ASPE Research and Project Awards

Every year ASPE provides incentive grants to members who propose unique research or development projects related to the use of standardized patients in the health sciences.

All studies/projects must be consistent with ASPE’s mission and goals, specifically adhering to the Standards of Best Practice. Studies to extend our knowledge about live human simulation-based education as an educational methodology, as well as, identifying best practices in SP education, novel SP use, or advances in methodology, are particularly encouraged.

Past awarded research includes: 

  • Validating communications skills instruments;
  • Studying patient satisfaction data;
  • Validating training techniques in feedback and role portrayal;
  • Evaluating stealth SP projects; and

  • Studying SP recruiting and retention. 

Requests for Proposals are sent to the membership annually and awards of up to $10,000.00 (USD) are announced at the Annual Conference. Thanks to this, recipients have also developed tools for the SP educator such as a compendium of social histories and a web text of special effects simulation, both of which SP educators can use in case development. 

Please see the list of past award recipients below.

 The 2025 ASPE Research & Project Awards Call for Proposals is Closed

Awards and Funding:

Research Award - Our primary award, up to $8,000 per award

Pilot Award – Established in 2017 to encourage innovative projects, up to $2,000 per award - the most significant difference between Research Awards and Pilot Awards is the scope of impact, as well as cost.

Period of Funding:                  July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2027 

Letters of Intent (LOI):            Due by Friday, March 21, 2025

Full Proposal Invitations:       Applicants will be notified by Friday, April 4, 2025

Full Proposals:                        Due by Wednesday, April 30, 2025

Award Notification:                 Week of May 19, 2025, by the Grants & Research Chair

Award Announcement:           Announced at the 2025 ASPE Annual Conference, being held
                                                  June 1-4, 2025, in Montreal, Quebec, CA

 
QUESTIONS?

2025 Recipients:

Guidelines for the Ethical and Practical Integration of Child and Adolescent Simulated Participants (CASPs) in Healthcare Simulation
Dr Ayesha Ahmed, MBBS, AFHEA, Centre for Innovation in Medical Education, Karachi, Aga Khan University
Dr Selina Hasan, MBBS, MHPE, CHSE, Centre for Innovation in Medical Education, Karachi, Aga Khan University
Dr Faisal Ismail, MBBS, FCPS, MSc. Healthcare Simulation, SFHEA, Centre for Innovation in Medical Education, Karachi, Aga Khan University

Empowering Excellence, Enabling Esteem: Appreciative Inquiry of Simulated Participants in an SP Healthcare Education Programme
Dr. Linda Ní Chianáin, PhD, Queen's University Belfast
Prof. Gerry Gormley, MD, Queen's University Belfast

Refining Program Efficacy: Tackling Weight Bias in Healthcare Through Standardized Patient Education
Keri A. Mead, B.S., University of Rochester
Marlena R. Gaby-Dater, B.S., University of Rochester
Kelsey N. Sherman, B.S., M.A., Ed.D, University of Rochester
Cara Wood Harris, B.A., M.S., University of Rochester
Nikkie R. Herman, A.A., B.S., M.A., University of Rochester

2024 Recipients:

Ensuring simulation faculty don’t leave patients behind. A study exploring a route map for training faculty to co-create authentic simulation stories with patients.
Dr. Jacqueline Driscoll, MB. BCh. BAO., MRCPI, MSc.
Professor Judith Ibison, MB BS, MRCGP, MSc, SFHEA. SGUL.
Ms. Katie Campion, BSc, MA, MRes. SGUL
Professor Gerry Gormley, MD, FRCGP, MB, BCh, BAO. Queen’s University Belfast.
Dr. Sabina Dosani, MBBS, MRCPsych, MSc, PhD. University of East Anglia
Dr. Russell Hearn, MB BS, MSc., FRCGP, PFHEA, FAWM, FAcadMEd, FFMLM, NTF, King’s College London
Dr. Jane Roome, MB BS, FRCGP, MSc. Primary Care School, Kent, Surrey and Sussex

1,000 Paper Cuts: A Pilot Study Using Standardized Participants to Improve Recognition and Response to Microaggressions Among Undergraduate Nursing Students
Meredith MacKenzie Greenle, PhD, RN, CRNP, CNE
Gail E. Furman, PhD, RN, CHSE-A

2023 Recipients:

Does Practice with Standardized Patients Improve Baccalaureate Nursing Students’ Communication with Real Patients? A Translational Study. 
Jennifer Gunberg Ross, PhD, RN, CNE, and
Gail E. Furman, PhD, RN, CHSE-A

Optimising training to include child and young SPs (CYSP) in simulation-based education for nursing students.
Dr. Andree Gamble PhD, RN, BN, MSN, PGDACN (Paediatrics), PGCPET, GCCS, GCHPE, FHEA

2021 Recipients:

Off Script: Implementing Rehearsal Methods to Enhance Engagement in Standardized Patient Encounters
Robert Kiser, CEC, CHSE, University of Illinois at Chicago
Christine Park, MD, University of Illinois at Chicago, and
Amy Binns-Calvey, Institute for Practice and Provider Performance Improvement

Developing Self-Efficacy in Breaking Bad News through a Nurse Practitioner Student Simulation-Based Workshop
Janet O'Brien, PhD, RN, CHSE,  Arizona State University, and
Erin M. Tharalson, DNP, RN, ANP-BC, CWS

2020 Recipients:

Developing and Assessing the Impact of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Professional Development Training with Standardized Patients
Lou Clark, PhD, MFA, University of Minnesota and
Tamara Owens, PhD, MEd, CHSE, Howard University  

