The UConn School of Social Work Doctoral Fellowship Awards Committee recently announced the winners of doctoral program internal awards. This year, the committee awarded $32,500 across five funding programs.
“This was one of the most competitive cycles we have seen in the history of the doctoral program, with 14 applications received,” says committee member Cristina Mogro-Wilson, Zachs Endowed Professor, director, Ph.D. Program, School of Social Work. Assistant Professor Sukhmani Singh, and Assistant Professor Gio Iacono also served on the committee.
Parker L. Smacchi Doctoral Research Fund on Sexual Minority Health & Well-Being
Jie Zhao received $4,750 for her project, “Understanding Cigarette and E-cigarette Dependence and Cessation Among Sexual and Gender Minority Emerging Adults: A Minority Stress Perspective.”
Patrick Muro received $4,750 for his study, “Holding Space in a Hostile Climate: Mental Health Providers’ Support of Transgender Youth Amid Restrictions on Gender-Affirming Care in the USA.”
Dr. Nancy A. Humphreys Memorial Fellowship in Policy Practice and Political Social Work
Fernando Ricardo Valenzuela was funded $4,000 for their study, “Bridging Research with Political Advocacy: Utilizing Critical Participatory Action Research for Juvenile Justice Policy Reform.”
Yvonne Mbewe received $2,000 for her study, “Protecting the Right to Childhood: Exploring Legislative, Clinical, and Social Service Interventions for Survivors of Child Labor in Zambia.”
Kelly Sanchez was funded $2,000 for her project, “Healthcare Experiences of Monolingual Spanish Speaking Undocumented Postpartum Medicaid Recipients in Connecticut.”
Dissertation Research Fellowship
Jamie Smith received $5,000 for her project, “Being Degrowth: Dancing on the Cracks of Ecological (In)Justice.”
Laura Moynihan was funded $5,000 for her study, “Influences on Non-Medical Decision-Making Among Adolescents and Young Adults with Uncertain or Poor Cancer Prognoses.”
Dissertation Writing Fellowship
Craig Mortley received $5,000 for his project, “The Architecture of Precarious Belonging: How Asylum Law and Institutional Practice Shape the Structural Conditions of Belonging for LGBTQ+ Asylum Seekers.”
Learn more about the School of Social Work’s Ph.D. students, the Doctoral Student Organization, and the Ph.D. Program.
