2022 Joseph G. Sprague New Investigator Award Recipients Announced

Becky Gill and Marzia Chowdhury are the 2022 Joseph G. Sprague New Investigator Award recipients. Both Ph.D. students, Becky Gill attends Arizona State University (Herberger Institute for Design and Arts) and Marzia Chowdhury is at the University of Kansas (Department of Architecture, School of Architecture and Design).

Gill’s study: “Environmental Affordance Index: Evaluating Family Members’ Spatial Needs in Adult ICUs” attempts to determine the spatial needs of family members within adult ICUs and then develop tools by which to evaluate environmental congruence.

Chowdhury’s study “Emergency Department Design for Pandemic Conditions: Lessons Learned from the COVID-19 Pandemic” will initially investigate how emergency departments modified their physical environments in response to the COVID-19 pandemic phases, and then evaluate various design strategies to maximize ED operational metrics in preparation for future surge conditions.

As the 2022 award recipients, both Gill and Chowdhury will get a complimentary registration to the 2023 Healthcare Design Conference + Expo, where they will have the opportunity to present their completed research studies.