Program Contacts
Jian Li, M.D., Ph.D., Dr.rer.sec
Program Director
Lizbeth Diaz, MPH
Assistant Director
The Pilot Project Research Training (PPRT) Program supports specialized research training in occupational health and safety. The program fosters the development of multidisciplinary research aligned with the National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA), including cross-sector goals that advance worker health, safety, and well-being.
The Southern California Education and Research Center (SCERC) awards short-term pilot project grants to support innovative research training for graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, junior faculty, and new investigators.
Funding supports small research projects or pilot studies designed to:
- Explore feasibility
- Collect preliminary data
- Strengthen applications for external, long-term funding
All proposed projects must address topics relevant to NORA priority research areas. Studies addressing workers facing disproportionate occupational risk are strongly encouraged.
Who Can Apply
Eligible applicants include:
- Students enrolled in Master or Doctoral level academic programs and engaged in research related to occupational health or safety;
- Post-doctoral scholars engaged in research related to occupational health or safety;
- Junior faculty (within 6 years of their original appointment) engaged in research related to occupational health or safety
Non-faculty applicants must include a full-time faculty sponsor in the application.
Priority will be given to applicants from Region IX (California, Nevada, Arizona, Hawaii, Guam).
26-27 Application Period Now Open!
See below for more details and deadlines.
26-27 Funding Announcement Summary
26-27 Funding Application Guidelines
Post-Award Resources for Awardees
Previous PPRT Awardee Projects
2025-2026
| Awardee Name | Institute | Status | Research Project Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| Desiree Gift-Mills | UCI | Doctoral Student | "Airway Susceptibility in Mice Prenatally Exposed to E-Cigarette Aerosols" |
| Haoxuan Chen | UCLA | Postdoctoral Scholar | "Characterizing the Indoor Airborne Microbiome in Vape Shops and Cannabis Lounges" |
| Joy He | UCLA | Doctoral Student | "Comprehensive Toxicity Classification of Wildland-Urban Interface Smoke Constituents" |
| Junyu Sui | ASU | Doctoral Student | "Influences on the Association Between Work and Risk of Dementia" |
| Simone Baldwin | UCLA | Doctoral Student | "Assessing Potential Occupational Exposures for Workers Handling 2025 Los Angeles Debris at Landfills" |
| Preston Clubb | UCLA | Doctoral Student | "Microplastics As Vectors of PFAS from Electronic Waste: Implications for Occupational Exposures" |
| Xiang Li | UCLA | Doctoral Student | "Biological Ageing as a Pathway from Long Working Hours to Mortality: Evidence from U.S. Workers" |
| Xiaomeng Lin | UCI | Doctoral Candidate | "Investigating the Impact of Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticles on Red Blood Cell Function and Oxygen Delivery: Implications for Occupational Health" |
2024-2025
| Awardee Name | Institute | Status | Research Project Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elizabeth Keller | UCLA | Postdoctoral Fellow | "Determining long-term effects of a schedule change intervention on nurse managers and patient outcomes: A randomized wait-list controlled trial" |
| Emma Landskroner | UCLA | Doctoral Student | "Assessing the Safety of Emerging Green Solvents in the Dry Cleaning Industry: A Toxicological Approach" |
| Kathleen Leon Parada | UCI | Doctoral Student | "Gestational Benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) Effects on Quantity and Quality of Surviving Oocyte Pool in Mice" |
| Michael Joshua Morales | UCSF | Doctoral Student | "Impact of High-Reliability Organization Implementation on Patient Handling Injury Prevention in Veteran’s Affair Healthcare Facilities" |
| Xuyuehe Ren | UCLA | Doctoral Student | "The interplay of shift work, meal timing, and eating duration on cardiometabolic health among workers in the United States" |
2022-2023
| Awardee Name | Institute | Status | Research Project Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lizbeth Diaz | Environmental Health Sciences / UCLA | Doctoral Student | “Occupational respiratory exposures among mobile car wash workers in Los Angeles” |
| Minjung Kyung | Nursing / UC San Francisco | “Reporting Attitude and Behavior for Musculoskeletal Symptoms Among Nursing Assistants in Long-Term Care Facility” | |
| Rachel Odes | Nursing / UC San Francisco | “Measurement and regulation of workplace violence in healthcare settings” | |
