Two professors win competitive Fulbright awards

February 6, 2018

Spider Pride

Fulbright awards do not come to all who apply. Fortunately for Richmond students, our professors are leaders who are known for becoming award recipients and expanding their research projects — ultimately contributing significantly to their academic fields. 

Biology professor Jory Brinkerhoff and history professor Manuella Meyer are the latest to receive Fulbrights to fund their research. Overseen by the U.S. Department of State, the Fulbright program seeks to foster mutual understanding between Americans and those from other countries.

Brinkerhoff is using his award to spend six months at Nihon University in Japan studying Bartonella, a genus of disease-causing bacterial species that can transfer from animals to humans by lice, fleas, and flies. The project will closely examine Bartonella parasites found in Japanese monkeys (called macaques) to investigate the risk for humans.

“So far we know very little about how common this disease is in these monkeys, how it is transmitted and if there is a risk to human health,” Brinkerhoff said. “Tourists can get quite close to these animals, so there are public health motivations for this project. There also are basic science questions about relationships among different bacterial species and groups in macaque parasites collected from different sites.”

On the other side of the globe, Meyer’s research focuses on public health, the history of welfare, gender, and race discourse. She’s examining the socio-political landscape of mental illness in Rio de Janeiro, so she’s heading there for her second book project, “Making Brazilian Children: Child Welfare and the Psychiatry of Childhood, 1922-1954.”

“This research focuses on how mental health professionals viewed children as the means through which to create ideal citizens and a strong nation-state,” Meyer said. “It also examines narratives of madness and concepts of mental illness articulated by psychiatrists during a time of rapid cultural transformation.”

Congratulations, Dr. Brinkerhoff and Dr. Meyer! We know your research abroad will enhance both your own work and the classroom experience for your students.

Read more about the Fulbrights