Cyrus Tang Foundation.
  • Alice Wuermli
    • “Understanding the Role of Play and Playful Learning for Resilience in Humanitarian Contexts: A 36-Month Follow-up For A Landmark Longitudinal Prenatal and Early Years Cohorts Study with Rohingya and Host Communities in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh” funded by The LEGO Foundation.