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Faculty Research Funds
Each year there is an annual pool of monies available to support Faculty research expenses from the Department of Faculty Success.
Priority is given to tenure track Assistant Professors, as well as to research projects that have few to no avenues for external funding.
The Faculty Research Council will review applications for research funds and make recommendations to the Assistant Provost for Faculty Affairs, Development, & Diversity (APFADD). Approval is subject to budget, IRB approval, and requires final approval of the APFADD. For more information, see PAU Faculty and Research Funds Guidelines in the Faculty Handbook (pages 43-46).
About the Faculty Research Council
The Faculty Research Council, composed of three faculty members from different departments, assesses and evaluates research proposals submitted by faculty members, ensuring alignment with the institution's research objectives and priorities. The Council considers factors such as the originality of the research, the significance of the research problem being addressed, the methodology employed, and the feasibility of the proposed budget to determine their recommendations.
In addition to proposal evaluation, the Council reviews and provides insights on research funding policies. The Council stays (or keeps) abreast of funding regulations, ensures faculty members have equitable access to funding opportunities, and advocates for policies that are transparent, consistent, and supportive of faculty research endeavors.
Contact Us
If you have questions regarding the Faculty Research Funds contact the council directly or contact Assistant Provost Storms at facultysuccess@paloaltou.edu.
Faculty Research Funds Award Recipients
2024-2025 AY
Dr. Cristen Wathen was awarded a Professional Development Travel Grant for attending the 2024 WACES Conference and presenting two educational sessions: Turning Talk into Action: Cultivating a Departmental Culture of Commitment to DEIB and Centering Creativity and Play in Inclusive Pedagogy.
Dr. Donna Sheperis was awarded a PAU Research Grant for presenting research related to the PAU eClinic at the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies Conference, including Implementing Digital Innovations in Brick-and-Mortar Healthcare Programs and Leveraging AI to Enhance CBT Competency in Academic Training Settings.
Dr. Rachel Jacoby was awarded a PAU Research Grant for her project Development and Validation of the Readiness Evaluation for Acuity in Counseling (REAC).
Dr. Megan Speciale was awarded a Professional Development Travel Grant for attending the 2025 ACA Annual Conference and co-presenting research on Centering Fat Liberation and Pleasure Activism in Clinical Mental Health Counseling.
Dr. Darlene Chen was awarded a PAU Research Grant for her study Impact of AI as a Co-Therapist: Innovating Youth Mental Health Training.
Dr. Rayna Hirst was awarded a Professional Development Travel Grant for attending the International Neuropsychological Society Annual Meeting and presenting research on burnout in neuropsychology graduate trainees.
Dr. Amie Haas was awarded a PAU Research Grant for her project Neuropsychological Deficits for Treatment-Seeking Fentanyl Users: An Ipsative and Normative Exploration.
Dr. Mikael Rubin was awarded a PAU Research Grant for evaluating a large language diagnostic assessment tool called eevalbot.
Dr. Kelly Coker was awarded an International Travel Grant for presenting at the International Association for Counseling Conference in Malta on Counseling in a World of New Challenges: Cultivating Mental Health and Wellbeing.
Dr. Shreya Vaishnav was awarded an International Travel Grant for presenting at the International Association for Counseling Conference in Malta on Broaching and Repairing Ruptures in Counseling within a Global Context.
Dr. Darlene Chen was awarded an International Travel Grant for presenting at the International Association for Counseling Conference in Malta, including Broaching and Repairing Ruptures in Counseling within a Global Context and Bridging Language and Culture: A Phenomenological Study of Training Novice Counselors Supporting Bilingual East and Southeast Asian Clients.
Dr. Jorge Lopez was awarded an International Travel Grant for presenting at the International Association for Counseling Conference in Malta on Broaching and Repairing Ruptures in Counseling within a Global Context.
Dr. Darlene Chen was awarded a Professional Development Travel Grant for attending the 2025 ACA Annual Conference and presenting two sessions on power dynamics and supervisee disclosure in supervision.
Dr. Donna Sheperis was awarded a PAU Research Grant for her project AI in Mental Health Training: Preparing a Mental Health Workforce for the Future.
Dr. Eduardo Bunge was awarded a PAU Research Grant for his project Impact of AI as a Co-Therapist: Innovating Youth Mental Health Training.
Dr. Susan Branco was awarded a Professional Development Travel Grant for co-presenting at the BIPOC Adoptees Conference on the Adoptee Consciousness Model.
Dr. Darlene Chen was awarded a Professional Development Travel Grant for presenting at the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision Conference on Cultivating Cultural Awareness in Trauma-Informed Care and The Role of AI in Training.
Dr. Szu-Yu Chen was awarded a PAU Research Grant for her study Exploring the Intersectional Narratives of Asian American Youth: A Photovoice Study.
