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Past projects are listed in alphabetical order.


A randomized trial of a culturally-adapted colorectal cancer screening decision aid designed for American Indians

The study’s primary objective was to compare the effect of the decision aid to an attention-control impact on American Indian’s CRC screening intentions.Continued


Center for Aids Research (CFAR) Development Award

Background: Opioid use has risen at an alarming rate in recent years. This epidemic of opioid misuse and abuse has led to increased numbers of people who inject drugs (PWID), placing new populations at increased risk for HIV. In North Carolina, the rate of HIV is four times higher than the national average and over … Continued


Clinical Scholars

Clinical Scholars is a national leadership opportunity for clinically active healthcare providers spanning a range of disciplines—nurses, physicians, pharmacists, physical therapists, dentists, allied health, veterinarians and many others


Formerly Incarcerated Transitions for Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (FIT for PrEP)

Background: The HIV prevalence among the prison population is three to five times greater than the non-incarcerated population. Prisoners disproportionately come from groups with the highest rates of HIV (e.g. people who use drugs, racial-ethnic minorities, lower socioeconomic status individuals). Further, people in prison are more likely to have engaged in high risk activities such as commercial … Continued


Greenwall Foundation

Focused on the proposed regulations of the Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) and the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to the Common Rule.


Hazardous Air Pollutants, Positivity, and Inflammation (HAPPI) Study

In the Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award, entitled Inflammatory Markers, Hazardous Air Pollutants, and Psychosocial Factors (5 K23 ES027026-04), we will examine the interplay among environmental air pollutant exposures, cardiovascular-associated inflammation, and psychosocial factors in a sample of 150 American Indian (Lumbee) women.


Heart Matters

This project was a behavioral change intervention adapted by Project GRACE to reduce cardiovascular disease risk among African-Americans in Nash and Edgecombe Counties, a rural region in eastern North Carolina.


Identifying and disentangling social and physical environmental effects on physical activity in African American adolescents

The purpose of this K01 award was to provide developmental support to Dr. Leah Frerichs to become an independent investigator in youth-engaged research using mobile technology and systems science methods to disentangle and address social and physical environment influences on physical activity.


ONAC: Organizational Networks, Assets, and Collaborations

The Organizational Networks, Assets, and Collaborations (ONAC) Study was a mixed method study that allowed for a longitudinal and community-engaged assessment of organizational assets available for CVD risk reduction, and an in-depth appraisal of influences on organizational collaboration, changes in organizational networks and how changes in organizational networks are associated with the sustainability of intervention and CVD outcomes.


PIERS: Providing Interventions to Enhance Recovery in Community Supervision

Individuals who have been previously incarcerated have a significantly higher risk of dying from overdose, particularly in the first two weeks after release. More than 4.5 million people is the US are supervised in the community setting and nearly half have a substance use disorder, but few receive services. There is a critical need for linkage to MOUD for individuals on community supervision. Providing MOUD to individuals on probation or parole decreases the rate of relapse and recidivism, and increases retention in substance abuse treatment.


RADx: COVID-19 Testing and Prevention in Correctional Settings

The objective of this two-year study was to increase the reach, access, uptake, and mitigate the impact of COVID-19 among incarcerated people and staff, while also gaining a better understanding of the ethical issues surrounding novel medical interventions, like vaccine trials, with incarcerated populations. This project focused on amplifying testing efforts in incarcerated settings in Florida, Rhode Island, Minnesota and Yakima County, Washington.


Re-engaging Ethics: Ethical Issues in Engaged Research

Created and disseminated recommendations for the review and conduct of community-engaged research, by engaging a diverse set of stakeholders in dialogue about the unique ethical concerns that arise in this emerging scientific approach to public health and biomedical research.


SEARCH: Rocky Mount Mobile Application Project

The Rocky Mount Social and Environmental Assessment to Rate Community Health (SEARCH) project was developed to provide physical and social environmental data to support current and future research projects in the Center for Health Equity Research (CHER). SEARCH was aimed at measuring neighborhood factors that influence physical activity and other cardiovascular health.


SPECS: Study on Personal Experiences with Accessing Care in the South

Aim 1 was to characterize PrEP knowledge and acceptability among people recently placed under community supervision (probation/parole) within the past 12 months. We will observe and estimate the proportion of who have prior PrEP knowledge and high, average and low PrEP acceptability.


Systematic Review of Community Health Workers

Focused on CHW training and the role of community health workers (CHWs) in preventing cardiovascular disease (CVD).


Teach One Reach One (T.O.R.O.)

Paired local parents and teens to teach parent-teen communication skills to reduce sexual activity and HIV/STI Transmission.


Transitions Clinic Network: Post Incarceration Addiction Treatment, Healthcare, and Social Supports (TCN PATHS)

The researchincluded a hybrid type-I effectiveness-implementation trial and randomize 800 people on medications for Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) released from six local jails (Minneapolis, MN; Rochester, NY; Bridgeport, CT; Durham, NC; Caguas, PR; Bronx, NY) to compare the effectiveness of the TCN intervention versus referral to standard primary care on opioid treatment cascade outcomes and whether housing, food access, criminal justice contact and social support mediate this association. The project also studied the cost effectiveness of the TCN, as well as barriers and facilitators to transitioning the care of people with OUD to the TCN. TCN PATHS is highly innovative in its partnership with and prioritization of the values of formerly incarcerated people. The knowledge produced by this project has had a positive impact by evaluating the effectiveness of a new primary care-based approach to improving the health of justice-involved individuals with OUD.