Students win awards for linguistics and cystic fibrosis research

Kaj Kraus, a graduate student in Linguistics working with advisor Dr. Deanna Gagne, has just received a $14,608 award from the National Science Foundation through its NSF 20-538: Linguistics Program - Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grants (Ling-DDRI) Program. His 18-month project (award number NSF 2336589) will explore how English proficiency and working memory affects how deaf and hard of hearing people learn American Sign Language as young adults.

"Many hearing parents of deaf and hard of hearing children opt not to learn and use ASL early because of the belief that their child 'can always decide to learn ASL later.' As a result, it is quite common for deaf and hard of hearing people to learn ASL as adults, but we know very little about this learning context," Kraus explains. "Through this work, I hope to provide evidence that encourages parents not to defer ASL for their children, while also identifying ways to best support second language ASL learning for deaf and hard of hearing people who are already past childhood."

Blessed Mbogo, an undergraduate pursuing a double major in Biology and Psychology, won a 2024 Student Traineeship Award from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Program (award number 005366H223). The program, which provides a stipend of up to $4,000 for one year, aims to get students involved in cystic fibrosis research and encourages them to develop and maintain interest in this field. He will be mentored by Dr. Derek Braun, a professor of Biology.

For two summers, Mbogo did an internship at Seattle Children's Research Institute, where he researched the epidemiology of cystic fibrosis-related diabetes by race and ethnicity. That project led to the initiation of his related Honors capstone project, which looks at how baseline psychological status affects adverse events in clinical trials of patients with cystic fibrosis.

"I've created my own research question," says Mbogo, who feels motivated by getting this award. "It's up to me to make it the first of many."