Projects

Evaluation of the Young Adult Re-entry Initiative

January 2018 - June 2020

The major goals of the Young Adult Reentry Initiative evaluation are to compare the program models across the three sites to identify efficiencies in program design and delivery, identify best practices, and offer recommendations for areas of improvement. In response, this proposal outlines an evaluation process to elucidate both processes and outcomes of the reentry initiative and coordinate the development of a corresponding program implementation guide.

MIP: Promoting Infant Health and Wellbeing by Engaging Fathers in Home Visitation FY20

The goal of this project is to reduce risk factors associated with infant mortality and other negative birth outcomes by significantly improving the provision of services to expectant and new fathers in the state of Michigan. Our team will (1) implement the Engaged Father program at seven Michigan Healthy Start home visitation sites and (2) integrate the fatherhood program into Healthy Start functioning by systematizing program implementation and evaluation practices across seven performance sites

National Program Office for the Alliance to Advance Patient-Centered Cancer Care

February 2017 - January 2022

The University of Michigan is pleased to submit a proposal to serve as the National Program Office (NPO) for the Merck Foundation Alliance to Advance Patient-Centered Cancer Care (Alliance). Michigan is well-positioned to serve as the Alliance’s NPO due to its extraordinary depth and breadth in patient-centered cancer care delivery research, outstanding accrual into complex clinical trials, national-level expertise on health disparities, cancer symptom management, and dissemination/implementation research. Unique assets include a robust Comprehensive Cancer Center, Survey Research Institute, and Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation, which serve to leverage existing resources to assure high impact of the Alliance’s grantees. Over the five-year award, we will monitor and assure that high-quality scientific research is conducted in a fiscally responsive manner. We will draw upon our local and national network to render technical assistance to grantees. We will partner with key groups at the local, regional, and national level to disseminate findings and identify opportunities to implement promising interventions. These activities coalesce with our vision to support the delivery of outstanding patient-centered cancer care in a manner that promotes optimal outcomes for all.

OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH EDUCATION AND RESEARCH CENTERS (T42)

October 2018 - June 2023

The University of Michigan Center for Occupational Health and Safety Engineering (COHSE), a NIOSH Education and Research Center (ERC), has been continuously funded by NIOSH since its establishment in 1982. Our Center has a distinguished legacy, building on NIOSH Trainee Program grants in the early 1970s, the Institute of Industrial Health founded in 1951, and may other milestones dating back to the establishment of the Laboratory of Hygiene in 1888. The mission of the Center is to serve the region, nation and world as a center of excellence for graduate education and research in occupational health and safety. We maintain outstanding Master’s, doctoral and research programs in Industrial Hygiene, Occupational Health Nursing, Occupational Safety Engineering and Ergonomics, and Occupational Epidemiology. Our academic and research programs provide broad-based interdisciplinary academic training to ensure that graduates are qualified to pursue careers and assume leadership roles in the practice of occupational health and safety, and to help ensure an adequate supply of well-trained researchers. Complementing the academic programs, our suite of Research-to-Practice projects, Continuing Education programs, and Outreach activities are aimed at transferring state-of-the-art knowledge to professionals and practitioners in occupational health and safety and allied disciplines. As a NIOSH Education and Research Center, we serve a number of constituencies, including: (1) NIOSH; (2) industry, labor and professional interests in our region and beyond; (3) academic units within the University of Michigan that provide critical teaching and research resources necessary for Center success; and (4) our students. The broad goals of the Center are to: • Promote excellence in our professional training and research training programs in each core program; • Increase the financial resources needed to improve the number, quality and diversity of graduate students in each core area; • Enhance the quality of our continuing education courses and other service and outreach activities; • Increase external research funding to improve our research infrastructure, expand opportunities for research training, and promote interdisciplinary research related to occupational health and safety; • Provide an organizational structure to coordinate and promote interdisciplinary educational activities for all core programs; • Promote awareness and education of occupational health and safety in undergraduate and graduate courses in other departments and schools; • Utilize a variety of research-to-practice (R2P) mechanisms, including our Visiting Partners Program, to develop skills and capabilities of mid-career occupational health and safety professionals; and • Assist Center programs and affiliated academic units in recruiting, promoting and retaining faculty

Promoting Infant Health and Wellbeing by Engaging Fathers in Healthy Start Home Visitation

November 2017 - September 2020

The health challenge that this program addresses is the need to reduce infant mortality, low birth weight, and other negative infant health outcomes that are disproportionately experienced by low-income communities and by race and ethnic minorities in the U.S. In 2013, 8.02% of all infants were born at low birth weight (LBW; <2500 grams, or 5 lbs 8 oz). Although the U.S. infant mortality rate has declined in recent years, major disparities persist. More than twice as many African American babies do not live to see their first birthdays as their white counterparts. African American women are more likely than white or Hispanic women to deliver their babies before 37 weeks gestation, increasing risk for infant death. Healthy Start programs use home visitation and support strategies to serve communities where health disparities in infant mortality persist, with 90% of families identifying as African American, Hispanic, or Native American.