News from CLASS 

francine j. harris Faculty Spotlight

Author of “Here is the Sweet Hand,” francine j. harris spoke about her interest in poetry and the artistic voice expressed throughout her work. Fascinated by the layers of communication and emotional embodiment found in words, harris describes a journey of discovery for herself and the reader.

CLASS communications disorders scholar lands $3.37M R01 grant, a department first

Peggy Blake, professor and department chair in Communication Sciences and Disorders (COMD), has been awarded a $3.37 million Research Program Grant (R01) by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Partnering with Tatiana Schnur from Baylor College of Medicine, Blake will research the right side of stroke survivors’ brains to gain insight into communication abilities and theory of mind.

First Study of Its Kind Links Moms’ Problems to Adolescent Attachment

It should come as no great surprise that mothers have profound influence on their children. But what about mothers who have their own personality disorder symptoms, such as problems getting along with others? New research finds, for the first time, that maternal personality disorder symptoms impact their adolescent children who subsequently show a higher likelihood of insecure attachment.

UH Researchers Awarded $1.7M to Examine Academic Outcomes for Adolescent Immigrant Youth

Researchers at the University of Houston have received a $1.7 million grant to investigate the unique challenges adolescent immigrant students face when entering U.S. schools for the first time, and to develop reading interventions to accelerate their literacy.

UH Professors awarded $768K NIH grant to develop extensive neuromotor training

The UH College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences Department of Health and Human Performance Assistant Professor Pranav J. Parikh and Cullen College of Engineering Professor Jose Luis Contreras-Vidal have been awarded the NIH R25 Research Education grant titled “Neuromotor Skill Advancement for Post-baccalaureates (NSAP).”

CLASS Scholars Awarded National Sumners Scholarship

Two College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences students were recently named 2022 Sumners Scholars. Selected from students nationwide, Cai Wilson and Ola Dafaalla were two of only 43 students to receive the award for the 2022-23 academic year.