GHSU Launches Community Public Health Grant Program    
 
 Assistant Professor Kitty Hernlen samples classroom air quality at Bayvale Elementary School in Augusta. 
The Institute of Public and Preventive Health at Georgia Health Sciences University has established a grant program to pair university researchers with community organizations to conduct projects vital to improving health in the Augusta region and Georgia.

"In response to public health needs, we are actively seeking community partners through our Community Health Partnership grant program," said Dr. Andrew Balas, Director of the Institute and Dean of the College of Allied Health Sciences. "This is an opportunity to support university research and service responsive to community needs. Together, we can create solutions to our greatest public health challenges."

Ultimately, the Institute of Public and Preventive Health will encourage development and testing of novel approaches to solving public health problems in the state. Initial highlighted areas include:
  • teenage pregnancy
  • cardiovascular disease prevention
  • sexually-transmitted diseases
  • at-home medication errors
  • other projects with high community relevance
Students from A.R. Johnson Health Science and Engineering Magnet High School conducted a survey of the Laney-Walker neighborhood for GHSU researchers. From left: Julian Black, Destiny Bynes, their science teacher Carl Hammond-Beyer, Amber Hart, Marquis Griffin and Chad Harris.
Community partners may be volunteer organizations, schools, churches, state agencies, companies and other influencers of public health who seek collaborators or co-investigators with researchers from Georgia Health Sciences University, Augusta State University or Paine College. Data collected should facilitate future grant applications and research projects funded by extramural sources.

"Our priority is to support clinical, translational and preventive public health research," Balas said. "With this partnership grant program, community representatives have direct, relevant input into that research."

 
Destiny Bynes, a student at A.R. Johnson Health Science and Engineering Magnet High School, explains the survey to residents of the Laney-Walker community during a street fair in May 2011.
Projects may be funded up to $50,000. Applications should include the project's background, specific aims, methodologies and interventions, resources and collaborators, anticipated results, timeline, budget, bio of community collaborators and letter of support from the participating community organization's leader.

Deadline for submission is Sept. 15, 2012. For more information, contact Kathy Stone at kstone@georgiahealth.edu or visit www.georgiahealth.edu/institutes/ipph/.

-Reprinted with permission of Georgia Health Sciences University

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