Establishing Trust with Underserved Minorities: Standardized Patient-Based Mastery Learning for Senior Medical Students
Benjamin Blatt, MD,  CHSE, George Washington University

2019 Recipients:

Impact of Applied Mindfulness Practice on Stress Management and Resiliency for Standardized Patients who Portray Emotionally Challenging Cases
Melissa A. Fisher, MD, MEd, University of Massachusetts Medical School

Transgender Health Matters Photovoice Project; Amplifying Transgender Voices Through Photography in Standardized Patient Case Development
Jenny Murphy, MPH, MSW, University of Michigan

2018 Recipients:

Simulation to Practice: Assessing the Impact of Standardized Patients on Pharmacy Students' Ability to Perform a Medical History in Practice
Tina Zerilli, PharmD, Arnold & Marie Schwartz College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Long Island University 

The Experience of Persons with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Involved as Patient Educators 
Kevin Hobbs BA, BA Spec., University of Toronto Suit 

2017 Recipients:

Using SPs to Develop Judgment of Philadelphia School Leaders
Denise LaMarra, MS, CHSE, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania

A simulation for continuity in patient care
Amy Shanks, MA, University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB)

2016 Recipient:

MSIGHT:  Multidisciplinary SP-based Instruction in Global Human Trafficking
Olivia Mittel, MD, University of Louisville School of Medicine

2015 Recipients:

Using Verbal Interaction Analysis to Understand Ethnicity and Gender Effects in Standardized Patient Evaluation of Medical Student Empathy.
Katherine Berg, MD, Sidney Kimmel Medical College, Thomas Jefferson University, Pennsylvania

Can We Talk? Improving Interprofessional Team Skills of Nurse-Midwifery Students and OB-GYN Residents While Enhancing the Interprofessional Simulation Skills of SP Educators.
Jane Miller, PhD, University of Minnesota

2014 Recipient:

Standardized Patients as Change Agents: Recognizing the Patient Voice in Patient Centered Communication.
Simone Brennan, MA, CHSE, Wayne State University School of Medicine

2013 Recipient:

Investigating Psychometric Properties of Scoring Based on Live Interaction and Videotaped Observation: Focusing on Communication and Interpersonal Skills.
Yoon Soo Park, PhD, Department of Medical Education, Martin Hurm, MFA, Dr. Allen L. and Mary L. Graham Clinical Performance Center College of Medicine, University of Illinois at Chicago

2012 Recipient:

Use of Standardized Patients with Disabilities in an Undergraduate Nursing Program
Suzanne C. Smeltzer, EdD, RN, FAAN (Project Director); Elizabeth Bruderle, PhD, RN; Bette Mariani, PhD, RN; Jennifer Gunberg Ross, PhD, RN; Colleen Meakim, MSN, RN; and Elizabeth Petit de Mange, PhD, MSN, NP-C, RN Villanova University College of Nursing

2011 Recipient:

Expanding Application of Standardized Patients and GTAs in Effective Sexual Assault Response Instruction:
Lisa Pompeo, MD, and Isle Polonko, University of Medicine and Dentistry, New Jersey, and Scott George, Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG)

2010 Recipient:

Standardized Patients as Standardized Health Care Providers: How Valid are They?
Lisa Altshuler, PhD, and Elizabeth Kachur, PhD, Maimonides Infants and Children’s Hospital of Brooklyn (MICH)

2009 Recipients:

An International Survey to Examine Standardized Patients Use in Nursing Education
Mindi Anderson

Connecting Clinicians with Patients and Practice
Amy Flanagan Risdal

2008 Recipients:

Predictive Validity of Clinical Competency Exams
Heather Hageman

2007 Recipients:

Direct Interaction with Elders as a Standardized Patient Training Tool for the Portrayal of Cognitive Impairment
Rhonda A. Sparks, Sheila Crow, Thomas A. Teasdale, Bryan D. Struck, Robert M. Hamm, Michelle Wallace

Special Effects Simulation for the SP Educator
Karen L. Lewis, Marcy Hamburger

2006 Recipients:

External Validation of Resident Evaluation Using Stealth Standardized Patients
Antoinette F. Hood, Thomas W. Hubbard, Mark W. Scerbo, and Gayle Gliva-McConvey

Developing Evidence for the Reliability and Validity of an Instrument for SPs and Faculty to Evaluate the Communication Skills of Clinicians: the Master Interview Rating Scale
Carol A. Pfeiffer

2005 Recipients:

Collecting Patient Satisfaction Data: A Comparison of Checklists and Rating Scales at SIU School of Medicine
Linda Morrison, Mary Aiello, Terri Cameron, and Steven Verhulst

Global Assessment of Pharmacy Student Performance in an Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE)
Senior Medical Student Physician Standardized Participants
Sherry Johnson, Cindy Stowe

2004 Recipients:

Social History Compendium
Maurice S. Clifton, John F. Mahoney, and Patricia J. Campbell
http://www.omed2.pitt.edu/aspe/

Training Standardized Patients to Give Feedback to Medical Trainees: The State of the Art
Patti Hatchet

2003 Recipients:

Standardized Patients in Medical Education: Exploring the Possibilities
Karen Szauter, Judy Thornton, Martha Phipps, Hazel Smith, Jonghoon Kim

Recruitment, Retention, and Training of African American, Caucasian and Latino Standardized Patients: A Collaborative Study
Mauritha Everett, John Shatzer, Rose Zaeske, Win May
Recruitment