Two Human Ecology faculty members have recently been awarded fellowships from the Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research (BCTR).

Corinna Loeckenhoff, the Janet and Gordon Lankton Professor of Developmental Psychology,  has been named the Rebecca Q. and James C. Morgan Engaged Faculty Fellow, and Renata Leitão, assistant professor in the Department of Human Centered Design, has been named the new Evalyn Edwards Milman Fellow. Both will serve in their roles through June 2027.

Both fellowships were established to enable Human Ecology faculty members to elevate their translational research efforts to align with the BCTR’s mission of connecting research with communities to enhance human development, health and well-being.

Loeckenhoff leads the Healthy Aging Lab, focusing on adult development and aging and how factors like a person’s motivations, emotions, life events, cognition and social relationships affect their health-related decisions. She directs CHE’s gerontology minor and is co-investigator for the Translational Research Institute on Pain in Later Life (TRIPLL); both are aging-related initiatives affiliated with the BCTR.

Loeckenhoff plans to use the fellowship to implement behavioral interventions that promote physical and mental health in middle-aged and older populations, with particular emphasis on older adults in rural areas, who face added challenges in accessing support and resources.

“It can take decades to move health-promoting interventions from the laboratory into real life, and rural populations are often the last to benefit. The BCTR’s statewide network of collaborators can jumpstart the process,” said Loeckenhoff. “Given the massive cuts in NIH funding, this fellowship will be a lifeline for my lab.”

Loeckenhoff is a fellow of the Gerontological Society of America and the Association for Psychological Science; she has also received two SUNY Chancellor’s Awards for Teaching Excellence and Faculty Service.

Leitão is a graphic designer and social design researcher. Her research focuses on the interplay between the ideas we hold about the world (paradigms, ideals, imaginaries and meta-narratives) and the kind of tangible worlds we design. Leitão leads the Pluriversal Futures Design Lab; its mission is to foster societal transformation by addressing the limitations of how current environmental and social crises have been addressed. 

Leitão will use the fellowship to produce videos and a podcast about societal transformation and paradigmatic change to make this knowledge more accessible, specifically for youth. In particular, she aims to explore how imaginaries, fantasies, utopias, and promissory stories frame and influence technological advancement, having a profound impact on how design and STEM students perceive their role in society. Her lab will produce eight videos, each accompanied by a corresponding podcast episode elaborating on the content of each video.

“The Pluriversal Futures Design Lab is founded on the belief that we can only effectively address the dire meta-crises humanity faces by changing the underlying paradigm,” said Leitão. “However, examining our current paradigm in order to change it is incredibly challenging; it’s like trying to examine our glasses while we’re looking through them.”

Leitão launched and co-led the Design Research Society’s (DRS) Pluriversal Design Special Interest Group, an international research network that aims to highlight multiple perspectives in design. 

“We are thrilled to have Drs. Leitão and Loeckenhoff advancing their work through these BCTR fellowships,” said Anthony Burrow, BCTR director and Ferris Family Associate Professor of Life Course Studies. “Their scholarship truly embodies the BCTR’s mission to solve problems and improve lives, along with elevating the innovative research that emanates from CHE.”