The Carolina Center for Healthy Work Design and Worker Well-being Pilot Projects Program (PPP) provide seed money (up to $12,000) for investigators to conduct short-term projects (12-18 months).
Our goal is to cultivate innovative research that builds an evidence base for Total Worker Health®, which is defined as “policies, programs, and practices that integrate protection from work-related safety and health hazards with promotion of injury and illness-prevention efforts to advance worker well-being”. The Total Worker Health (TWH) approach “prioritizes a hazard-free work environment for all workers” by addressing prioritized, unresolved, and critically important occupational health and safety (OHS) issues. In short, the TWH approach integrates the areas of occupational safety and worker health into a single framework.
For investigators interested in expanding their research into the area of social determinants of health (SDOH), the TWH approach offers opportunities for doing so.
The pilot projects are intended to (1) support research related to current and emerging worker health issues and threats, (2) engage post-doctoral fellows, junior faculty, and experienced investigators new to TWH to develop or extend their programs of research using a TWH framework, with a special emphasis to support researchers from underserved and underrepresented groups, (3) test a new method or approach for building new knowledge in TWH, (4) test new approaches for building capacity for TWH in the workforce, and (5) engage communities to improve worker health and well-being.
Applications for 2022-2023 are closed. Please reach out to program leads Dr. Leena Nylander-French, at leena_french@unc.edu or Dr. Shawn Kneipp at snkeipp@email.unc.edu to be added to a list of contacts for announcements about future application opportunities.
Eligibility:
Investigators from the universities and/or research institutions in North Carolina listed below are eligible to apply. Postdoctoral fellows and junior faculty are eligible to apply as PIs so long as they have included a mentor with expertise in TWH and OHS. These pilot funds may be used by new investigators to collect data needed to successfully apply for other larger grants. Senior faculty who want to pursue a new interest in TWH are also eligible to apply because we want to encourage investigators from other fields of study (e.g., economics, law, politics, health services, business, and more) to apply their expertise to TWH research. Investigators who identify from an underserved or underrepresented group, such as Black, Hispanic, Asian-American, and Native American ethnicities, are particularly encouraged to apply.
Universities Eligible to Apply:
UNC-Chapel Hill
Duke University
NC State University
Appalachian State University
East Carolina University
Elizabeth City State University
Fayetteville State University
North Carolina A&T University
North Carolina Central University
RTI
UNC-Asheville
UNC-Charlotte
UNC-Greensboro
UNC-Pembroke
UNC-Wilmington
Western Carolina University
Winston-Salem State University
Wake Forest University
