Professor Iris Chi of the USC School of Social Work is the recipient of a USC Undergraduate Research Award and two faculty research grants from the USC U.S.-China Institute, totaling $26,500.

Chi, an expert in elderly health and gerontology, will use the $10,000 undergraduate research grant to mentor three students, who will assist her in researching the interaction between Chinese immigrant grandparents and their teenage grandchildren. Chi said many of the immigrant grandparents come at the request of their children, who need help taking care of their families.

"In the beginning when the grandchildren are young, there is no problem," Chi said. "But problems arise when they become teenagers, and many of the grandparents just cannot connect with them."

The $7,500 U.S.-China Institute grant, which supports policy-relevant social science research that focuses on the U.S.-China relationship, will enable her to study intergenerational family support for older adults in China. The other $9,000 grant will be used to research strategies for providing housing and services to meet the needs of frail older persons in urban China.

Chi also hopes to expand cross-school research collaborations at USC on the topic of the aging population in China, widen collaborative efforts with Chinese colleagues in the field of aging and provide graduate students with relevant data and training for developing their dissertation research on aging in China.

She was installed as the Golden Age Association/Frances Wu Chair for the Chinese Elderly in 2004 and currently directs the school's China Program, a leadership training program for cross-cultural learning. Chi also has a joint appointment in the USC Davis School of Gerontology.