Pitt Cyber is pleased to announce its awardees for the Fall 2022 Pitt Cyber Accelerator Grants Program (PCAG). PCAG provides support for projects that aim to establish or reinforce Pitt and Pitt Cyber as places of distinction and excellence in cyber studies and practice.
The grants provide initial funding for novel and innovative multidisciplinary efforts that advance Pitt Cyber’s mission: to bring the breadth of one of the world’s leading public research universities to bear on the critical questions of networks, data, and algorithms, with a focus on the ever-changing gaps among law, policy, and technology.
Utilizing Edutainment and Motivational Interviewing to Address Dis- and Misinformation in the Healthcare Setting
This project brings together collaborators to develop and implement a seminar for physician assistant students. The seminar will use clips from popular medical television shows to teach students about responding to dis- and misinformation in the healthcare setting using motivational interviewing.
Beth Hoffman, Postdoctoral Associate, Behavioral and Community Health Sciences, School of Public Health; Jaime Sidani, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Center for Research on Behavioral Health, Media, and Technology, School of Public Health; Anna Donovan, Associate Professor of Medicine, Associate Program Director for the Internal Medicine Residency Training Program at UPMC; Antoine Douaihy, Senior Academic Director of Addiction Medicine Services and Co-Director of the UPMC Tobacco Treatment Services; Bridget Calhoun, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Duquesne University; Ariel Shensa, Assistant Professor, Rangos School of Health Sciences, Duquesne University
Investigating Adoption and Reusability of Data and Digital Literacy Materials
This project will examine adoption and reuse of data and digital literacy open educational resources for library professionals.
Elizabeth Monk, Research Specialist, University Center for Social and Urban Research; Jessica Ghiliani, Associate Professor of Communication, Pitt Greensburg; Chelsea Gunn, Teaching Assistant Professor, Department of Information Culture and Data Stewardship, School of Computing and Information; Eleanor Mattern, Teaching Assistant Professor, School of Computing and Information; Veena Vasudevan, Assistant Professor, Digital Media and Learning, School of Education
Online Violence Against Women in Politics (Online VAW-P)
As women’s participation in politics increases, so does their risk of becoming victims of political violence. The Online Violence Against Women in Politics (Online VAW-P) project will investigate this new and growing threat against women politicians and political candidates by documenting the extent and scope of online violence that women politicians face on Twitter in two countries - Turkey and Brazil- during the six months leading up to national elections.
Mihriban Finkel, Assistant Prof of Int'l Dev, Director of Ford Institute, Co-Director of GIRL, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs; Keila Grinberg, Professor, Department of History, Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences; Steven Finkel, Daniel H. Wallace Professor of Political Science, Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences; Lisa Nelson, Associate Professor, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs
Sustaining the Scholarly Information Ecosystems Community at Pitt
This grant will establish an infrastructure to support and extend the established informal network of information and digital studies Pitt faculty, staff, and students. Through a more unified “Information Ecosystems” community network supported by a website and communications channels, existing members of this scholarly ecosystem will be able to share events and research and pedagogical interests with one another.
Nora Mattern, Assistant Teaching Professor; Director of the Sara Fine Institute, School of Computing and Information; Annette Vee, Associate Professor of English and Director of the Composition Program, Department of English, Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences; Alison Langmead, Clinical Associate Professor and Director, Visual Media Workshop; Associate Professor, School of Computing and Information
Metaverse in Global East Asia: Digital Privacy and Economic Inclusion
This project seeks to explore how social and cultural differences lead to various Metaverse-related challenges on policies of digital privacies and economies, with a special focus on how East Asian governments, corporations, and users respond to these challenges differently than the United States.
Song Shi, Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Informatics and Networked Systems, School of Computing and Information; Kun Qian, Associate Professor of Modern Chinese Literature and Film, Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences; Kay Shimizu, Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs; Kuo-Ting Huang, Assistant Professor, School of Computing and Information
Towards an Adaptive Voice User Interface of Navigation Apps for People with Disabilities
This project will design an adaptive voice user interface (VUI) for navigation apps that meets People with Disabilities (PwD)’s needs and preferences by exploring a variety of navigation scenarios. Navigation apps with an adaptive VUI can help PwD improve their quality of life and social independence by being able to perform mobility activities easier and more frequently.
Na Du, Assistant Professor, Department of Informatics and Networked Systems, School of Computing and Information; Hassan Karimi, Professor, School of Computing and Information; John Mclnerney, Advocate Stake Holder, Low Vision
A Sampling and Modeling Framework to Counter Online Conspiratorial Propaganda
In recent years, conspiratorial narratives targeting a certain social group or racial demographic have been cited as a motivation for a number of hate- or prejudice-based violent incidents in the US and across the globe. This project aims to trace and counter the influence of conspiratorial propaganda on the public in online space by studying the population-level networks.
Yu-Ru Lin, Associate Professor, School of Computing and Information; Balaji Palanisamy, Associate Professor, School of Computing and Information; Michael Colaresi, Professor, Distinguished Faculty, Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences; Amin Rahimian, Assistant Professor, Swanson School of Engineering