| Priyanka Ravi | Health Promotion Sciences / U of Arizona | Doctoral Student | “The occupational health risk among the women working in the beedi industry in Mysore, India” |
| Tong Xia | Epidemiology / UCLA | Doctoral Student | “Associations of occupational physical activity (OPA) with cardiovascular diseases (CVD) mortality and CVD risk factors using nationally representative data among workers in the United States" |
2021-2022
| Awardee Name | Institute | Status | Research Project Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amanda Wilson | COEH/ U of Arizona | Assistant Professor | “Infectious disease occupational risks for elementary school teachers (K-5) with a focus on current COVID-19 guidelines for in-person learning" |
| Jennifer Nicole Newman | Health Sciences/ CSU Northridge | Assistant Professor | "A merger of environmental and occupational health in the health administration curriculum to best prepare students for inevitable crisis management" |
| Michele Wong | Social Welfare/ UCLA | Doctoral Student | "Workplace experiences of Gendered Racial Microaggressions (GRM) among Asian American women" |
| Mohamed Awada | Civil & Environmental Engineering/ USC | Doctoral Student | "Automated detection of stress in offices using machine learning" |
| Rachel Odes | Nursing/ UC San Francisco | Doctoral Student | "Measurement and regulation of workplace violence in healthcare settings" |
| Xinyue Liu | Epidemiology/ UCLA | Doctoral Student | "Pre-conceptional and maternal occupational physical activity and cardiovascular disease risk factors and biomarkers among pregnant women: a longitudinal study" |
| Xiwen Huang | Epidemiology/ UCLA | Doctoral Student | "The effect of maternal occupational physical activity (OPA) on childhood cancer risk" |
2020-2021
| Awardee Name | Institute | Status | Research Project Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miriam Marlier | EHS/ UCLA | Assistant Professor | “Exposure of Agricultural Workers in California to Wildfire Smoke" |
| Raymond Hernandez | Occupational Science/ USC | Doctoral Student | “Cumulative Strain, Activity Engagement, and Psychological State" |
| Tim Matthews | EHS/ UCLA | Doctoral Student | "Increased job strain and cardiovascular disease mortality: a prospective cohort study in U.S. workers" |
| Travis Cribbs | EHS-IH/ UCLA | Doctoral Student | "Permeation of Inorganic Gunshot Residues Disolved in Commerical Gun Cleaning Solvent Through Disposable Nitrile Gloves" |
2019-2020
| Awardee Name | Institute | Status | Research Project Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rietta Wagoner | EHS/ U of Arizona | Doctoral Student | “Seasonal Comparisons of Acute Kidney Injury, Heat Exposure, and Heavy MEtal Exposure in a Sonoran Agricultural Population" |
| Charlene Nguyen | EHS-IH/ UCLA | Doctoral Student | "Assessing Workplace Exposure to E-cigarette Aerosols among Vape Shop Workers in Southern California" |
| Stephanie Pavon | Nursing/ UCLA | Doctoral Student | “Work and Family Demands on Latina T2DM Management” |
| Ivy Torres | Population Health & Disease Prevention/ UC Irvine | Doctoral Student | "Occupational health within the bounds of primary care: Factors shaping the health of Latina/o immigrant workers in federally qualified health centers" |
2018-2019
| Awardee Name | Institute | Status | Research Project Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jisung Park | EHS/ UCLA | Assistant Professor | “The Connections Between Extreme Heat and Occupational Safety and Health Using Worker's Compensation Data for the State of California" |
2017-2018
| Awardee Name | Institute | Status | Research Project Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| Teni Adewumi-Gunn | EHS-IH/ UCLA | Doctoral Student | “Development and Implementation of a Personal Protective Equipment Training Program for Cosmetologists" |
| Nathan Poon | Mechanical Engineering/ UC Berkeley | Doctoral Student | “Evaluation of a Trunk Supporting Exoskeleton for reducing risk for back injury due to fatigue" |
| Logan Thomas Van Engelhoven | Mechanical Engineering/ UC Berkeley | Doctoral Student | “Evaluation of a Shoulder Support Exoskeleton on Static and Dynamic Overhead Tasks” |
| Robert Canales | Community, Environment & Policy Department/ U. of Arizona | New Investigator | “Methodologies for Analysis of continuous time series measurements relevant for occupational health" |
| Vikram Haridass | Epidemiology/ UCI | Doctoral Student | “Occupational cancer risk in California teachers and risk modification by history of anti-inflammatory, anti-hypertensive, anti-cholesterol medication use” |
2016-2017
