As part of an initiative to chronicle the health benefits of videogames, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) has bestowed over $1.85 million in grants to nine research teams.

RWJF’s Health Games Research program, headquartered at the University of California, Santa Barbara, is backed by $8.25 million in funding from RWJF’s Pioneer Portfolio, which operates under the mantra of supporting “innovative projects that may lead to breakthrough improvements in the future of health and health care.” The grant winners announced today are part of a second round of funding.

Pioneer Portfolio Team Director Paul Tarini stated, “The pace of growth and innovation in digital games is incredible, and we see tremendous potential to design them to help people stay healthy or manage chronic conditions like diabetes or Parkinson’s disease.  However, we need to know more about what works and what does not—and why.”

Research teams were chosen from 185 total proposals and each was awarded between $100,000 and $300,00. The grant winners, and a short synopsis of their field of study, are:

• Children's Hospital of Philadelphia - Reward Circuitry, Autism and Games that Teach Social Perceptual Skills
 
• George Washington University - Active-Adventure: Investigating a Novel Exergaming Genre in Inner City School Physical Education Programs

• Georgetown University - Wii Active Exergame Intervention for Low-Income African-American Obese and Overweight Adolescents

• Long Island University - Dance Video Game Training and Falling in Parkinson’s Disease

• Michigan State University - Buddy Up! Harnessing Group Dynamics to Boost Motivation to Exercise

• Michigan State University - Short-Term and Long-Term Effectiveness of Exergames for Young Adults

• Teachers College, Columbia University - Lit: A Game Intervention for Nicotine Smokers

• University of California, San Francisco - A Video Game to Enhance Cognitive Health in Older Adults

• University of Southern California - Robot Motivator: Towards Adaptive Health Games for Productive Long-Term Interaction

Telefilm Canada, a cultural agency of the Canadian government, has provided grant funding to several independent game projects, reports Gamasutra.

Recent recipients include DeathSpank ($536,069), a game under development by Ron Gilbert of Monkey Island fame and upcoming XBLA title Fez ($73,682) from Polytron.

Other recipients include N+, Eets Chowdown and It's Emotional.

The grants are considered "repayable advances," which means that they must be repaid out of profits. However, if a game loses money there is no requirement to repay. Releasing a title with both English and French versions scores a 10% discount on repayment

The Ontario city of Sault Ste. Marie plans to support development of a speech therapy game to the tune of $50,000, according to The Sault Star.

The money from the city's economic development fund will be awarded to Algoma University, which is partnering with the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute to build a game studio devoted to developing health-oriented games.

Council member Steve Butland called the project "different and darn near cutting edge for Sault Ste. Marie."

The National Endowment for the Humanities has awarded a $100,000 grant to a Norfolk University history professor to develop a video game which tells the tale of the Underground Railroad.

Prof. Cassandra Newby-Alexander said that the history of the Underground Railroad, a network which helped slaves escape from the South in pre-Civil War days, is not well understood:

The underground Railroad was a much more complex issue than it's been made out. When you push a person to a point where they have nothing to lose, that's when you create a formidable enemy. Ultimately, human beings are going to be free.

When you ask people to describe the Underground Railroad, they think of Harriet Tubman on foot, with a gun. Most slaves didn't escape that way. I don't want to dumb-down the game.

Newby-Alexander is working with a local playwright to create a script for the game, which is expected for PC in 2011.

Via: Kotaku