Nationally Ranked Grants Awarded to Support Students and Collaboration Among Graduate Programs

Agnes Scott faculty who teach in our Clinical Mental Health Counseling and Medical Sciences master’s programs led significant grant initiatives to expand curriculum across disciplines and support curricular enhancement and research and community partnership building.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded Dr. Erica Harris, Assistant Professor in the Medical Sciences master’s program, a $500,000 grant for the Research Coordinated Network (RCN): Diversity in Ecology, Evolution, Marine Science, and Disease. The goal of this grant is to promote collaboration in ecology, evolution, marine science (EEMS) and the emerging infectious disease (EID) fields in terrestrial and aquatic geographies. This grant’s programming will directly serve and foster diverse research collaborations between 100 scientists from underrepresented groups.

In addition to the NSF grant, Interfaith America awarded $60,000 to the Clinical Mental Health Counseling and Medical Sciences master’s programs to support their project, Religion & Spirituality as a Social Determinant. This work develops educational training to integrate faith-awareness in the health professions. Clinical Mental Health Counseling Associate Professor, Dr. Mary Chase Mize, Program Director and Associate Professor, Dr. Jennifer Fulling-Smith PhD, LPC, ACS, RPT-S and Medical Sciences Department Chair and Program Director, Dr. Shoshana Katzman PhD supported this initiative.

These grants follow $1 million in federal funding awarded earlier in 2024 to our Physician Assistant Studies and Clinical Mental Health Counseling programs. This funding supports the equipment, curriculum development, and technology of these master’s programs, preparing a crucial pipeline of highly-skilled providers to support the healthcare needs of the local and national communities.

Learn more about the physician assistant studies program at Agnes Scott.