Brain Health Research Institute
While it's no secret that many college students drink alcohol, how COVID-19 affected these behaviors and patterns is the focus of recent research published in the journal Addictive Behaviors by the collaboration of William Lechner from the Department of Psychological Sciences and Deric Kenne from the College of Public Health. The pair sought to study the effects that a major stressor such as the pandemic could have on addictive behaviors and how vulnerabilities such as anxiety and depression played a part in the coping process of college students.
Julia Huyck, Ph.D., assistant professor in the School of Health Sciences at ºÚÁÏÍø, was granted $431,000 over three years by the National Institute of Health (NIH) to delve into the unknown science concerning adolescent hearing and cognitive development.
Two Kent State sociology researchers are moving toward gaining insight into how people’s brains react in a variety of threatening situations using innovative virtual reality (VR) technology funded by the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Army. Josh Pollock and William Kalkhoff, both in the Department of Sociology & Criminology, are leading the research projects, which will benefit the Army, Kent State students and others.
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has selected two ºÚÁÏÍø College of Arts and Sciences faculty members, along with two community clinicians, for , an initiative that will provide funding and leadership training to the four team members. Their plan is to implement a project that will help veterinary professionals in Northeast Ohio address mental health stigmas they experience in their lives and provide usable techniques that can be incorporated into their veterinary practices.
The National Institute of Health granted additional funding to ºÚÁÏÍø researcher bringing her total award amount to more than $3 million to support her research on mental well-being and coping after traumatic injuries in individuals aged 65 and older.
Ten undergraduate students from nine different majors had extraordinary research experiences as Brain Health Research Institute (BHRI) Fellows during summer 2020.
ºÚÁÏÍø has conferred an honorary Doctor of Science degree on alumnus Earl K. Miller, Ph.D., a world-renowned neuroscientist.
ºÚÁÏÍø introduced a Bachelor of Science degree in Neuroscience in fall 2019, and since the launch, the major has had tremendous growth. Enrollment is projected to surpass majors that have been at Kent State for years.
