Past Projects
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 at the UNC Center for Health Equity Research (CHER). SEARCH is aimed at measuring neighborhood factors that influence physical activity and other cardiovascular health.
ONAC: Organizational Networks, Assets, and Collaborations
The Organizational Networks, Assets, and Collaborations (ONAC) Study is a mixed method study that allows 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.
Formerly Incarcerated Transitions for Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (FIT for PrEP)
Background: The HIV prevalence among the prison population is 3-5 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
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
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.
Re-engaging Ethics: Ethical Issues in Engaged Research
Create and disseminate 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.
Greenwall Foundation
Focuses on the proposed regulations of the Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) and the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to the Common Rule.
Systematic Review of Community Health Workers
Focuses on CHW training and the role of CHWs in preventing cardiovascular disease (CVD).
SPECS: Study on Personal Experiences with Accessing Care in the South
Aim 1 is 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.
Transitions Clinic Network: Post Incarceration Addiction Treatment, Healthcare, and Social Supports (TCN PATHS)
The research will include a hybrid type I effectiveness-implementation trial and randomize 800 people on medications for OUD released from 6 local jails (Minneapolis, MN, Rochester, NY, Bridgeport, CT, Durham, NC, Caguas, PR, and 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 will also study 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 will have a positive impact by evaluating the effectiveness of a new primary care-based approach to improving the health of justice-involved individuals with OUD.
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 is 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 will focus on amplifying testing efforts in incarcerated settings in Florida, Rhode Island, Minnesota, and Yakima County, Washington.