Pilot Project Research Program

The Pilot Research Projects Program (PRPP) is a strategic and high-impact initiative of the North Carolina Occupational Safety and Health Education and Research Center (NC OSHERC). Its mission is to (1) cultivate research on current and emerging occupational health and safety (OHS) science and worker health and safety issues and (2) engage junior and experienced investigators new to OHS to develop or extend their programs of research, with a special emphasis on researchers from underrepresented and minority (URM) groups. The pilot projects may be new or creative characterization studies, those that are testing out a new method or approach to build scientific knowledge in OHS sciences or those that are designed as research translation projects (i.e., research to practice), to build capacity for OHS sciences in the workforce, or to engage businesses and the workforce to improve worker health and well-being. In all cases, the project will address an important area of research in OHS in one of the NORA sectors or related to Total Worker Health. It is expected that pilot projects will generate preliminary data that will lead to new larger-scale funded grant proposals, (i.e., federal, state, philanthropic foundation, or other non-governmental funding sources) that build capacity for OHS in the workforce, disseminate findings through scientific publications, and ensure the health and safety of all workers.

The NC OSHERC PPRP accepts application for ~$10,000 inclusive of all costs (direct and indirect cost), though funding could be up to $20,000 for one individual project. Indirect costs are limited to 8% and must be included within the total award for the pilot project. Funding for NC OSHERC pilot grants is made possible by support from NIOSH: T42OH00 8673.

Congratulations To Our 2023-2024 Pilot Project Grant Winners!

Nicholas Buoncristiani

Title: Firefighter Occupational Cancer: Exploring the Perception of Exercise and Fitness as a Cancer Risk Reduction Strategy

Awardee: Nicholas Buoncristiani, Human Movement Science PhD Student, Department of Health Sciences – School of Medicine. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Sara Duncan

Title: Assessing the personal exposure of emergency medical services providers to fine and ultrafine particle pollution: can we use low-cost tools?

Awardee: Sara Duncan, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Environmental Health Program, School of Health Sciences, Western Carolina University

Candice Y. Johnson

Title: Identifying the low-wage workforce for occupational health research

Awardee: Candice Y Johnson, PhD., Assistant Professor, Department of Family Medicine & Community Health, Duke University

Nathan Sanders

Elif Şener

Title: Ergohands, a Manipulation Technique for Prolonged Work Sessions in Virtual Reality

Awardees: Nathan Sanders, PhD Student, Human-Systems Engineering, Department of Industrial & Systems Engineering, North Carolina State University
Elif Şener, PhD, Lecturer, School of Design, University of Leeds

2022-2023 Awardees

Dylan Hardison

Title: Testing the Validity of 2D and 3D Design Information for Pre-Incident Emergency Response Operation Plans

Awardee: Dylan Hardison, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Technology Systems, East Carolina University

CS Nam

Title: Ethnographic Assessment of Risk Factors among Kitchen Workers

Awardee: Chang S. Nam, Ph.D., Professor of Edward P. Fitts Department of Industrial & Systems Engineering, Associated Faculty of UNC/NCSU Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering, Associated Faculty of Department of Psychology, Director: Brain-Computer Interface & Neuroergonomics Lab, Editor-in-Chief: Brain-Computer Interfaces, North Carolina State University

2021-2022 Awardees

Boyi Hu

Title: The Safety Challenges of Mobile Co-bots in Robot-Assisted Retail Environments

Awardee: Boyi Hu, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Industrial & Systems Engineering, Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering, University of Florida

Annmarie Walton

Title: Surface Contamination and PPE Use in Inpatient Oncology: The Impact of COVID-19

Awardee: AnnMarie Lee Walton, PhD, MPH, RN, OCN, CHES, FAAN, Assistant Professor, Duke University School of Nursing

M.J. Ruzmyn Vilcassim

Title: The use of low-cost sensors for worker exposure assessment: Testing the impact of various particulate matter compositions on sensor performance

Awardee: Ruzmyn Vilcassim, Ph.D., M.S., Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental Health Sciences, UAB School of Public Health, Birmingham, AL

2020-2021 Awardees

Laura Linnan

Maija Leff

Title: Designing a Resilience Intervention for Early Childhood Education Providers

Awardees: Laura A. Linnan, ScD, Senior Associate Dean, Academic and Student Affairs, Gillings School of Global Public Health, Professor, Department of Health Behavior, and Director, Carolina Collaborative for Research on Work and Health. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Maija Leff, MPH, Project Director for the Carolina Collaborative for Research on Work and Health (CCRWH), Program Manager and Adjunct Instructor for the Gillings School of Global Public Health Graduate Certificate in Total Worker Health. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Jeff Hoyle

Title: Piloting Computer Vision Technology for Ergonomics Risk Assessment

Awardee: Jeff Hoyle, MS, CPE; Director of Ergonomic Services, The Ergonomics Center, Edward P. Fitts Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, North Carolina State University

Alex Albert

Title: Unveiling Precursors, Causes, and Outcomes of Injuries among Waste Management Workers

Awardee: Alex Albert, Assistant Professor, Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering; North Carolina State University

2019-2020 Awardees

Boyi Hu

Project Title: Promote occupational human-robot collaboration safety through human centered object avoidance algorithm

Awardee: Boyi Hu, Assistant Professor, University of Florida, Industrial and Systems Engineering

Maryam Zahabi

Project Title: Adaptive police mobile computer terminals

Awardee: Maryam Zahabi, Assistant Professor, Texas A&M University

Jonghwa Oh

Project Title: Feasibility of the current 3D technology for the selection of better-fitting safety eyewear

Awardee: Jonghwa Oh, Assistant Professor, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health

M.J. Ruzmyn Vilcassim

Project Title: Testing and validation of low-cost air pollution monitoring sensors for occupational exposure measurements

Awardee: M.J. Ruzmyn Vilcassim, Assistant Professor, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health

Eric Ryan

Project Title: Osteoarthritis prevalence and modifiable risk factors in retired firefighters

Awardee: Eric Ryan, Associate Professor, Department of Exercise and Sports Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Recently Awarded Pilot Projects

2018-2019

• Project Title: Quantification of Trisaminohexyl Isocyanurate (TAHI) in Urine of Aircraft Refinishing Spray-Painters
  Awardee: Zachary G. Robbins, M.S., PhD student, Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• Project Title: Targeted heat interventions for agricultural workers
  Awardee: Roxana Chicas, BSN, RN, PhD Candidate, Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing at Emory University

2017-2018

• Project Title: Aluminum Smelting Work Exposures and Health in West Badin, North Carolina
  Awardee: Elizabeth McClure, PhD Candidate, and David Richardson, Professor, Department of Epidemiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• Project Title: Personalized Interventions for Developing Hazard Recognition Skill among Next-generation Construction Engineers and Managers
  Awardee: Alex Albert, Assistant Professor, North Carolina State University
• Project Title: The Influence of Age on the Recovery from Worksite Resistance Exercise
  Awardee: Abbie Trivisonno, BS and Megan Laffan, BA, Department of Exercise and Sports Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• Project Title: Behavioral and Neural Correlates of Hazard Perception: A simultaneous EEG and Eye Tracking Study
  Awardee: Nayoung Kim, Mojtabe Noghabaei, Kevin Han, and Chang S. Nam, Ph.D., CHFP, North Carolina State University
• Project Title: Characterization and Photothermal Desorption of Buckypapers for Air Sampling
  Awardee: Jake Shedd and Claudiu T. Lungu, PhD, University of Alabama-Birmingham Department of Environmental Health Sciences