Beaver College of Health Sciences

By Amanda Mlekush

The Beaver College of Health Sciences is expanding its grants and contracts support team as the college continues to garner additional funding through its proposals to improve rural health and investigate health and wellness-related topics. Over the past five years, the college has doubled the amount of grants and awards it receives annually. 

For the past two academic years (2022-2024), the college has been awarded a total of $6.2 million in external grant submissions and awards, with notable grants of $1 million from AmeriCorps to establish the App State Public Health AmeriCorps program (header image shows a group of Public Health AmeriCorps workers outside Levine Hall; photo by Kyla Willoughby) and funding from BlueCross BlueShield North Carolina to expand Aging Well community outreach programs. The college is also working with the American Cancer Society, the NC Department of Health and Human Services, the National Athletic Training Association and the National Academies of Sciences. 

In January, Jason Gilmore joined the college as a Contracts and Grants coordinator to provide additional support for awardees, joining Jessica Donley Phillips, who began working as the college’s first Contracts and Grants manager in 2018. 

“The college is expanding its resources to support the success of our faculty and staff who are receiving research funding,” said Dr. Marie Huff, dean of the Beaver College of Health Sciences. “Our faculty, staff and students are doing some incredible and innovative research related to health and well-being, and we have been able to expand many community services and outreach with the increased funding, allowing us to reach even more people and have a positive impact on the health of the region and beyond.” 

The increasing amount of awards tremendously benefits our health science students, who are often involved in conducting research under faculty mentorship, said Dr. Adam Hege, associate dean of research and graduate education for the Beaver College of Health Sciences. 

“The increase in awards over the past several years, and being more strategic about our proposals, has allowed us to increase our likelihood of receiving funding to almost 50%,” he said. “Our students, from the undergraduate to the graduate level, work closely with faculty to conduct research and participate in community outreach and assessments and are directly benefiting from this expanded funding.” 

The Appalachian Institute for Health and Wellness (App Well), which is part of the Beaver College of Health Sciences, offers a number of community outreach for aging adults, children and caregivers, and is home to a robust research interdisciplinary support network. App Well offers research fellowship, associate and affiliate support, with 60 researchers from the university and community participating in its program. 

“App Well affiliated research faculty are studying an array of health-related topics, including the correlation between diet and chronic disease, economic justice, benefits of outdoor play for children, risk factors for suicide, autism and rural health considerations,” said Dr. Gavin Colquitt, executive director of App Well and affiliated researcher. “With a number of the community outreach programs offered through App Well, we are also actively engaged in securing grants and funding to ensure many of our community services are available for a low or no cost, making them accessible to individuals on a fixed income.” 

App Well offers free aging assessments, caregiver and healthy aging support and education through its Aging Well program; through its Growing Well programs, the institute offers Girls on the Run of the High Country, autism support through Camp Crinkleroot and a comprehensive program for parents with special health care needs with Parent 2 Parent of the High Country.

Introducing Grants and Contracts Coordinator Jason Gilmore 

Jason Gilmore joined the Beaver College of Health Sciences in January 2025 as a Contracts and Grants coordinator. Gilmore, along with Contracts and Grants Manager Jessica Donley Phillips, are available to assist college faculty and staff with managing the budget and compliance related to their proposals, grants and awards. 

In this role, Gilmore will manage the budget accounting of funding sources and reconciliation, and ensure compliance with policies and spending guidelines set by the university, state, federal and sponsoring organizations, working closely with the principal investigators of grants and managing budgets and compliance. 

Before coming to App State, Gilmore worked as an independent contractor assisting state and local governments with grants related to emergency management. In the past, he has worked with grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) on topics related to the coronavirus, emergency assistance and climate pollution.  

He holds training certifications from Grants.gov, FEMA and the US Treasury Portal.

Gilmore and his wife, Carolyn, moved to Boone in 2024 when Carolyn began working as an assistant professor in Rehabilitation Sciences.

“When Hurricane Helene hit, we realized the importance of being close to home since I often traveled in the Southeast as a consultant,” Gilmore said.  “I look forward to providing the faculty and staff with contracts and grants support that gives them more time and energy to focus on developing and executing their health and wellness instruction, research, and outreach."

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