Dr. Tameeka Hunter was awarded a PAU Research Grant for her project Cultivating Resilience: A Study of Counseling Students, Faculty, and Supervisors for Anti-Oppressive Curriculum Development.
2023-2024 AY
Dr. Eduardo Bunge was awarded a PAU Research Grant for his work on a Software Development-A-Based Chatbot.
Dr. Shreya Vaishnav was awarded an International Travel Grant for attending the European Branch of the American Counseling Association.
Dr. Darlene Chen was awarded a Professional Development Travel Grant for attending the annual International Association of Marriage and Family Counselors conference and presenting “Supporting Low-Resource Migrant Families with Online Child-Parent Relational Therapy Training”.
Dr. Mikael Rubin was awarded an Early Career Investigator Grant for his work on a Multimodal Large Language Models for Mental Health Assessment.
Dr. Donna Sheperis was awarded a Professional Development Travel Grant for attending the American Counseling Association Conference and collaborating on their accepted program proposal on the ethics of the Counseling Compact.
Dr. Rayna Hirst was awarded a Professional Development Travel Grant for traveling to the International Neuropsychological Society conference to present two abstracts.
Dr. Megan Speciale was awarded a Professional Development Travel Grant for attending the American Counseling Association annual conference to co-present their research on LGBTQIA parenting.
Dr. Shreya Vaishnav was awarded a Professional Development Travel Grant for attending the National Board of Certified Counselors Symposium and presenting Turning Talk into Action: A Counseling Program’s Commitment to DEIB.
Dr. Amie Haas was awarded a PAU Research Grant for her work on Project FIT: Fentanyl Intervention Tailoring for Residential Drug Treatment.
Dr. Darlene Chen was awarded a Professional Development Travel Grant for attending the American Counseling Association annual conference.
Dr. Sita Patel was awarded a PAU Research Grant for her work on Creating Safe Spaces for Girls in Nicaragua: Examining the Impact of Fútbol Sin Fronteras.
Dr. Amanda Fanniff was awarded a Professional Development Travel Grant for attending the American-Psychology Law Society conference to chair a symposium.
Dr. Rayna Hirst was awarded a PAU Research Grant for her work on the Sport Concussion Clinical Research Study.
Dr. Amanda Fanniff was awarded a PAU Research Grant for her work on Parenting in America: Preparing Children for Interactions with the Police.
Dr. Donna Sheperis was awarded an Professional Development Travel Grant for her work on Humanism and AI.
Dr. Rachel Jacoby was awarded a PAU Research Grant for her work on Development and Validation of the Readiness Evaluation for Acuity in Counseling (REAC).
Dr. Susan Branco was awarded an International Travel Grant for her work on Colombian First Family Mental Health Collaborative.
Dr. Shreya Vaishnav was awarded a Professional Development Travel Grant for attending Bodies of Culture (Visibly Melanated).
Dr. Nancy Haug was awarded a PAU Research Grant for her work on Follow-up Study of Recreational MDMA/Ecstasy Harm Reduction.
Dr. Chi Li was awarded a Professional Development Travel Grant for presenting at the Western Association for Counselor Education and Supervision Conference.
Dr. Darlene Chen was awarded an International Travel Grant for presenting at the International Association of Special Education Biennial Conference.
Dr. Jorge Lopez was awarded a Professional Development Travel Grant for presenting at the Western Association for Counselor Education and Supervision Conference.
Dr. Darlene Chen was awarded was awarded a Professional Development Travel Grant for presenting at the Western Association for Counselor Education and Supervision Conference.
Dr. Donya Wallace was awarded a Professional Development Travel Grant for presenting at the Western Association for Counselor Education and Supervision Conference.
Dr. Chi Li was awarded a PAU Research Grant for her work on A Meta-analysis of Supervisory Working Alliance Measures.
Dr. Donna Sheperis was awarded a Professional Development Travel Grant for presenting at the Western Association for Counselor Education and Supervision Conference.
Dr. Regina Moro was awarded a Professional Development Travel Grant for presenting at the Western Association for Counselor Education and Supervision Conference.
Dr. Joyce Chu was awarded a PAU Research Grant for her work on Cultural Assessment of Risk for Suicide 2.0.
Dr. Shreya Vaishnav was awarded a Professional Development Travel Grant for presenting at the Western Association for Counselor Education and Supervision Conference.
Dr. Darlene Chen was awarded a Professional Development Travel Grant for presenting at the Association for Assessment and Research in Counseling (AARC) Conference.
Dr. Tameeka Hunter was awarded a Professional Development Travel Grant for presenting at the AADA conference and presenting at the WACES conference.
Faculty Research Council Members
