Awardees announced for Lemann Brazil Research Fund

This week, the Office of the Vice Provost for Research and the Office of the Vice Provost for International Affairs announced the 2020 awardees of the Lemann Brazil Research Fund.

“Our research landscape and our world face unprecedented challenges,” said Rick McCullough, vice provost for research and professor of materials science and engineering. “At this moment in time, we are particularly grateful that the generosity of the Lemann Foundation allows us to support the important work of our faculty in a variety of disciplines as they work together with Brazilian colleagues to address important issues that will transcend the current crisis.”

Established in 2016 by a generous gift from the Lemann Foundation, the Lemann Brazil Research Fund supports Brazil-related research in all areas related to education, as well as research in any other disciplinary area undertaken with a Brazilian colleague.

This year’s awarded projects are:

• “Assessment of public acceptance of a hypothetical dengue vaccine and the potential impact on individual vector-control behavior” by Marcia Castro, Andelot Professor of Demography, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, with co-investigators Marcia Maria Tavares Machado, Federal University of Ceará; Lucas Chaves Netto, Hospital das Clinicas — FMUSP, Brazil; Antonio Silva Lima Neto, Fortaleza Municipal Health Secretariat; and collaborators Alessandra Carvalho, Federal University of Bahia; Luciano de Paula Camilo, University of Brasilia; Juan Pablo Aguilar Ticona, Institute of Collective Health, Federal University of Bahia; Sana Haider, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health; and Sun Kim Hi, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
• “Sea Level Change in Brazil: Analyzing the Past, Projecting the Future, and Training Future Generations of Brazilian Scientists in the Use of Sea Level Modeling Tools” by Jerry Mitrovica, Frank B. Baird, Jr. Professor of Science, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, with collaborator Rodolfo José Angulo, Universidade Federal do Paraná
• “Estimating the recovery of trees’ evolutionary potential from Pre-Columbian agriculture to improve tropical forest restoration” by David Moreno Mateos, assistant professor of landscape architecture, Harvard University Graduate School of Design, with co-investigator Charles Clement, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia; and collaborators Doriane Picanço-Rodrigues, Universidade Federal do Amazônia, and Maria Imaculada Zucchi, Agência Paulista de Tecnologia dos Agronegócios
• “Utilizing Brazil’s Fossil Record to Illuminate Earth’s Greatest Mass Extinction and its Link to Modern Climate Change” by Stephanie Pierce, Thomas D. Cabot Associate Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, with co-investigator Felipe L. Pinheiro, Universidade Federaldo Pampa; and collaborators Tiago R. Simões, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, and Paulo M. Nascimento, Canal do Pirulla
• “The Development, Implementation, and Evaluation of an Early Language Development Parenting Program for Social Assistance Community Centers in Brazil” by Meredith Rowe, Saul Zaentz Professor of Early Learning and Development, Harvard Graduate School of Education, with co-investigators Flávio Cunha, Rice University, and Guilherme Irffi, Federal University of Ceará
• “An Evidence Game-Based Intervention to Enhance Social-Emotional Skills in Context of Adversity in Brazil: a Comprehensive Approach for Typical Children and Children with Autism” by Jesse Snedeker, professor of psychology, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, with co-investigator Elizabeth Spelke, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, and collaborators Chrissie Ferreira de Carvalho, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, and Nara Côrtes Andrade, Universidade Católica do Salvador