Office of the Provost
2024 PRIDE Fund Projects
Six projects were selected to receive PRIDE Fund grants in 2024. The President’s Research, Innovation, and Development toward Excellence (PRIDE) Fund provides Â鶹ÊÓƵ faculty and students with grants to financially support projects promoting research, scholarship, community partnerships, and creative activity at Â鶹ÊÓƵ University. The funding supports the growth of student experiences, community engagement, and interdisciplinary collaboration.
A tactical strength and conditioning approach to improve human performance in Gateway Battalion Reserve Officers’ Training Corp cadets
Harry P. Cintineo, PhD
College of Science, Technology, and HealthThe primary goals of this project are to identify and/or observe patterns of change in ROTC human performance parameters over an academic semester through prospective and/or retrospective analyses of ACFT data, identify significant areas to bolster current ROTC physical training based on results of SA1, and develop a field-based tactical strength and conditioning program and provide equipment to improve human performance outcomes.
Peer health education for student athletes
Amy Estlund, PhD
College of Science, Technology, and HealthThis project aims to increase student athlete knowledge on sexual health risk behaviors and prevention strategies. This project also aims to decrease incidence of sexually transmitted infections among the athletes. Finally, it will evaluate the first of its kind peer education model for sexual health at Â鶹ÊÓƵ.
Heart rate variability and posttraumatic outcomes following perinatal loss
Brittany Goodman, PhD
College of Science, Technology, and HealthThe purpose of the current study is to investigate factors associated with differential outcomes following perinatal loss. Specifically, the study will focus on outcomes such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and posttraumatic growth (PTG) in individuals who have experienced miscarriage, stillbirth, or termination of pregnancy due to fatal fetal diagnosis.
Evaluation of Syber Seniors: An intergenerational learning program
Catherine Shoff, PhD
College of Science, Technology, and HealthThe goal of this project is to evaluate the effectiveness of an intergenerational technology-training program on both seniors citizens in St. Charles county and Â鶹ÊÓƵ college students. For 8 weeks students at Â鶹ÊÓƵ participate in a reverse mentoring program, teaching seniors how to use computers, smart phones and tablets.
Preliminary study of the effects of plant health on soil microbe diversity
Chad Welsh, PhD
College of Science, Technology, and HealthThis study will examine the effects of plant growth in the presence of exogenous plant hormones on the population of soil bacteria. By examining the multiple variables (i.e. hormone chosen, concentrations used, etc.), the researchers will determine if changes in the diversity of the bacterial populations correlates with the growth of the plant, the addition of the exogenous hormone treatments, or a combination of both.
Optimal control for delayed nanoparticle dosing models using conformable derivatives
Nick Wintz, PhD
College of Science, Technology, and HealthThe main goal of this project is to introduce undergraduate researchers to control theory and its applications in the context of the use of chemotherapy and radiation in treating cancerous tumors. Using experimental data collect at Louisiana Tech University/Nanospectra Biosciences to study the real-time blood concentration of nanoparticles at a tumor site using non-evasive methods this team will include a time-weighted derivative that models the absorption of these nanoparticles.