Healthy Communities Research Institute
Kent State Professors Research Proper Use of Face Masks to Better Protect from COVID-19
Two professors have conducted much-needed research on face coverings that use alternative textiles to protect the public from COVID-19 and how to keep those masks virus-free.
Alcohol Consumption Increases During Pandemic
While it's no secret that many college students drink alcohol, how COVID-19 affected these behaviors and patterns is the focus of recent research published in the journal Addictive Behaviors by the collaboration of William Lechner from the Department of Psychological Sciences and Deric Kenne from the College of Public Health. The pair sought to study the effects that a major stressor such as the pandemic could have on addictive behaviors and how vulnerabilities such as anxiety and depression played a part in the coping process of college students.
Kent State Professors Directly Link Social Media Use to Boredom
It would not be surprising if you have a social media app open right now; however, you may not be getting the enjoyment out of it that you think you are. In a recent publication in Computers in Human Behavior, two Kent State professors examined the relationship between social media usage and boredom. Students may be surprised by the results and parents might be excited by them.
New Funding Leads to New Full-Body Virtual Reality Lab
Two Kent State sociology researchers are moving toward gaining insight into how people’s brains react in a variety of threatening situations using innovative virtual reality (VR) technology funded by the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Army. Josh Pollock and William Kalkhoff, both in the Department of Sociology & Criminology, are leading the research projects, which will benefit the Army, Kent State students and others.
Kent State Researchers Study Pandemic's Effects on Physical Activity
Recently, a group of Â鶹¹û¶³ researchers sought to examine the impact of these pandemic-related changes upon physical activity and sedentary behavior, specifically sitting, across the university population. Monday, October 5th 2020, 8:03 PM EDT by Brandon Brown Has COVI…
Kent State Graduate Student Wins Award at the Brain Health Research Institute's Eighth Annual Neuroscience Symposium
Congratulations to Cynthia Hunt, a graduate student in Sociology at Â鶹¹û¶³, for her award-winning presentation at the Brain Health Research Institute's Eighth Annual Neuroscience Symposium! Her work was supported by HCRI faculty members, Dr. Christopher Woolverton and Dr. Joel Hu…
2019-2020 Seed Grant Recipients Announced
The Healthy Communities Research Initiative (HCRI) is excited to announce the recipients of the 2019-2020 HCRI Seed Grant Awards! Three research teams at Â鶹¹û¶³ were funded. Recipients include: Dr. Angela Neal-Barnett (Psychological Sciences). Co-PIs: Javed Khan, Mary Hogue, Tam…
Award Recipients of the 2020 Online Undergraduate Research Symposium Focus their Work on Improving the Health of Congolese Refugee Women
Two award recipients of the 2020 Â鶹¹û¶³ Online Undergraduate Research Symposium are Rebecca Jindra and Jordan Smith. Both of these students are pursuing degrees within the College of Public Health. Their project was titled ‘A Qualitative Exploration of Newly Resettled Congolese Ref…
Coronavirus 'fingerprints’ shows virus RNA travels on shoes -- but that doesn’t mean the floor is contagious
https://www.cleveland.com/news/2020/04/coronavirus-fingerprints-shows-virus-rna-travels-on-shoes-but-that-doesnt-mean-the-floor-is-contagious.html
"We All Can Play a Role," Kent State Epidemiologist Says
Tara C. Smith, Ph.D., epidemiology professor in the College of Public Health, shares her perspective on the current coronavirus pandemic: "It seems like years have passed since the world first heard of an 'atypical pneumonia' circulating in the Hubei province of China in December 2019. When we’ve seen similar reports in the past, the illnesses have had a variety of causes, but all were eventually containable..."