P E T E M U L L E R / P R I M E F O R T H E WA S H I N G T O N P O S T Greater economic means, more education and access to information are key factors to reduce health-related, high-risk behaviors. Indeed, some of these factors have been related with what is known as the ‘health poverty trap.’ Our study and methodology show how quantitative analyses The 2014 concerning individual, rather than aggregated, data can be used to idenEbola tify these factors.” outbreak in To collect data for the study, Bocchini and Buceta traveled to Sierra West Africa Leone with a delegation of undergraduate students from Lehigh, with killed more support fromtheNational InstitutesofHealth, Lehigh’sOfceofCreative than 11,000 people. Inquiry and in collaboration with nonproft World Hope International. Two local translators assisted, and they were critical to the team’s success in administering the survey door to door. The students who worked on the project were part of Lehigh’s Global Social Impact Fellowship program, which engages students in work focused on addressing sustainable development challenges in low- and middle-income countries. “This is precisely the kind of ambitious interdisciplinary project with tremendous potential for social impact that we want Lehigh students to engage with through the Global Social Impact Fellowship,” says Khanjan Mehta,viceprovost forCreativeInquiryatLehigh. “Studentsfromvarious disciplines across Lehigh had the opportunity to contribute to this work under Dr. Bocchini and Dr. Buceta’s leadership.” The team members’ promising results are a strong argument for broader data collection, and they are in conversations with Statistics Sierra Leone, the country’s census bureau, to perform a nationwide version of their study.—Lori Friedman R E S E A R C H NEW VICE PROVOST Anand Jagota, professor of bioengineering and chemical and biomolecular engineering, has been named vice provost for research. Jagota will work closely with the provost and the colleges to develop and implement strategies to elevate research at Lehigh. In the newly configured role, he will continue to be engaged in his own research projects as a member of the Department of Bioengineering, thereby maintaining his firsthand knowledge of the Lehigh research environment. Jagota joined the Lehigh faculty in 2004 as a professor and director of the bioengineering program in the P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science. He later served as founding chair of the bioengineering department from 2017 to 2020. More recently, he has served as associate dean of research for the College of Health. “I believe firmly that with appropriate research infrastructure and a revitalized research milieu, Lehigh research can grow significantly in prominence and impact,” Jagota said. “I also believe that high-quality research is one of the core aims of a university, and successful efforts to strengthen it color all aspects of the university.” Prior to joining Lehigh, Jagota spent 16 years as a research scientist at the DuPont Company. FA L L 2 0 2 2 | 1 7
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