Hao Wins $100,000 'Innovations in Healthy Aging' Grant

AME associate professor Qing Hao is one of five recipients of the Innovations in Healthy Aging grant from University of Arizona Health Sciences. The $100,000 grants are designed to support research into aging-related diseases and health challenges.

“We want to leverage the existing strengths in aging that we have as an institution and enhance them in a variety of ways to create an age-friendly university that interacts closely with our community,” said Esther M. Sternberg, associate director for biomedical and environmental research for Innovations in Healthy Aging. “Seed grants are one of the ways in which we can achieve this."

Hao's project, “Personal Thermal Comfort Management and Minimized Building Energy Consumption via Ambient Light Exposure for Optimal Thermal Comfort in Older Adults,” aligns with his research background in energy transport and heat transfer. He is working with assistant research professor of environmental science Johnny Ray Runyon, assistant professor of architecture Altaf A. Engineer, professor of psychology Matthias R. Mehl, Gustavo de Oliveira Almeida from the UArizona Health Sciences Sensor Lab, and clinical assistant professor from the Department of Medicine Karen E. Parker.

Over the past year, Innovations in Healthy Aging has supported 14 projects with seed funding totaling $646,167. The goal is to allow researchers to gather pilot data to use in applications for external funding from large national organizations.