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First, let me introduce myself to you as Elizabeth “Betsy” Crais, PhD, professor in the Division of Speech and Hearing Sciences and the interim chair of the Department of Allied Health Science’s Office of Research and Scholarship (DAHS OORS). The previous Chair, Brian Boyd, PhD, is now director of the Juniper Gardens Children’s Project at the University of Kansas. We thank Brian for his excellent work on our behalf. We all appreciated Brian’s guidance, wisdom, intelligence, humor, and collaborative spirit, and we wish him well in his new role. I was honored to be asked to head up the hard-working and productive group of individuals who make up the DAHS OORS. Additional changes in the unit included a title change for Patty Kinneer to better align with her current job responsibilities. As managing director of research support and scholarship, she provides administrative and grant-related support to the unit. John Bulluck, after years of service, has left us to pursue other opportunities. We thank him for his many contributions to our data management system.

What We Do

The DAHS OORS is focused on supporting faculty and students in all types of research (e.g., funded, unfunded, large sample, single subject) and scholarship (e.g., research, clinical, and teaching). To showcase the DAHS OORS, we will be visiting each of our seven divisions over the next few months. The purpose is to acquaint or reacquaint faculty and staff to what the OORS does and how we can help them further their research and scholarship. We have developed a PowerPoint detailing the skills of each individual in the DAHS OORS and what kinds of services they can offer.

Recap of the Year

The DAHS OORS has been busy this last year. Over the past year, $4,810,434 grant funds were awarded to department investigators from a range of external sources. Most of the grants focused on advancing the science in our fields, preparing master’s and PhD students, and providing services to the people of North Carolina and beyond. A number of our faculty have been recognized for their community-engaged research and have contributed to UNC-CH’s standing as a community-engaged university. The DAHS faculty were also quite active in publishing manuscripts, books, and book chapters.

Other DAHS OORS activities this year have included holding the sleep grant competition highlighted on page one.  We designed the review process, identified an expert set of reviewers, and the reviewers selected the top three projects for funding. The purpose of this three-year competition is to build an internationally recognized program of research in sleep science at UNC-CH. Three projects were selected for funding this first year and the PIs and their collaborators. You can find these projects on page one.

Finally, we are excited for the new academic year and will be providing a variety of supports for faculty and students around their research and scholarship. Be sure to check out our newly redesigned website, too.

-Elizabeth “Betsy” Crais, PhD