Impact Update January 2026 – New grant awards
Our research powers new, innovative discoveries that boost our practice of teaching at all levels and help change lives in communities both near and far.
Here are the most recent new grants made to faculty and staff of the college.
$2.5 million to expand center for military early childhood education
Sarah Lang, Associate Professor of Early Childhood Education, recently received a grant from the U.S. Department of War and the U.S. Department of Agriculture for $2,569,192 to continue and expand her ongoing project, the Virtual Lab School.
The award enables the continuation and expansion of the longstanding school, a comprehensive, online, evidence-informed professional development system for the 30,000 people who work in child and youth programs on U.S. military installations.
Last year alone, military child and youth professionals earned more than 541,000 hours of professional development through the system. This funding will foster continued growth in both the audiences served by the system and in the range of professional development resources it offers.
The Virtual Lab School provides innovative and cost-effective virtual professional development for child development, school age and youth program staff and family child care providers. The system is grounded on the effectiveness of reflective practice, tailored coaching to support staff members’ use of optimal practices and evidence-based strategies to support adult learners.
College to lead statewide Mental Health Literacy Initiative
Tanya Middleton and Brett Zyromski, Assistant Professor and Associate Professor of Counselor Education, respectively, are partnering with the college’s Center on Education and Training for Employment in a federally funded grant from the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce.
The faculty and a host of experts at the center, led by the center’s principal investigator Gabrielle Johnson, PhD, will produce six research-informed online learning modules for use by Ohio educators.
These research-informed, accessible learning experiences will help Ohio educators recognize mental health needs, reduce stigma and create supportive school environments.
Tonya Orchard, Professor of Human Nutrition, first connected with the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) in 2008 as a doctoral student under mentor Rebecca Jackson, MD — one of the WHI’s original principal investigators.
Leading an ancillary study in WHI for her dissertation laid the foundation for Orchard’s current role as a co‑investigator with the WHI Midwest Regional Center, which recently secured a $2.4 million extension grant led by Principal Investigator Electra Paskett, College of Medicine..
Orchard has co‑chaired the national WHI Nutrition Scientific Interest Group since 2018 and has led the Early Career Investigator Award Working Group since 2022.
She collaborates with fellow Ohio State WHI co‑investigators Professor Michael Pennell, College of Public Health and Professor Michelle Naughton, College of Medicine.
She also actively involves her graduate students in analyzing WHI data and publishing new findings on the relationship of diet to chronic diseases that disproportionately impact older women.
Family Engagement Center to lead Ohio literacy project
Meredith Wellman and Barbara Boone, both experts in family engagement for Elementary and Secondary Education, and both with the college’s Ohio Statewide Family Engagement Center, received a new grant from the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce to conduct the High-Quality Family Engagement Implementation for Ohio's Comprehensive Literacy State Development Project.
The Ohio State team is offering two extended professional development seminars to teachers, administrators and literacy specialists in Ohio between 2025-2028. To improve access for educators to excellent family engagement resources, the team is working with the Ohio department, parents, educators and librarians to develop a Family Literacy Toolkit for early childhood through high school.
Boone, with her colleague Wellman, has directed the Family Engagement Center since 2018. The multi-million-dollar federal grant received through the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce recognizes the team's strategic approach to energizing educators and families in support of K-12 children.