2017 CRISP Scholars

Leslie K. Wang is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Massachusetts Boston. Her research focuses on family and child-related issues that link China with the United States. More specifically, her current project examines Chinese “satellite babies,” or children who are born in the United States but sent to live with extended family in China during their formative years while their parents remain in the United States to work. In conjunction with the non-profit organization Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center, the CRISP award will be used to develop and implement a therapeutic program for Chinese immigrant mothers who have undergone this type of international separation from their child.

Angela Wangari Walter, PhD, MPH, MSW is an Assistant Professor of public health in the College of Health Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. Dr. Walter is a health services researcher primarily focused on the prevention and treatment of alcohol and drug use disorders and co-occurring diagnoses including Hepatitis C, HIV/AIDS and mental illness. Dr. Walter’s work aims to advance science and practice in ways that will redress racial and ethnic inequities in the access to and quality of health care services. Her research uses community based participatory approaches to improve access, quality and effectiveness of health services particularly for vulnerable and underserved populations. She has a strong background in health care delivery systems and in developing and implementing systems of care for complex populations. Dr. Walter has conducted large scale federally and state funded research for at-risk and vulnerable populations using qualitative and quantitative methods. Her research has been supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Deborah Munroe Noonan Memorial Research Fund, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). She is currently an investigator on a SAMHSA funded offender re-entry program that aims to reduce substance abuse relapse and recidivism for justice-involved adults returning to their families and community from incarceration in state and local facilities. The Community Research Innovative Scholars Program (CRISP) project aims to develop and implement a community based prevention program to reduce opioid and other drug abuse among commercial fishing industry workers in Massachusetts.

Michelle Trivedi MD MPH, is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Pediatric Pulmonology at the UMass Chan Medical School (UMass Chan). She received her medical degree from UMass Chan and her Master’s in Public Health from the Harvard School of Public Health. She completed residency and fellowship training at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School. Her work focuses on pediatric asthma research to support the improvement of population-based preventative strategies for children with asthma. Her CRISP Grant project will involve the evaluation of a school-based asthma prevention program in the Worcester Public Schools. Of particular interest are the barriers and facilitators to practical implementation of a school- based asthma prevention program in a community with exceptionally high asthma rates.

Dr. Kristin Murphy is an Assistant Professor of Special Education at the University of Massachusetts Boston.  She has over fifteen years of experience in Special Education in varied teaching, research, and policy roles.  Her research primarily focuses on understanding the experiences of teachers and school leaders in urban school settings, particularly in the context of education law and reform, to inform the design of pre- and in-service professional learning opportunities that will support them in being effective and committed to their work.  She also actively engages in course embedded research with her Special Education Teacher candidates at UMass Boston, including the use of mixed reality simulations as part of coursework.  More recently, she has partnered with the Boston Public School’s Office of Social Emotional Learning and Wellness and Office of the Superintendent to engage with students in urban school settings to understand their experiences with trauma in their schools and communities using youth participatory action research methods.  The CRISP grant will support this work.