ADHCE SCHOLARSHIP Recipients 2026-2027

Student Project Scholarship Winners - Each student was awarded $1,000 for their winning submission!

Congratulations Priya Desai and Toby “Bonk” Good

Priya Desai - Priya Desai is a rising high school senior at Centennial High School in Frisco, Texas, and the founder of SafetyCompanion, an iOS safety application designed for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Her research focuses on the intersection of neuroscience, safety technology, and health equity. She presented original research at the IEEE International Conference on Health Informatics 2026, introducing the design-threat mismatch framework, a neurobiological audit rubric evaluating safety technology across five failure domains in IDD populations. She has conducted wet-lab research at UT Southwestern Medical Center, investigating molecular pathways in chronic kidney disease progression, and collaborates with faculty at the University of Maryland School of Nursing on a multi-institutional scoping review on disability-focused healthcare equity.

Project Proposal for ADHCE Scholarship

Project Title: SafetyCompanion

Background: Individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities face disproportionately high rates of sexual violence and interpersonal harm, yet existing safety technology was not designed with their neurobiological realities in mind. SafetyCompanion is an iOS application built to close that gap intervening during early-risk situations rather than after harm has occurred, and empowering IDD users with tools that work with their neurology, not against it.

Objectives: 

Drawing from five identified failure domains — threat recognition, decision initiation, motor execution, interface navigation, and alert stimulus — SafetyCompanion implements architectural solutions to each, creating one of the first safety applications built from a disability-informed neurobiological framework. The application features zero-decision escalation flows, gross motor inputs, sensory-calibrated alerts, AAC-compatible communication tools, and psychoeducational videos to help users recognize unsafe situations and access help. SafetyCompanion is designed to prevent sexual assault and interpersonal violence before it occurs, reaching a population that existing safety infrastructure has not met.

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Toby “Bonk” Good - Toby is a third-year student at University of Pittsburgh pursuing a BS in microbiology, a BA in German, and certificates in bioethics and disability studies. He is an active member in several spaces for disabled students on his campus and currently acts as Vice President and Secretary for Pitt’s Autistic Students Union. They are also an inducted member of Delta Alpha Pi and served as a Peer Mentor for Disability Resources and Services (DRS) within Pitt’s Office of Institutional Engagement and Wellbeing. Toby plans to pursue a PhD in infectious disease and become an infectious disease research scientist.

Toby’s research experience consists of participating as a member for both RAISE’s Student Collaborative and Disability Justice Collaborative as well as Pitt’s Disability Healthcare Access Collaborative. He is particularly interested in the intersectionality of infectious disease and disability. This will be their first time leading research.

Project Proposal for ADHCE Scholarship

Background: Disabled college students are in a unique period of transition, requiring tailored clinical care and interdisciplinary collaboration. These students often face numerous barriers and help-seeking challenges, particularly when attempting to access multiple campus supports. Toby’s proposed project utilizes the arts-based research method to explore the experiences of newly disabled college students (particularly those who became disabled during or after the COVID-19 pandemic) navigating health, disability, and other campus services. It also aims to engage their perspectives on how improving accessibility and coordination of campus services better meets the needs of SWD. The ADHCE Student Project Scholarship will contribute towards compensating participants for their creative work during three 3-hour sessions. Toby is supported by the following project team members: Director of Sexual Violence Prevention and Education at Pitt OIEW (Carrie Benson) and the RAISE study team (Kayla Ortiz, Mac Mela, Alyssa Gribov, Reg Futcher (NIH R01AA023260, PI: Traci Kazmerski, Co-I: Alison Culyba)) from the Pitt Department of Pediatrics. 

 

ADHCE Core Competency Alignment:

This project aligns with the following ADHCE Core Competencies:

• Competency 4: Teams and Systems-based Practice - Explores how student health services can collaborate with campus offices outside of the clinical care system to best care for SWD.

• Competency 5: Clinical Assessment - Assesses SWD health holistically, assessing multiple areas of life impacting health, such as interpersonal relationships, co-occurring mental health conditions, and academic needs.

• Competency 6: Clinical Care over the Lifespan and during Transitions - Focuses on newly disabled college students, a population of disabled young people navigating a significant transitional period as they adjust to college, new symptoms, and navigating care in a new environment