Sharon Watson receives James H. Woodward Faculty Research Award

The Office of Academic Affairs recognized faculty for exemplary work in the areas of teaching, advising and civic engagement at the annual Provost’s Awards Reception held Monday, April 22.

Sharon Watson, assistant professor of anthropology, is this year’s recipient of the James H. Woodward Faculty Research Award, which is given annually to an untenured member of the faculty who was reappointed to a tenure-earning position in the preceding academic year. The award is intended to recognize a promising program of research, scholarship or creative practice and supports the career development of junior faculty in tenure-track positions.

Watson is a cultural anthropologist who specializes in health and the role that variables such as economic stability, race and public health initiatives play in decisions made about health and medical outcomes. Her appointment to the University in 2019 was part of an interdisciplinary Social Aspects of Health Initiative cluster hire intended to identify and address health inequities in urban regions.

Watson’s research examines how what we know, through scientific research, makes its way into real-life changes and policies. Her work contributes to the goals of implementation and dissemination research in exploring how the University can improve the translation of research into practice. Her recent research looked specifically at the long-term benefits of exposure to qualitative research methods, ethics and field experience on a group of young people in the country Lesotho, which has one of the world’s highest HIV prevalence rates.