Funding Opportunities Announcement!
New Investigator & Pilot Project Awards for Public Health Systems & Services Research
Cal PREPARE is pleased to announce the availability of funds to fund one New Investigator Award and two-three Pilot Project Awards for Public Health Systems & Services Research. The purpose of the awards program is to establish a resource for new investigators, established investigators and doctoral students to embark on a new area of research. The program provides an opportunity to build capacity, develop competency, and collaboration in different public health networks. (Awardees will have the ability to incorporate specialties, disciplines, and research techniques outside of traditional methods to public health systems research.)
Cal PREPARE is a CDC Preparedness & Emergency Response Research Center (PERRC) based at the UC Berkeley School of Public Health, Center for Infectious Diseases & Emergency Readiness (CIDER). Cal PREPARE’s research priority theme is “to create and maintain sustainable preparedness and response systems”.
Our mission is “to conduct all-hazards research, training, and services that (1) improves the biosurveillance capabilities of public health systems; and (2) improves the capability of public health and local communities to prevent, protect against, respond to, and recover from public health emergencies.” Within biosurveillance, we will focus on early warning, detection, and monitoring; causal investigations and inference; information and data management, tactical and targeted communications; and situational awareness and decision support.
To implement our mission, we are conducting public health systems research projects in the following areas:
Project 1: All-hazards communication to improve the resilience of vulnerable populations;
Project 2: Early warning, investigation, surveillance: Epidemiology networks in action (EpiNet);
Project 3: Closing the chemical, radiological, and nuclear gaps in public health all-hazards preparedness; and
Project 4: Cal PREPARE Exercise Laboratory (EXLAB): Systems research using statewide operations-based exercises.
What is public health systems research?
Public Health Systems Research (PHSR) is a field of study that examines the organization, financing, and delivery of public health services within communities and the impact of these services on public health. (Mays GP, Halverson PK, Scutchfield FD. TBehind the curve? What we know and need to learn from public health systems researchUTH J Public Health Manag Pract 2003;9:179-82). PHSR is a field of study that takes a multidisciplinary approach to examine issues related to public health through a systems perspective.
Funding Avaliability
The program will fund one (1) new investigator award in the amount of $30,000 and (2-3) innovative pilot project awards up to $15,000 for the FY 2011-2012 project period (January 2, 2012 - September 29, 2012). Committee members will be looking for proposals that offer a unique view on public health systems research and can complement one or more of the Cal PREPARE research projects. The application will be released on November 7, 2011. Applications need to be submitted by 5:00 pm on December 5, 2011. Please see program announcements for specific deadlines.
Previously Funded Research Projects
Cal PREPARE is interested in funding innovative projects. We strongly encourage applicants from diverse disciplines to apply. Some examples of projects that have been funded by Cal PREPARE and other Preparedness and Emergency Response Research Centers (PERRCs) throughout the country include:
• Mobile Health Technology for Situational Awareness
• Leveraging and Enhancing Inter-organizational Relationships for Disaster Preparedness and Response: A study of Community-based Organizations Serving Vulnerable Populations; A Focus on the Homeless
• Listening to Local Health Departments: How Past Emergencies Can Inform Future Preparedness Efforts
• Maximizing Emergency Preparedness Communication Access for Deaf and Hard of Hearing
• Translating Research Into Action: Promoting A Culture of Preparedness and Response Through Inter-organizational Relationships and Effective Communication with Community-based Organizations.
• Feasibility and Acceptability of Using 2-way Text Messaging to Improve Response to Critical Events.
• A Pilot Study of the Budget-Setting Process across Preparedness Divisions in Public Health Agencies
• First Responders’ Beliefs and Attitudes Toward Individuals with Mental Illness During a Disaster
• Effectiveness of Virtual Worlds in Public Health Preparedness Training
• Improving Public Health Preparedness Through Enhanced Decision-Making Environments: Lessons Learned from Preparing for and Responding to the Novel Influenza A H1N1 Epidemic
• Modeling Communication Links Among Public Health Emergency Preparedness Officials in North Carolina using Social Network Analysis: A Pilot Study.
• Hurricane Evacuation Failure: The Role of Social Cohesion, Social Capital and Social Control
• Geospatial Area and Information Analyzer (GAIA), a Visualization Tool for Understanding Emergency Preparedness through Geospatial Analysis
• H1N1 Influenza: Attitudes towards Vaccines and Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) Drugs—A National Survey
• CODA: Continuity of Operations Data Analysis System for Public Health
• Rapid Access to Public Health Information for Limited English Proficiency Populations through Automated Language Technology
• Assessing and Improving Communication on Influenza Vaccine Safety Reporting for Public Health Systems
• Effectiveness of a Media Campaign to Improve Chinese LEP Individuals’ Awareness of Bystander CPR
• Effective SMS Emergency Messaging in Public Health
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