CURO Research Assistantship awarded to IDM Undergraduate
Hope Grismer is an Institute for Disaster Management (IDM) student who is passionate about looking at the complex effects that geographical and sociodemographic factors have on equitable and accessible healthcare. This passion has led her to pursue a B.S. in Health Promotion and a minor in Disaster Management.
Grismer was awarded the Center for Undergraduate Research Opportunities (CURO) research assistantship under Dr. Michelle Ritchie for the Spring 2022 semester.
CURO’s purpose is to facilitate sustained, progressive, faculty-mentored undergraduate research in any discipline. Through CURO, undergraduates can pursue faculty mentored research regardless of discipline, major, or GPA. Grismer aims to use the opportunity to specifically focus on vulnerable populations and Indigenous people in the context of maternal and fetal healthcare.
“My goal for this experience is to create a geospatial map that compares CDC produced Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) data with geographic data. This visualization will enable easier public health policy decisions about maternal-fetal healthcare,” said Grismer.
In her research, she hopes to observe how the aggregate regional data is impacted by underserved and isolated areas. In addition how other geographic data, such as hospital location and county provided data surrounding birth outcomes, overlap with PRAMS reported information.
Grismer stated she is looking forward to the opportunity to begin her research journey, learning from Dr. Ritchie this semester, as well as working with her interdisciplinary peers at the Institute for Disaster Management.
Outside of the medical realm, she is a part of the UGA rowing team and has a love for learning and speaking Spanish.
