The School of Public Policy continues to invest in faculty-led research through its Faculty Research Seed Award program. These awards are open to all full-time faculty—including tenure-track and professional-track faculty—and are designed to support innovative projects with a focus on addressing complex and pressing public policy issues. The recipients of the 2025 award have been recognized for the following projects:
Project Title: Testing a Forecast-Based Anticipatory Action Framework to Facilitate Community-Based Management of Acute Malnutrition in Settings Vulnerable to Humanitarian Crises
PI: David Backer
Description: An estimated 45 million children under five suffer from acute malnutrition globally, with severe cases drastically increasing the risk of death. This project aims to strengthen the humanitarian response by using predictive modeling to improve the supply chains that support community-based management of acute malnutrition (CMAM). Drawing on data from Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and South Sudan, the study will explore whether forecasting facility-level caseloads can reduce service gaps and better align supply distribution with local needs. The findings are expected to improve humanitarian logistics and help reduce child mortality in crisis-prone areas.
Project Title: Divided by Disaster: Income-Driven Migration Patterns in U.S. Hazard-Prone Housing Markets
PI: Jiehong Lou
Description: Natural disasters are reshaping housing and migration decisions in the United States, and Lou’s research seeks to understand how these changes vary across income and ethnic groups. Using more than a century’s worth of housing transaction data, this project will analyze how disasters influence household mobility and whether peer effects contribute to affluent households choosing to remain in high-risk areas. The study will offer new insights into how socioeconomic dynamics intersect with climate adaptation, with implications for equitable housing policies, climate risk disclosure and insurance reform.
Project Title: The United States and the Early Days of International Health Cooperation
PI: Catherine Worsnop
Description: While the U.S. decision to withdraw from the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2025 marked a turning point in its involvement in global health, it was not the first time American presidents have tried to reshape international health governance. This project explores the origins of U.S. engagement with global health institutions by examining 19th- and early 20th-century international sanitary conferences—precursors to the WHO. This research will inform a larger book project on U.S. presidential engagement in global health and with the WHO and will contribute to scholarly and policy conversations about the future of global health cooperation.
These projects reflect the School’s ongoing commitment to faculty research that tackles critical public challenges through rigorous inquiry and evidence-based solutions.
