Meet the 2025 Fellowship Cohort
The strength of the program lies in the diverse expertise of the participants.Bridging research, innovation and community impact
The first cohort of C3 Innovation Fellows, sponsored by El Pomar, kicks off on September 30, 2025, with applied research and creative projects that deliver an impact at UCCS and throughout the Southern Colorado region.
Strategic Spotlight Project
Stephanie Gangemi, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
Aims to develop an interdisciplinary, online Forensic Care Academy. This academy aims to provide specialized clinical knowledge, interpersonal skills and reflective practices for the correctional healthcare workforce, correctional staff and law enforcement professionals operating in challenging carceral environments.
Anatoliy Pinchuk, Ph.D, Professor
Undergoing a collaborative research project with Lahjavida, a local startup, to develop a novel photothermal cancer treatment. His research focuses on using infrared laser or LED light sources and gold nanoparticle-dye conjugates to create a more effective, targeted and less invasive alternative to conventional cancer therapies. This project aims to maximize light-to-heat energy conversion efficiency and actively target cancer cells.
Paige Whitney, Ph.D. and Krysten Hill, Ph.D.
Seek to support caregivers in our community, recognizing the significant burdens faced by both paid and unpaid caregivers, especially with Colorado’s rapidly aging population. Their project involves creating both an in-person eight-week Caregiver Wellbeing Program and a user-friendly, app-based wellness resource. Both interventions will focus on topics like stress management, physical activity, nutrition, sleep and social connection, with content curated by faculty and community stakeholders and delivered by an interprofessional team of students.
Kyrsten Hill is an Assistant Professor, Geropsychology Psychology, College of LAS
Lynnane George, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Teaching
Will expand community engagement through STEM outreach with Cool Science. As Vice President of Cool Science, she plans to partner UCCS students and faculty to create hands-on STEM workshops, school visits and campus experiences. This initiative aims to enhance public understanding of science, engineering and space systems while strengthening ties between UCCS and underserved communities. She will also expand her collaboration with the U.S. Space Force’s Space Domain Awareness Tools, Applications and Processing (TAP) Lab with student teams.
Carolyn Gery, Ed.D. and Gail Richards
Pursuing linked fellowships to create a co-constructed information exchange based on layered asset mapping for Southeast Colorado Springs. Their project aims to increase economic and social viability within this community by identifying needs, mapping assets and supporting local entrepreneurial efforts. They emphasize designing with the community, not for them, leveraging their experience teaching social and commercial innovation.
Gail Richards is an Assistant Professor, Bachelor of Innovation
Joseph Kuzma, Ph.D. Teaching Professor
In a culture obsessed with optimization, productivity, and technological acceleration, we've lost the capacity for genuine pause. This project creates unstructured spaces for communal silence and radical non-doing—not as wellness intervention or productivity hack, but as philosophical resistance to the relentless demand that every moment produce value. We're asking: What happens when we stop? What becomes possible when we refuse to be always-on?
Joey A. Lee, Ph.D., Associate Professor
A project to develop, design, and produce a health promotion-oriented card game to pre-school through 1st grade aged kiddos in community settings (think schools, libraries, and community centers). I've created the mechanics of the game and worked with health promotion students to create content that goes on cards.
Karen S. Markel, Ph.D., Professor
Seeks to build a Design Your Life Lab at UCCS. This lab would apply design thinking principles to help students navigate their lives and careers, fostering resilience in times of disruption and change. The concept is based on Stanford’s Life Design Lab and aligns with learning outcomes and student support for personal change, resilience and career development.
Emily Skop, Ph.D., Professor and Interim VP of Faculty Affairs
Further the impact of a culture of care on the UCCS campus, aiming for lasting institutional transformation regarding student and peer support, collaboration and shared governance. This project will adapt existing frameworks like the “Ethos of Care Credential for Transformational Change” and the “Convening of Care” structure, working with innovation experts to engage students, early career faculty, staff and leaders.
Brandon C. Strubberg, Ph.D., Department Chair & Associate Professor
Develop a human-centered UX workflow training program with students, who will serve as UX Research Fellows. They will integrate AI-augmented design support for user feedback, content creation and rapid prototyping, while also developing UX learning modules for innovation teams, faculty, community groups and students.
Patricia Witkowsky, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Dept. Chair
Partner with UCCS’s Enrollment Management and Student Affairs (EMSA) Division to provide a faculty perspective on innovations they are considering. Her projects will support innovation around areas such as student wellness, engagement and satisfaction. The goal is to apply innovation principles in real time to improve student outcomes.