CHET 2025 Doctoral Student Pilot Grants announced

The University of Kentucky’s Center for Health, Engagement and Transformation (CHET) awarded pilot funding to three doctoral students to support research projects focused on improving the health of a population of high need.

CHET’s 2025 Doctoral Student Pilot Grants were awarded to Zachary Siegel, Abigail Moore and Thilini Samadhi Weeraratne.

Since 2023, CHET has funded doctoral student pilot grants to support meritorious projects and develop job market competitiveness for emerging health disparity researchers. Students in any college whose research focuses on reducing health disparities are eligible for 12-month awards of $5,000-$10,000.

Zachary Siegel was selected to implement his study, “Bridging Gaps in Trauma Recovery Care: Community Priorities for Accessible and Culturally Responsive Mental Health Treatment in Eastern Kentucky.” Siegel is a clinical psychology student in the College of Arts and Sciences and conducts research at the Stress, Trauma and Recovery Research Collaborative (STARRC Lab) under the guidance of Christal Badour, Ph.D. associate professor and director of Psychology Scholars.

Siegel will use a community-engaged approach to better understand Eastern Kentucky residents’ perspectives regarding interest in trauma-focused mental health interventions. Building on research collaborations following the historic 2022 flood in Eastern Kentucky, Siegel hopes that the results of this study will directly inform development and refinement of a trauma-focused treatment approach that will integrate evidence for treatment efficacy and effectiveness with the unique cultural and social considerations experienced by people living in Appalachian Eastern Kentucky.

“I aspire for this project to create a standard of accessible and culturally responsive post-traumatic treatment in Eastern Kentucky,” said Siegel. “In the future, I aim to apply this framework to additional disadvantaged communities, in the service of creating equitable healthcare for overlooked populations.”

Abigail Moore is a third-year experimental psychology doctoral student in the College of Arts and Sciences, mentored by CHET core faculty member Rachel Farr, Ph.D. Her project, “Implementing a Youth Advisory Board for Collaborative Research on Adolescent Mental Health and Coping Strategies Related to Political Stressors,” will assess how adolescents cope in the current political climate. Due to the increased salience and social media coverage of political polarization, U.S. adolescents face increased mental health risks. Utilizing a community-based participatory action design, Moore and her research team will expand research on adolescent mental health and ways of coping with political stressors by mapping methods for engaging in long-term collaborative research development, data collection and findings dissemination.

“My goal as a researcher is to move beyond objective statistics and theories imposed onto diverse communities,” said Moore. “I want to be a storyteller working with participants towards the lasting change they want to see. I hope that this project will spread these collaborative ideals to move psychology towards a community effort for the public good.”

Thilini Samadhi Weeraratne is a doctoral student in the family sciences program in the Department of Family Sciences, Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment, mentored by Hyungsoo Kim, Ph.D. Her study, “The Effect of Climate Change Risks on Health Outcomes of Older Adults,” will examine the relationships between climate risk exposure and chronic health outcomes among a nationally representative sample of U.S. older adults. Weeraratne’s project builds on the idea that interactions across socio-demographic, cultural, contextual and biophysical pathways with climate stressors result in adverse health outcomes and exacerbate existing health inequities among the aging population.

“I am truly honored to receive a CHET Doctoral Student Pilot Grant, a crucial first step in initiating my study,” said Weeraratne. “I hope our study’s findings will inform public health policy, climate adaptation strategies and support the development of financial and social interventions aimed at protecting the health and economic well-being of aging populations.”

“Supporting these projects matters to CHET’s mission because they address timely and complex health-related questions using engaged, rigorous research approaches,” said Delvon T. Mattingly, Ph.D., assistant professor of behavioral science and CHET primary faculty member. “These awards enable doctoral students to gain hands-on experience designing and conducting independent research, build confidence in their scientific approach and take meaningful steps toward establishing research programs should they pursue careers in academia or the research sector more broadly.” 

With support from the Office of the Vice President for Research, College of Medicine and College of Arts and Sciences, CHET’s mission is “to synergize innovative, transdisciplinary and impactful research and training to improve the health of the most vulnerable residents of Kentucky and beyond.”

For more information about CHET and the pilot programs, visit https://medicine.uky.edu/centers/chet or contact chet@uky.edu.