CTSI Community Partnership Development Seed Grants: Current and Past Awardees

2026

Academic Investigators

Community Leaders

Title of Project

Daniel Smith, PhD, Assistant

Professor, School of Nursing

Allana Krolikowski, MD, CEO, Jericho Road Community Health Center

 

Capacity Building through the Establishment of a Community Advisory Board for Buffalo’s Only Medical Respite Unit for the Homeless

X. Christine Wang, PhD,

Professor and Director, Fisher-

Price Endowed Early

Childhood Research Center;

Senior Associate Dean for

Interdisciplinary Research,

Graduate School of Education

 

Thomas Beauford Jr., President and CEO, Buffalo Urban League

 

Kathleen Sciolino, Principal, Buffalo Public School #99 — Stanley M. Makowski Early Childhood Center

Roots of Resilience: Building a University–School–Community Partnership for Child Well-being and Early AI Literacy

2025

Academic Investigators

Community Leaders

Title of Project

Amanda M. Ziegler, PhD, MPH
Research Assistant Professor
Department of Family Medicine
Primary Care Research Institute
Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences

 

Jill Tirabassi, MD, MPH
Clinical Assistant Professor
Department of Family Medicine
Primary Care Research Institute
Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences

Diamonique Pettway
Director of Community, Events, and Marketing
Health Sciences Charter School

 

Developing Appropriate School-based Food Literacy Initiatives for Buffalo Teens and Families

Kim Diana Connolly, JD
Professor
Vice Dean for Innovation, Interdisciplinarity and Community Impact
School of Law 


Leah Bartlo
Third-Year Student
Curriculum, Instruction and the Science of Learning, PhD
Department of Learning and Instruction
Graduate School of Education

Marc Hennig
Deputy Executive Director
Beyond Support Network (formerly the Learning Disabilities Association of Western New York)

 

Breana Hargrave
Program Coordinator 
Lead716

Forging Research Alliances That Combat Early Childhood Lead Poisoning

2024

Academic Investigators

Community Leaders

Title of Project

Katheryne T. Leigh-Osroosh,
PhD, Graduate School of
Education
Christina U. King, PhD,
Graduate School of Education
Alizé Scott-Nowell, YWCA Jamestown
Indo Quiñones, YWCA Jamestown

Creating Inclusive School Climates Through Literacy and Community Empowerment

Leslie J. Bisson, MD, Jacobs
School of Medicine and
Biomedical Sciences
Tameka Felts, MBA, BSN, Buffalo Black Nurses, Incorporated
Growing Collaborations to Deliver Hands-only Cardio-pulmonary Resuscitation / Automated External Defibrillator Training Programs in Predominantly African American Churches in Erie and Niagara Counties

2023

Academic Investigators

Community Leaders

Title of Project

Rebecca Ashare, PhD, College of Arts and Sciences

Sarah Taber-Thomas, PhD, College of Arts and Sciences

Detric Johnson, The National Witness Project 

Creating a Novel Outreach Program for Health Needs in the Community

Sharlynn Daun-Barnett, LMSW, School of Dental Medicine

Joseph Gambacorta, DDS, School of Dental Medicine

Jessica Kruger, PhD, School of Public Health and Health Professions

Daniel Kruger, PhD, School of Public Health and Health Professions

Brian Pilarski, Seneca-Babcock Community Association, Inc.
Screening for Dental Homes: Supporting Dental Health Navigation Utilizing a Social Work Community Collaboration Approach

2022

Academic Investigators

Community Leaders

Title of Project

Annahita Ball, PhD, School of Social Work

JoAnn A. Balazs, Sweet Home Central School District

Education-mental Health Integration to Better Serve Racialized Youth: A Community of Practice

Anne E. Lally, PhD, School of Public Health and Health Professions

Lucia A. Leone, PhD, School of Public Health and Health Professions

Angie Kennedy, Seneca Nation Developing Culturally Appropriate Health Equity Research Methodologies Through a Community Partnership With the Seneca Nation

2021

Academic Investigators

Community Leaders

Title of Project

Kafuli Agbemenu, PhD, MPH, RN, School of Nursing

Christopher St. Vil, PhD, School of Social Work

Sondra Dawes, BS, Jericho Road Community Health Center

Reproductive Health Advisory Committees for the African Refugee Community (RHACARC)    

Liise K. Kayler, MD, MS, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences

Barbara Breckenridge, Western New York Kidney Disease and Transplant Support Group Co-Creating Solutions to Enhance Kidney Transplant Access of Black Western New Yorkers with End-Stage Kidney Disease

2020

Academic Investigators

Community Leaders

Title of Project

Kim S. Griswold, MD, MPH, RN, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences

Gregory Homish, PhD, School of Public Health and Health Professions

Megan Chambers, MPH, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences

Maria Coluccio, MS, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences

Gary Iacobucci, PhD, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences

Danielle Bernas, LMSW, Western New York Center for Survivors of Torture

The New American Mental Health Advisory Council