Written by: Jessica Bloomer

This year’s workshop was on March 12^th-13^th during UC’s spring break. The workshop is an important piece of the Pilot Research Project Program because it helps prepare individuals to write a research grant by presenting information on sources of funding, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) processes, preparing the application including the budget, and aligning research priorities with federal grant administrators.

There were twenty-one attendees consisting of PhD students and junior faculty from the Air Force Institute of Technology, Bowling Green State University, Central State University, Kentucky State University, Murray State University, Purdue University, University of Cincinnati, University of Michigan, University of Toledo, and Western Kentucky University. Some of the participants’ fields of study included industrial psychology, engineering, agriculture, environmental health, industrial hygiene, occupational health nursing, and health promotion.

On day one, Dr. Andrea Johanson from BBC Entrepreneurial Training & Consulting LLC, presented several sessions regarding the “nuts and bolts” of the NIH grant writing and review process. Her presentations included an overview of NIH and the website pages, peer review processes, and developing a research proposal.

Day two consisted of a group exercise in the morning, led by Dr. Erin Haynes from UC’s Environmental Health Department. The participants were split in to groups and tasked with developing a research hypothesis, question, and aims that included all the group members’ research backgrounds. This activity was meant to demonstrate how interdisciplinary research teams are developed as well as practice writing questions and aims. The proposal topics developed by the groups were;

• Organ Transplantation or Psychic Transformation
• Diabetic Control in Night-Shift Workers
• Assessment of Prevalence Rates of Metabolic Syndrome in Young African American Population
• Effects of Ginsenosides in Endurance Exercise Among Young Adult HIV+ Males
• Genetic Components Determining the Frequency of Workplace Injuries in Aircraft Technicians
• Occupational Biological and Chemical Exposures to HHCWs During Cleaning Task and Respiratory Outcomes

Groups presenting their projects on day 2

The groups then presented their proposals and voted on their favorite. The winner of the most outstanding group proposal was group 4; Effects of ginsenosides in endurance exercise among young adult HIV+ males. The afternoon was completed with one on one consultations with faculty members from the University of Cincinnati where participants could ask questions pertaining to their own research.