Three San Diego State University College of Education faculty research projects have been awarded funding for post-doctoral fellowships through the Division of Research and Innovation’s Support for Postdoctoral Fellowships Program. The program supports efforts that will have significant long-term impacts on the research, scholarship and creative activities at SDSU.
Post-doctoral scholars will be hired to support two projects focused on autism research and another aiming to increase representation among Latinx students in STEM education. Here is a rundown of the awardees:
Adult Autism Research
Mary Baker-Ericzén, research professor in the Department of Administration, Rehabilitation and Postsecondary Education (ARPE), is leading community-based participatory research aimed at addressing the needs of autistic adults and fully understanding how services impact their lives. The project is a National Institute of Mental Health-funded multi-site study in collaboration with Portland State University and Vanderbilt University. Baker-Ericzén said she is excited about the use of a true partnership with a large group of autistic adults — who will inform every aspect of the study — and enrolling about 800 autistic adults in the study.
“Very little research and attention has been focused on autistic adults to date,” Baker-Ericzén said. “This study will open up the ‘black box’ of adult services and is geared to follow participants over time to understand longitudinally how autistic adults receive services over time and what their needs are as they age and progress through adult life.”
Project EXPRESS
Kelsey Dickson, assistant professor in the Department of Child and Family Development, Laura Hall, professor and chair in the Department of Special Education, and Bonnie Kraemer, professor in special education, are undertaking a multi-site study to examine the efficacy of evidence-based executive function and social skills programming for middle school students with autism. The U.S. Department of Education-funded Project EXPRESS is a collaboration between SDSU and the University of North Carolina.
“We are thrilled that we were selected as part of the DRI postdoctoral fellowship program,” Dickson said. “This funding will support a postdoctoral fellow, SDSU autism program alumna Dr. Megan Ledoux, to join part of our project.”
HSI-STEM Pathways
Felisha Herrera Villarreal, associate professor in ARPE, will use a postdoc fellow to support several large-scale projects focused on the role of Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) pathways for minoritized and underrepresented students. The work is currently underway through the Research & Equity Scholarship Institute (RESISTE), for which Herrera Villarreal serves as director.
“I think one of the things that’s really exciting about our work is that we have an established research mentorship model within RESISTE,” she said. “We’ve had several postdocs over the years and they play a really important role in our collaborative efforts. We support each other and grow together as a collective. Each of our team members brings important perspectives and makes significant contributions that enhance our scholarship.”