A team of scholars from Washington University in St. Louis’ Brown School and School of Medicine has received a Transcend Initiative grant, which supports collaborative efforts across WashU schools with potential for significant impact.
The grants, awarded by the Provost’s Office and the Research Development Office, provide $450,000 over three years to help teams expand and sustain their research and establish WashU as a leader in their field.
Recipients from the Brown School are Kimberly Johnson, professor; Melissa Jonson-Reid, Ralph and Muriel Pumphrey Professor of Social Work Research, associate dean for educational programs, and director of the Center for Innovation in Child Maltreatment Policy, Research and Training (CICM); and Diane Wittling, CICM center coordinator. From the School of Medicine, recipients are Anneliese Schaefer, professor of neurology, executive director of the Hope Center for Neurological Disorders and director of the Office of Neuroscience Research (ONR); and Kate Ruzicka, administrative coordinator for the Hope Center and ONR.
Their project, the Children and Youth Collaborative Network (CYCN), aims to harness the substantial expertise across the university to address pervasive and costly challenges affecting children, such as poverty, health disparities, maternal/child health, environmental hazards, food insecurity, and exposure to violence. The award follows the successful launch of the network in 2024-2025 with a partial Transcend Award. The network promotes collaboration across all WashU schools and departments through web-based initiative, spark meetings, workshops, conferences and pilot grants.
“We believe this strengthened network will empower researchers to generate and quicken innovative solutions, secure competitive funding, and drive policies and interventions that improve the lives of children and youth locally, nationally, and globally,” Jonson-Reid said.
Learn more about this year’s cohort: Latest Transcend initiative grants awarded.