Dee is an innovator and collaborator who has partnered with students, nonprofits, and faculty to bring innovative, evidence-based spaces, events, and products to communities regionally and nationally. She has developed a participatory, evidence-based, collaborative process, called Insightful Design Thinking (Nicholas, 2024), which she has refined over 25 years of working with communities, students, non-profits, and STEAM disciplines. Her Design Health Innovation Clinic (founded in 2013) uses research to fill gaps in care and at home. She has secured over $ 2 million in federal and foundation funding as a team member, collaborator, and principal investigator. Dee is a health and human-centered innovator with over 25 years of experience in sustainability, design research, and education, a tenured associate professor, and the founding director of the MS Design program at Drexel University's Department of Architecture, Design, and Urbanism. She holds professional credentials in architecture, interior design, and sustainability, and a PhD from Antioch University's School of Leadership and Change. Dee mentors novice designers, advocates for change, and integrates scholarship, teaching, and service into innovation. Current work focuses on aging-in-place including a startup around growing fresh food, Garden Fresh Home with Biologist Dr. Shivanthi Anandan, which has two patents pending and NSF funding. Another main project is an evidence-based measure, The Mantua Creative Standard for Aging in Place (MCSAP), to retrofit spaces to support aging-in-place developed with Second Story Collective, also funded by multiple foundations, and NSF.
As Founding Director of the MS Design Program at Drexel University in Philadelphia she has convened a yearly innovation symposium. Next year the symposium will focus on celebrating the programs' tenth year and the 40+ successful alumni across sectors including health, fashion, service design, and finance. Dee also oversees the Sustainability in the Built Environment Minor and holds a BARCH from Carnegie Mellon, an MFA from The University of the Arts, and a Social Science Ph.D. from Antioch University. Her work as a mentor, researcher, teacher, and colleague is primarily concerned with the translational, well-being possibilities within our environments through bio design, evidence-based design, creative co-design, entrepreneurship and community engaged practice.
In 2022 Dee received the AIA Upjohn Prize, in 2024 she was awarded the Drexel Provosts Award for Pedagogical Innovation. Dee has funded over 32 students work in her lab. Dee and her students and alumni exhibit, and present, research works nationally and internationally including Canada, Switzerland, Australia, Europe, the Midwest, and the East Coast. Dee’s work is presented in National, and International, Journals including The Design Journal, Enquiry: The ARCC Journal for Architectural Research, IJDL, The Plan Journal, and ii Journal: international journal of interior architecture + spatial design. With 26 years of practice and Higher Ed. experience, including as a small business owner, Dee collaborates with researchers from Biology, Public Health, Epidemiology, Education, Chemistry, Computing, and Psychology on her work which draws students from across the university and at all levels. Partners in her work include The Farnese Symposium, Bancroft, Penn Medicine, The Autism Institute, Domestic Violence Centers of Chester County, The Alliance of Non-Profit Care Providers, Fabric Health, IMPACT Services, NSF ICorps, FAIMER, St Christophers, Second Story Collective, RHD, Agewell Collaboratory, and People’s Emergency Center.
Bachelor of Architecture with Design Honors Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh PA
Master of Fine Arts: Studio Arts Program University of the Arts, Philadelphia PA
Health Facilities Design Certificate Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
PhD, Antioch University: School of Leadership and Change
RESEARCH: SCHOLARLY PRODUCTS
BOOK CHAPTERS
1.
November 2022 Nicholas, D., Anandan, S. (2022). URBN STEAMlab and biophilic environments: Science, art and design. In L. Atzmon (Ed.) Design and science: Catalyzing collaborations. University of Michigan / Routledge. Invited book chapter on collaborative research practices.
2.
December 2023 (projected) Nicholas, D. (2023) Novel territories: Gender and the urban residential interior. In G, Marinic (Ed.), The interior urbanism reader. University of Kansas, Taylor and Francis.
PEER REVIEWED JOURNAL ARTICLES
2023 Hurwich, T., Nicholas, D., Fleming, F., Gondek, P.; Katzbuoninconto, J., King, D. Designing and Iterating for Interdisciplinary, Creative Research in Graduate Teams; (under review 2023) International Journal of Designs for Learning
2022 Perignat, E., Fleming, F. F., Nicholas, D., King, D., Katz-Buonincontro, J., & Gondek, P. (2022).
Effective Practices for High Performing Interdisciplinary Faculty Teams. College Teaching. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/87567555.2022.208652
2022 Nicholas, D., Michael, Y., & Anandan, S. (2020). Covid-19 Home Sign-Posts. Enquiry The ARCC Journal for Architectural Research, 17(2), 41–62. https://doi.org/10.17831/enq:arcc. v16i2.1073
International Outlet
2019 Nicholas, D., (2018). Material Home: Novel interventions in the urban abode. Adaptive Intervention| International Journal of Interior Architecture + Spatial Design, 118-121. http://www.iijournal.org/volumes/
International Outlet
2019 Stein, S., Nicholas, D., Michael, Y., Nguyen, T., and Giordano, K. (2019). Integrating practical and epistemic actors: Co-constructing a knowledge organization system to address housing insecurity in West Philadelphia. Journal of advances in classification research online, 29(1), 30–34. https://doi.org/10.7152/acro.v29i1.15465
International Outlet
2018 Michael, Y., Nicholas, D. (2018). Designing with dignity: Health and design research for underserved communities. The Plan Journal: Designing for impact, Spring 2018, 303-317.
