SBSRN Networking Event

On December 5, the UNC CFAR Social and Behavioral Sciences Core, in conjunction with the CODE office, hosted their fall networking event, focused specifically on the science of community engagement.

A wide range of CFAR investigators, community stakeholders, and clinicians attended the event, hosted each semester to provide a forum for multidisciplinary researchers to meet and network with each other. Breana Castonguay, Core Manager, organized and planned the event.

Attendees learned key strategies of effective dissemination used in various public health projects via guided table discussions. This was followed by unstructured networking time, during which people were able to discuss topics of interest and connect to new individuals on a personal and professional level.

Danielle Haley, presenter at the event, shared that the event was a “fantastic opportunity to meet and exchange best practices for collaborating with community members to disseminate study findings.” Haley looks forward to “transferring these ideas to my own work and to forging new partnerships initiated by the Event.”

The core launched their first app to provide information about upcoming events and gather helpful data from those interested in the core’s efforts. This marks an exciting new venture into social media outreach for the SBSRN core.

Participants were delighted to have both structured and free time to mingle and share ideas with people working in the field of HIV/AIDS research and community engagement.

Bruce Curran, Adjunct Professor of Journalism at UNC, reflected that the “discussion reinforced my long-held belief that our messages are most effective when we talk not just about the facts of what we do but include the passion of why we do it”.

Topics covered at the event included:

Art and Theater – Kate MacQueen, UNC CFAR & FHI 360, and Emily Namey, FHI 360

Social Media and Journalism – Seth Noar, UNC School of Journalism & Laura Oleniacz, UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center

Virtual Dissemination – Kemi Amola and Danielle Haley, HPTN 064 The Women’s HIV Seroincidence Study (ISIS)

Photovoice Forum and Fashion Show – Alex Lightfoot, UNC School of Public Health & the Center for Health Promotion and Diseases Prevention (CDC), and Allison Matthews, UNC Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases and UNC Department of Social Medicine

Global Dissemination – Wendee Wechsberg, RTI International