Three faculty members from the WKU College of Health and Human Services (CHHS) were selected to attend the Research Capacity Building Workshop of the University of Cincinnati, Education and Research Center (UC ERC). CHHS faculty members that attended were Dr. Kristen Brewer, Assistant Professor in Public Health, Dr. Jenny Burton, Assistant Professor in Communication Sciences & Disorders, and Dr. Allie McCreary, Assistant Professor in Kinesiology, Recreation & Sport.
Pictured: Kristen Brewer (WKU), Jun Wang (UC), Amit Bhattacharya (UC), Allie McCreary (WKU), Jenny Burton (WKU), Eric Smith (UC), Elizabeth Kopras (UC).

The UC ERC serves the regional and national needs in occupational safety and health through interdisciplinary academic education, research training and professional development courses. WKU is a collaborator through the Pilot Research Training Program, and CHHS faculty members Dr. Edrisa Sanyang and Dr. Ritchie Taylor serve on the steering committee of this program.

The two-day workshop focused on how to write competitive proposals for federal research funding from agencies like the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation. Dr. Taylor said, “Training for the creation of research proposals for the upcoming National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Pilot Grant Program, as well as for federal funding through the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, will increase research opportunities for faculty, staff, and students.”

When asked about the workshop, McCreary said, “I really enjoyed learning about how to support my research efforts through external funding sources. Conducting research that improves the quality of life of for individuals is important for my own research agenda, for my students who thrive working on applied research projects, and for the communities we serve, to give them the tools and information that matters to them. I look forward to applying what I learned and securing a research grant that will allow me to continue my research on the human dimensions of natural resources management.” 

Brewer shared, “This workshop was a great opportunity to gain insight into federal grants. The facilitators shared their experiences and knowledge to guide us through the entire process from finding a grant that fits your research needs, how to craft a grant application, and how to communicate with the funding agencies. This experience will help me search for external funding for my current project working with a large school system as they develop and implement sexual health education curriculum and for future projects as this area of research expands. I also got to meet some awesome people doing great work in the region, and I look forward to developing collaborative projects with them.” 

According to Burton, “My primary research interests are related to working with individuals with autism and those with complex communication needs.  One of my recent projects relates to the experiences of first responders working with individuals will communication challenges during emergency situations. This project was started with a graduate student in our distance learning program for her thesis. This workshop provided valuable information about external funding sources to expand this and future projects.”

More information about the workshop and UC ERC can be found here.