(December 21, 2022- Washington, D.C.) -- Spotlighting the critical role of design and its impact on the human experience, the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) Foundation has announced the recipients of its 2022 Transform Research Grants. The grants are made possible by the generous support of the Donghia Foundation. The ASID Foundation Grants provide essential funding to address critical gaps in industry knowledge, advance design understanding, and transform the practice of interior design to improve lives. The 2022 call for proposals sought research that adapted environments for greater change and resiliency, designed more humanizing environments for imperiled people, and activated diversity, equity, and inclusion in design solutions.

The 2022 awardees of the ASID Transform Research Grants are:

Design for Health: Resilient Age Inclusive Design (RAD)

($70K Award)

PI: Dr. Shelby Hicks, MFA is an Assistant Professor of Interior Design at Western Carolina University (WCU). Design for Health (D4H), an interdisciplinary team that includes researchers and practitioners from interior design, social work, sociology, business, and environmental health, will identify challenges, evaluate efficacy and appropriateness of existing assessment frameworks and measures, and prioritize needs to develop a resilient and age-inclusive design (RAD) assessment framework that can be used to evaluate the social determinant of health (SDoH) outcomes of older adults characterized by rurality, poverty, and experiencing housing issues.

Along with Shelby Hicks, the inter-disciplinary research group includes Amy Murphy-Nugen, Ph.D., MSW, Yue Cai Hillon, Ph.D., Yiqing Yang, Ph.D., and Sara Duncan, Ph.D.

Designing for Health Equity: Advancing the Public Repository to Engage Community & Enhance Design Equity (PRECEDE) tool

($30K Award)

Co-PI: Dr. Erika Eitland (Co-PI), MPH, ScD, is the Director of the Human Experience Lab, and David Cordell, ASID, LEED AP, WELL AP, Fitwel Ambassador is an Associate Principal at Perkins & Will

This project aims to develop an open-source dashboard that integrates and translates public health data into interior design decisions. This assessment tool will enable designers and identify community health priorities for U.S. projects by location. It will educate designers on the association between the built environment and health equity to create health-responsive interior environments.

Along with Dr. Erika Eitland and David Cordell, the research group also includes Amina Helstern, LEED AP, Fitwel Ambassador, Tyrone Marshall, AIA, NOMA, LEED AP BD+C, and Devika Tandon, AIA, NCARB, EcoDistricts AP, WELL AP, LEED Green Associate.

The ASID Foundation Research Committee selected the winning projects based on a range of qualifications, including the significance of the study, innovativeness of research questions, strength of research methods, applicability of research findings, and more. Scores from the committee* were aggregated and analyzed to determine the top proposals for each grant type and then were discussed in detail. The Foundation Board of Trustees reviewed the award recommendations and approved the awards.

This year’s committee members include: Sally Augustin, Ph.D. – Principal, Design With Science; Lisa Henry, FASID, Allied AIA – CEO, Greenway Group; Denise Rush, FASID – Dean and Faculty, Boston Architectural College, School of Interior Architecture; Kay Sargent, FASID, LEED AP, MCR.w, WELL AP – Senior Principal and Director of Workplace, HOK; and Susan Chung, Ph.D., WELL AP – Senior Research Program Manager, HKS.

To review the winning projects, visit asid.org/foundation/programs/transform.

For more information on the ASID Foundation, visit asid.org/foundation.

*Committee members related to specific proposals and/or affiliated with research team organizations/institutions were recused from the review and did not partake in the final award recommendations.