Western New York COVID-19 Research Collaborative to Promote Vaccine Acceptance

Woman holding COVID vaccine card.

Contribute to a team that is seeking to enhance our regional public health efforts during COVID-19 while advancing your education at UB! 

Project description

The WNY COVID-19 Research Collaborative was formed in early 2020 to bridge community, business and schools with primary care sites, hospitals, universities/colleges and health department programs addressing COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy, antibody response to infection and vaccination, new treatments and implementing projects that foster a safe return to school and work. The Collaborative brings together community engagement programs that include the COVID-19 Community Response Project, Buffalo Center for Health Equity, African American Health Equity Task Force with initiatives by Western New York STEM, UB CTSI Community Engagement Core, Roswell Park Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences, WNY STEM Hub and the Community Health Workers of Buffalo to design innovative approaches to increase vaccine uptake. This protocol will focus on a community engagement programs to address reasons for vaccine hesitancy among underrepresented populations. To accomplish this goal a "team science" approach is needed that includes contributions from health care, community engagement, medical informatics, public health and education for schools and community groups. 

Project outcome

  • Obtain information from individuals who are hesitant to receive COVID-19 vaccination.
  • Apply health information systems to collect and organize survey information for qualitative analysis.
  • Identify areas of education from the survey data and transfer the areas of education that are needed into community mechanisms for disseminating to schools and community groups.
  • Contribute to planning the pilot phase of the protocol to make the effort available to a larger region in Erie and Niagara County.
  • Participate in vision planning for building a regional health care network infrastructure for underserved communities and advocate for health equity.
  • Student participation will lead to outcomes that will include a poster for presentation at a regional conference, submission of results as an abstract for conference consideration and scientific writing experience by contributing to manuscripts for publication in peer-reviewed journals. 

Project details

Timing, eligibility and other details
Length of commitment About a semester (3-5 months)
Start time Spring or Summer 2022
In-person, remote, or hybrid? Hybrid project
Level of collaboration Small group project (2-3 students)
Benefits Research experience; academic credit
Who is eligible All undergraduate students 

Project mentor

Gene Morse

SUNY Distinguished Professor

Pharmacy Practice

Phone: (716) 881-7464

Email: emorse@buffalo.edu

Start the project

  1. Email the project mentor using the contact information above to express your interest and get approval to work on the project. (Here are helpful tips on how to contact a project mentor.)
  2. After you receive approval from the mentor to start this project, click the button to start the digital badge. (Learn more about ELN's digital badge options.) 

Preparation activities

Once you begin the digital badge series, you will have access to all the necessary activities and instructions. Your mentor has indicated they would like you to also complete the specific preparation activities below. Please reference this when you get to Step 2 of the Preparation Phase. 

Keywords

Pharmacy Practice