Student-Led Research Groups
An Innovative Approach to Supporting Student-Led Groups
Over the past 5 years, the IPRC has utilized an innovative approach to supporting student-led groups with interests in specific areas of injury and violence research. Initially, this method arose from the IPRC’s desire to support a multi-disciplinary group of students with a shared research interest in gender-based violence (GBV) and has since expanded to supporting other student-led research groups focused on other injury-related topics (e.g. opioid drug overdose and child abuse and neglect). The student-initiated GBV Research Group, with IPRC support, has grown into a campus-wide GBV research consortium that is leading and generating its own publications, presentations, seminar series, journal club, and annual symposium. The Opioid Drug Overdose (ODO) Research Group and the Child Maltreatment Prevention Research and Practice Network are also well organized and productive. The ODO Research Group is implementing a faculty speakers’ series and research workshops where students share their research and receive support from their peers and faculty. The Child Maltreatment Prevention Research and Practice Network is working with faculty to conduct a systematic review to examine the availability, psychometric properties, and use of social determinants of health screening measures to detect early indicators of risk and inform care among youth in clinical settings.
Goals/Activities: Working in close collaboration, the following committees plan activities that facilitate interdisciplinary research, provide training and professional development for GBV researchers and practitioners, and create opportunities for networking for individuals interested in GBV research and practice.
The Communications Committee coordinates and disseminates all group communications and liaises between the GBV Research Group and partnering organizations. Spencer Radtke (ssradtke@email.unc.edu) is the chair of this committee.
The Event Planning Committee coordinates the group’s social and networking events as well as the annual Speaker Series and Research Symposium. The speaker series brings GBV researchers, practitioners, and policymakers to UNC’s campus to discuss their work with UNC students, faculty, and staff as well as community members. The GBV Research Symposium brings together students, faculty, staff, and community members to present and discuss current GBV research and practice.
The Training and Research Committee provides support and coordination for activities related to the group’s paper teams, writing workshops, and journal club, and explores opportunities for seeking funding for GBV research. Paper teams are interdisciplinary groups of scholars, including UNC students, faculty, and staff that conduct research on various aspects of gender-based violence. Activities such as writing workshops and the journal club are not scheduled regularly but occur sporadically throughout the academic year. The aims of these activities are to improve writing skills as well as read and discuss publications covering various forms of GBV and the application of relevant findings to current and future GBV work.
Papers Published:
Klein, L. B., Graham, L. M., Treves-Kagan, S., Deck, P. G., DeLong, S. M., & Martin, S. L. (2018). Leveraging data to strengthen campus sexual assault policies. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 33(21), 3298-3314. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260518798351 
Graham, L. M., Treves-Kagan, S., Magee, E. P., DeLong, S. M., Ashley, O. S., Macy, R. J., … & Bowling, J. M. (2017). Sexual assault policies and consent definitions: A nationally representative investigation of US colleges and universities. Journal of school violence, 16(3), 243-258.
DeLong, S. M., Graham, L. M., Magee, E. P., Treves-Kagan, S., Gray, C. L., McClay, A. M., … & Pettifor, A. (2018). Starting the conversation: Are campus sexual assault policies related to the prevalence of campus sexual assault?. Journal of interpersonal violence, 33(21), 3315-3343.
Faculty Support: Beth Moracco, PhD, MPH, and Stephanie DeLong, PhD, MPH
Goals/Activities: The group is comprised of UNC students, faculty, staff, and community members who are working to improve awareness of opioid research at UNC and in Carolina communities. The group’s goals are to 1) promote student research through presentations and publications; 2) identify opportunities for research dissemination; and 3) connect students, faculty, and staff, and practitioners on practice-informed opioid research projects. The group meets several times a semester and offers speakers, research workshops, and journal clubs. Examples of past presentation topics include medication for opioid use disorders (MOUD) in prisons, the risk of overdose among recently incarcerated individuals, and overdose reversal training. Our Works in Progress series is an opportunity for students and early career investigators to “workshop” their own research and receive feedback from the group. A recent example of this was a student who presented preliminary results from a qualitative study on self-stigma experienced by people who use drugs in rural areas.
Membership: The group is comprised of UNC students, faculty, and staff, and community members who are working to improve awareness of opioid research at UNC and in Carolina communities. Currently, the group has 80-150 members.
Student Leaders: This group is co-chaired by Pasangi Perera (pasangi_perera@med.unc.edu) and David Colston (dcolston@unc.edu).
Faculty Support: Stephanie DeLong, PhD, MPH
Goals/Activities: This network is comprised of UNC masters and doctoral students, faculty, and staff from diverse disciplines including the Gillings School of Global Public Health, School of Social Work, Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, and School of Medicine. The network meets monthly to discuss novel research and current events in the field.
Membership: The group is comprised of UNC students, faculty, and staff, and community members who are working to prevent child maltreatment at UNC and in Carolina communities. Individuals may contact Callie Rockey-Bartlett (callir@unc.edu) or Isabella Igbanugo (cchinwe@unc.edu) to learn more about the group and join the listserv.
Faculty Support: Stephanie DeLong, PhD, MPH