PIMS tool enables VHA to mobilize needed support to storm-stricken areas
ORAU developed the Performance Improvement Management System (PIMS) for the Veterans Health Administration’s Comprehensive Emergency Management Program to track information such as available volunteers and emergency resources for each VA medical center. The system helps VHA emergency managers respond quickly to staffing and supply needs at hardest hit locations.
Integrating high tech solutions to health communication challenges
From healthcare professional training to consumer and environmental health education, ORAU specializes in creating customized health and preparedness training solutions to protect the well-being of employees and the public worldwide. Through web-based and live classroom courses, ORAU trains more than 25,000 health, safety and emergency preparedness professionals annually.
Monitoring nonpharmaceutical interventions for pandemic influenza
ORAU Senior Evaluation Specialist Julie Crumly, Ph.D., was recognized as a co-author of a recently published article titled, Nonpharmaceutical Interventions for Pandemic Influenza: Communication, Training, and Guidance Needs of Public Health Officials. The aim of the study was to identify the needs of state, tribal, local, and territorial public health officials in communicating, implementing, and monitoring nonpharmaceutical interventions during an influenza pandemic.
For more than 70 years, we have helped our customers advance their mission by providing science, health and workforce solutions. Through our specialized teams of experts and a consortium of more than 120 universities, we connect the right people and resources to help our customers solve our nation’s most challenging issues.
ORAU social scientist helps separate fact from social media misinformation during COVID-19 pandemic
Rumors, hoaxes and misinformation have been running rampant on social media in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Tiffani Conner, Ph.D., an ORAU social scientist with expertise in misinformation and social media research, has good advice for navigating the rapidly changing news cycle.
ORAU welcomes new directors, new consortium institutions
ORAU recently announced the election of three members of the board of directors and welcomed four new institutions to its more than 120-member university consortium.
Since the illness was first identified in December 2019, we’ve been hearing about ways to protect ourselves and others from its spread. The message has been consistent:
Wash your hands often
Don’t touch your face
Stay home when you’re sick
Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, or cough or sneeze into your elbow
Social distancing, or self-quarantining, measures are becoming commonplace as a means of avoiding crowds and thus community spread of COVID-19. Still, it’s important to plan for what could be several weeks at home.
While the federal government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic makes news on a nearly hourly basis, one of the stories being missed is how well prepared many communities are to respond to local outbreaks. ORAU has been working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on preparedness since 2003. At that time, ORAU had a contract with the CDC’s Division of Global Migration and Quarantine to run tabletop exercises at the eight quarantine centers that existed around the country.
Podcast: COVID-19 and ORAU's pandemic preparedness capability
As news and events continue unfold around the spread of COVID-19, questions continue to arise about how the disease is spread and how to prepare for what the World Health Organization has called a global pandemic. Further Together podcast host Michael Holtz had a conversation about COVID-19 and ORAU's pandemic preparedness capability with Wade Williamson, BSN, ORAU occupational health nurse, Freddy Gray, MPH, MCHES, director of health communication and preparedness, and Julie Crumly, Ph.D., health and education program evaluator. From how to protect yourself to our involvement in preparing communities for pandemic response, this is a wide-ranging and very timely conversation.
Perspective: Smart living—The thinking, skills and research needed for S&T advances that enrich our everyday lives
Whether we are conscious of it or not, scientific and technological (S&T) advances are happening all around us, bringing us modern conveniences, making our energy use more efficient, keeping us safe and, when necessary, even saving our lives. ORAU and the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) play vital roles in this transformation, from early science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education to recruiting the best and brightest for research participation programs, to analyzing workforce trends and tracking the careers of these research participants.
ORAU provides innovative scientific and technical solutions to advance science education and workforce development and protect health and the environment. We connect the right people and resources to get things done, and we put the full power of our organization behind every project—both large and small.