doi 10.15274/tpj.2016.01.02.06
http://www.theplanjournal.com/article/designing-dignity-health-and-design-research-under- served-communities International Outlet
2017 Nicholas, D., Townsend, K., & Michael, Y. (2017). Designing with dignity: Social determinants of health and design research. The Design Journal, 20(sup1), S2238–S2246. https://doi.org/10.1080/14606925.2017.1352740
International Outlet
2015 Knittel, C., Nicholas, D., Street, R., Schauer, C., Dion, G., (2015). Self-folding textiles through manipulation of knit stitch architecture. Fibers 3, no. 4, 575–87.
doi:10.3390/fib3040575 https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/d88a/ b481bce239dc7c1f8ce31c4e15fdb955f925.pdf
International Outlet
EVIDENCE BASED DESIGN FOR AGING, AGING IN PLACE, AND THOSE WITH AGE-BASED COGNITIVE ISSUES SUCH AS ALZHEIMER'S AND DEMENTIA
SELECTED CURRENT RESEARCH FUNDING
AWARDED FALL 2022:
$15,000, AIA UpJohn Research Grant, Role Primary Investigator; Co-Primary Investigators Rachel Wenrick and Ayana Allen Handy; Age Friendly University and Community Creative Spaces
$600,000, Americorp Federal Funding; Role: Key Personnel, PI: Ayana Allen-Handy, PhD, Co-PI: Rachel Wenrick Founding Director Writer’s Room; Drexel University Arts-centered Community Action: How Public Arts Programming Strengthens Civic Infrastructure and Promotes Civic Innovation
AWARDED 2022/21:
$100,000 Foundation Grant, Role: Co-Investigator; William Penn Foundation Faculty: Jenna Hirsch PI; Yvonne Michael Co-I, D.S. Nicholas Co-I, Debra Ruben Co-I, Nancy Epstein Co-I This team is studying the implementation of play-spaces in terms of several established measure of spatial success and is making recommendations for future funding of spaces.
$10,000 Agewell Pilot Grant College Of Nursing And Health Professions: D.S. Nicholas Pi; Rachel Wenrick Co-Pi; Aging In Place Study Of Creative Spaces At Ross Commons
$10,000 Pennsylvania Council on The Arts Programming Rachel Wenrick PI;
D.S. Nicholas Co-PI
$7,500 Internal Funding; Role: PI with Faculty from across the University Rankin Scholars in Residence: Liz Sanders author of “The Convivial Toolbox” will give a community-based participatory workshop to students across the University on her generative research process called Maketools
AWARDED 2021:
$7,300.00 Honors College: Spring/Summer Part Time Coop Student Awarded: Received Coop Student to assist with Research (In-Kind Funding)
$4,500.00 Honors College: Spring/Summer Additional compensation as part of the Honors College Symposium on Disaster
$3,000 Writers Room Fellowship awarded through $200,000.00 External Fund Grant to Writer’s Room, Barra Foundation for Second Story Collective: Creative Intergenerational Co-housing: Aging in Place Mantua and Powelton.
AWARDED 2020
$162,000 Federal Funding; Role: Key Personnel
External Foundation Funding; Role: Key Personnel Additional third year of funding Allen-Handy, A., Wenrick, R., Kashock, K., Nicholas, D. (2018). Anti-displacement: The untapped potential of university-community cooperative living. Corporation of National and Community Service. Previous Funded Amount: $284,983
AWARDED 2019
$100,000 Internal Funding; Role: Co-Principal Investigator with 50/50 effort split
Drexel Ventures Fund with Shivanthi Anandan Garden Fresh Home: Venture Funding for Market Development Garden Fresh Home In-home Hydroponic Unit.
$499,174 Federal Funding; Role: Co-Primary Investigator (Co-PI)
National Science Foundation; “IGE: Creative Interdisciplinary Research in Graduate Education (CIRGE)” PI- Fraser Fleming, Department Head Chemistry; Co-PI D.S. Nicholas, AIA; Co-PI Paul Gondek, Ph.D.; Co-PI Jen Katz-Buonincontro, Ph.D.; Co-PI Dan King, Ph.D. NSF 17-585 Innovations in Graduate Education Program.
$4,473.00 Research Award: Drexel Faculty Creativity Award; Awarded to D.S. Nicholas for Garden Fresh Homes Bio-substrates funding award for Exhibit Installation in September 2019 and February 2020
AWARDED 2018
$284,983 Federal Funding; Role: Key Personnel
Allen-Handy, A., Wenrick, R., Kashock, K., Nicholas, D. (2018). Anti-displacement: The untapped potential of university-community cooperative living. Corporation of National and Community Service. This community-led participatory research study brings together an intergenerational and interdisciplinary research team to gather information on affordable housing in the Promise Zone.
AWARDED 2017
$106,000.00 Foundation Funding; Role: Co-Principal Investigator with 50/50 effort split Scattergood Foundation with Yvonne Michael
Health, and Design Research for Innovation Grantor
Current work is focused on evidence-based Aging-in-Place and Dementia. I have developed a standard for repair and assessment of various spaces for aging in place, the Mantua Creative standard for Aging in Place. Design thinking, assessment, and strategy in urban environments, services, and spaces focusing on health for urban families. This includes working with care providers to develop health-oriented solutions within shelters, urban hospitals, creative spaces, and substandard housing. Past evidence-based services and products developed around aging in place, autism, domestic violence, biophilia, and housing insecurity issues in the US.
Partners include Penn Medicine, The Autism Institute, The Writers Room, Domestic Violence Centers of Chester County, The Alliance of Non-Profit Care Providers, Presbyterian Homes, Fabric Health, IMPACT Services, FAIMER, DUO, Agewell Collaboratory, and People’s Emergency Center. Drexel Schools and Colleges: College of Arts And Sciences, Dornsife School Of Public Health, School of Education, School of Engineering, College of Nursing and Health Professions, Graduate College