NEC’s Dr. Sarah Gunnery Awarded Landmark NIH Grant to Advance Parkinson’s Disease Research

First-ever NIH grant awarded to a New England College faculty member will support innovative research to improve communication and well-being for people living with Parkinson’s disease.

Dr. Sarah Gunnery, Associate Professor of Psychology and Community Mental Health at New England College, has been awarded a prestigious three-year research grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), totaling nearly $500,000. The grant, funded through the NIH’s R15 Academic Research Enhancement Award (AREA) mechanism, supports Dr. Gunnery’s groundbreaking project, “Developing Strategies to Decrease Facial Masking in Parkinson’s Disease.”

This historic achievement marks the first NIH grant ever awarded directly to an NEC faculty member, underscoring the College’s growing presence in impactful, federally funded research. Dr. Gunnery will work in collaboration with Dr. Harlan Fichtenholtz at Keene State College.

Facial masking, or hypomimia, is a common symptom of Parkinson’s disease that reduces automatic facial movements such as smiling or frowning. This decreased expressivity can cause others to misinterpret emotions, leading to social stigma, communication barriers, and diminished quality of life.

Dr. Gunnery’s research seeks to transform this challenge into an opportunity for intervention. The project will examine whether teaching people with Parkinson’s to deliberately produce facial expressions—such as Duchenne smiles that engage the eyes—can improve communication, reduce stigma, and help preserve social engagement.

“It’s an incredible honor to receive this NIH award—not just for me, but for New England College,” said Dr. Gunnery. “Our work has the potential to make a meaningful difference in how people with Parkinson’s communicate their feelings, connect with others, and maintain their well-being.”

According to the NIH’s Public Health Relevance Statement, “an increase in the ability to communicate could help people with Parkinson’s disease stay socially engaged, thereby better preserving their quality of life.” With social engagement recognized as essential for healthy aging, this research carries profound implications for public health.

Dr. Gunnery and Dr. Fichtenholtz’s project will:

• Assess how people with Parkinson’s disease experience producing deliberate expressions.
• Compare their expressions to those of healthy age-matched adults to determine effectiveness in communicating emotion.
• Provide evidence for self-management strategies that could improve social interaction and emotional well-being for individuals with Parkinson’s and potentially other aging-related conditions.

This award also represents an exciting opportunity for NEC students. Dr. Gunnery will employ multiple students as part of her research team, giving them hands-on experience in a federally funded project. These students will gain invaluable training in study design, data collection, and analysis, with the potential to contribute to conference presentations and co-author scientific publications. For NEC, this means the grant is not only advancing Parkinson’s research but also preparing the next generation of scholars and professionals.

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