| Awardee Name | Institute | Status | Research Project Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abdullah Khafagy | OEM/ UCSF | OEM resident | "Evaluation of the occupational cardiovascular strain of the hotel housekeepers resulting from high levels of physical activity while making beds and cleaning hotel rooms" |
| Jonah Lipsitt | EHS/ UCLA | Doctoral student | "Physical Activity Through Sustainable Transport Activities (PASTA) in Los Angeles" |
| Vahe Khachadourian | Epidemiology/ UCLA | Doctoral student | "Back pain burden and its determinants among vulnerable farmers: from empirical analysis to simulated policies" |
| Venkat Venkatasubramanian | Business Administration/ UC Berkeley | Master student | "Force, repetition and posture estimations of the distal upper extremity using surface electromyography and inertial measurement units" |
| Rania Sabty-Daily | Labor Occupational Safety and Health (LOSH)/ UCLA | New Investigator | "Design a Heat App (for use with smart phone technology), as a tool for heat illness intervention, training and data collection among construction day laborers in California" |
2015-2016
| Awardee Name | Institute | Status | Research Project Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| Charlene Nguyen | UCLA | Master Student, EHS, IH Program | A New Indoor Air Mitigation Strategy for Nail Salons Based on Correlations Between Indoor Air Quality and Occupancy |
| Teofilia Acheampong | UC Irvine | Doctoral Student, Epidemiology | Occupational Exposures and Risk of Breast Cancer: The Singapore Chinese Health Study |
| Javier Garcia-Rivas | UC Irvine | Doctoral Student, Public Health | Exploring working conditions and injury among Day Laborers in Orange County |
| Negar Omidakhsh | UCLA | Doctoral Student, Epidemiology | Paternal occupational exposures and risk of sporadic retinoblastoma among offspring. |
| Nicolas Lopez-Galvez | U. Arizona | Doctoral Student, EHS | An Observational Pilot Study of the Effect of Heat Stress on Pesticide Exposure in Migrant Farmworkers in Sonora, Mexico |
| Deborah Curtis | UCLA | Doctoral Student, OEHN | The association between work place racism obesity and shiftwork among African American nurses |
| Dal Lae Chin | UCSF | Post-doctoral Researcher, OEHN | Association of Occupational Noise Exposure with Cardiovascular Diseases among Career Firefighters |
2014-2015
| Awardee Name | Institute | Status | Research Project Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shi Shu | EHS/ UCLA | Post-doctoral researcher | "Exploratory investigation on chemical reactions initiated by indoor ultraviolet light: Evidence of reaction and UFP Generation" |
| Eon Lee | EHS/ UCLA | Post-doctoral researcher | "Application of low-cost sensor air quality instruments to monitor school bus driver’s exposure to vehicle-emitted particulate pollutants" |
| Zeyan Liew | Epidemiology/ UCLA | Post-doctoral researcher | "Occupational pesticide exposure and depression" |
| BongKyoo Choi | Center of Occupational and Environmental Health (COEH)/ UC Irvine | Junior Faculty | "Exploring occupational and behavioral risk factors for obesity in urban bus drivers" |
2013-2014
| Awardee Name | Institute | Status | Research Project Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| Katherine McNamara | EHS-IH/ UCLA | Doctoral Student | "Shift work, fatigue and health in south bay refinery workers" |
| Carisa Harris- Adamson | Physical Therapy/ Samuel Merrit University | Junior Faculty | "Biomechanical evaluation of hotel room cleaners while making luxury beds with and without a mattress lift tool" |
| Nu Yu | EHS-IH/ UCLA | Doctoral student | "Los Angeles taxi drivers’ occupational exposures to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon: Biomarkers for exposure and health effects. " |
| Heidi Fisher | Biostatistics/ UCLA | Doctoral Student | "Case-control study of occupational exposure to electric shocks and magnetic fields and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis using the Swedish patient register from 1987 to 2009 with bias analysis" |
| Michele Wargo-Sugleris | OEHN/ UCLA | Doctoral Student | "Job satisfaction, work environment, and successful aging: determinants to remain in older acute care nurses" |
2012-2013
| Awardee Name | Institute | Status | Research Project Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| Citadel Cabasag | Epidemiology/ UC Irvine | Doctoral Student | "Evaluating the association between occupational agents and cancer risks in the Long Beach Naval Shipyard Cohort" |
| Linda Lee | Social Welfare/UCLA | Doctoral Student | "Home care workers’ health" |
| Soo-Jeong Lee | OEHN/ UCSF | Junior Faculty | "LMusculoskeletal disorders among California nurses: impact of safe patient handling law" |