SPH Research and Outreach Funding Increases to $18.8 million in FY ‘24

ATLANTA—External funding for research and community engagement projects conducted by the faculty and staff at the Georgia State University School of Public Health rose by nearly 6% in fiscal year 2024, reaching a total of $18.8 million.

The fiscal year 2024 total is an 84% increase over the total from just five years ago, underscoring how the recruitment and retention of nationally and internationally recognized faculty lays the foundation for impactful scholarship and outreach.

“Our school’s record of success in securing highly competitive grants and contracts is a testament to the caliber of our faculty and staff,” said School of Public Health Dean Rodney Lyn. “It reflects their dedication to applying their expertise to urgent public health challenges here in Atlanta and around the world.”

The grants and contracts awarded to the School of Public Health span several areas of expertise in the school, from tobacco prevention and control to mental health, global health, and water, sanitation and hygiene.

In fiscal year 2024, Associate Professor Lucy Popova received grants from the National Cancer Institute and the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products totaling $6.9 million to develop and test tobacco education strategies. Kathleen Baggett, Associate Professor and Director of the university’s Mark Chaffin Centers for Healthy Development, is co-leading a five-year, $3.1 million grant from the National Institute of Mental Health to expand an online support program for new moms. Global research conducted by SPH faculty includes a project led by Professor Christine Stauber that is developing and evaluating a mobile health technology program to enhance urban sanitation interventions in densely populated and marginalized communities.

The school’s $18.8 million total also includes funding for community engagement projects and centers that are housed within the school, such as the Center for Leadership in Disability and Prevent Child Abuse Georgia. The EMPOWER Program, led by Clinical Associate Professor Adrienne King, brings students and teachers from underserved metro Atlanta high schools to GSU for hands-on research experiences. State funding has enabled a team of researchers to expand the reach of a program that provides mental health support to refugees, immigrants and migrants.

While not included in the fiscal year 2024 total, a new award of up to $5 million for GSU’s Prevention Research Center will enable researchers to explore how evidence-based interventions can be adapted to reduce social isolation and loneliness in highly diverse communities such as the refugee resettlement hub of Clarkston, Ga.