From managing food insecurity on the DePaul campus to developing lifestyle interventions for age-related cognitive decline – this year’s recipients of the CSH Interdisciplinary Research and Innovation Initiative grant, or IRII, commence work on projects that address health equity across demographic groups with a local, community focus. The grant will fund five faculty and three graduate students to complete work on these original research efforts over the 2026-2027 academic year, with $40,000 in total funding.

Moving the Needle on Nutrition and Justice

Assistant Professor of health sciences Maya Miyairi-Steel and Assistant Professor of psychology Olya Glantsman, who also directs the Community Psychology MS program, will be expanding their Food Forward program, an initiative that pairs an AI-powered app with weekly food donations to DePaul students in need. The objective is to mitigate the approximately 40% of students on campus struggling with food insecurity while studying the feasibility and effectiveness of pantry-based programs like theirs.

The IRII funding will be deployed to develop and evaluate a nutrition literacy curriculum that will be implemented over two quarters to Food Forward recipients. Participants will be recruited through the app and campus outreach, screened for eligibility, and randomly sorted into one of two study groups. The intervention group will attend targeted nutrition literacy sessions covering central themes. “This will focus on three areas: meal planning, cost-effective shopping skills, and culturally tailored healthy cooking,” the researchers explain. They will then collect follow-up data to measure the intervention’s effectiveness.

Innovative approaches like theirs are important, Steel and Glantsman argue, because of the stigma frequently attached to food insecurity and community resource use. They expect their initiative to reduce that stigma while boosting mental and physical health outcomes for intended recipients, providing a model for similar programs across the country.

“Program implementation and evaluation efforts addressing food insecurity in university settings remain relatively new in the United States. Identifying best practices of current programs can inform the development of innovative, evidence-based, and culturally tailored campus-wide programs in the future,” they share.

Promoting Healthy Aging Through Mind, Motion, & Connection

As the U.S. population ages, supporting cognitive health and independence has become an increasingly important public health priority. Now, that priority is bringing together DePaul researchers, students, healthcare providers, and community members in a new interdisciplinary effort to develop innovative approaches to healthy aging.

The project, led by Nyssa Snow-Hill (assistant professor, psychology), Stephanie Byrd (assistant professor, nursing), and Cricel Molina de Mesa (assistant professor, health sciences) will use a community-based approach to develop a program that promotes cognitive health through lifestyle behaviors like diet, exercise, and meaningful social connection.

"We know that cognitive health is influenced by many interconnected factors, including physical health, lifestyle habits, and social relationships," said the researchers. "Our goal is to develop a program that is both evidence-based and responsive to the needs and experiences of older adults."

In partnership with Mount Sinai Health System and the Chicago Public Library, the project will begin with a community advisory board consisting of older adults, healthcare providers, and community stakeholders. Their input will guide the development of the intervention, which will then be pilot tested with adults ages 65-75 who have health conditions, such as high blood pressure or diabetes, that may increase the risk of future cognitive decline.

The project will also provide hands-on research opportunities for graduate students in psychology, nursing, and health sciences. Students will participate in community engagement, data collection, analysis, and dissemination activities while gaining experience in interdisciplinary research. Ultimately, the team hopes the initiative will contribute to new approaches for supporting healthy aging while demonstrating the value of collaboration across disciplines and community partners.

Both research teams anticipate sharing the real-world impact of their projects as they progress. You can follow updates about their work on the College of Science and Health’s Instagram page.