Concord, CA - Kathryn (Kati) Peditto, has been selected as the 2018 New Investigator Award (NIA) recipient by The Center for Health Design’s Research Coalition. Kathryn is a PhD Candidate at Cornell University College of Human Ecology in the department of Design and Environmental Analysis, studying Human Behavior and Design. Her research study titled, “A Space of Their Own: Improving Social Support and Quality of Life for Adolescents and Young Adults with Cancer,” aims to gain deeper insight on how the built environment can improve health-related quality of life for patients that are adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with cancer. In her study, Kathryn hypothesizes AYAs who have access to certain environmental characteristics, will demonstrate greater perceived peer social support. From this research, she aims to propose a set of evidence-based design guidelines for cancer facilities treating adolescent and young adult patients.

As the 2018 award recipient, Kati will also serve as a member of The Center's Research Coalition for one year, along with complimentary registration to the 2019 Healthcare Design Expo & Conference, where she will have the opportunity to present her completed research study.

Yolanda Keys who led the 2018 NIA Initiative for The Center's Research Coalition stated, “The Center’s Research Coalition congratulates Kathryn Peditto as the recipient of the 2018 New Investigator Award. We are thrilled to be supporting her research and the resulting EBD guidelines that will impact the quality of life for AYA patients. This year the New Investigator Award finalists were all very strong candidates, and as a result, we had a first - a three-way tie for second place! 

The Research Coalition would like to recognize the three tied second-place new investigator finalists for their outstanding proposals and wishes them the best in their future endeavors:

• Lisa Lim, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, College of Architecture, Texas Tech University: The Impact of Clinic Layouts on Staff and Patient Teamwork Experience
• Lesa N. Lorusso, MBA, MS Arch, PhD Candidate University of Florida, Healthcare Director of Research & Innovation, Gresham Smith: Investigating the Impact of Multisensory Environments on Behavior for Veterans with Dementia
• Renae K. Rich, MS EDAC, Research Analyst, HDR: Development and Validation of a Survey Instrument to Measure Nurse Satisfaction with the Inpatient Care Environment
   

Congratulations again to Kathryn Peditto and all of the finalists!