Social media hashtag campaign promotes students' health and wellness
For the past eight years, ORAU has provided support to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC)’s School Health Branch (SHB) in the areas of training, evaluation, and communication. This multi-pronged approach has assisted SHB in providing evidence-based and audience-centric tools and resources to support their mission of promoting the health and well-being of children and adolescents in schools.
Research partnerships advance national priorities in education, health and STEM
Our experts focus their research on our core capabilities and continue to deliver on our mission to strengthen research collaborations with our consortium member universities. These collaborations have led to exciting research projects that are offering solutions to some of our nation's most pressing issues.
Running a safe operation is not just something that ORAU management strives to do. It's a foundational part of our culture and extends well beyond the company work hours. ORAU maintains not only a tradition of safety at work, but strongly encourages employees to carry this mindset beyond the workplace and into their homes and communities.
Peer Review helps research funding agencies get the most value for their dollars
If you won the lottery, every distant relative along with dozens of non-profit organizations and others would come to you with their hands out. How would you determine who is most worthy of receiving some money? That’s the analogy Keri Cagle uses when talking about the value of peer review.
CDC awards $167 million NIOSH dose reconstruction contract to ORAU
ORAU and its partners have again been awarded the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention contract to support the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) on a multi-year contract for work under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act.
Watch the Extreme Classroom Makeover classroom reveal at Lanier Elementary!
After months of building, organizing, and creating, Renee Powell revealed her Extreme Classroom Makeover! Students, parents and the community were welcomed to celebrate the new STEM lab at Lanier Elementary School, thanks to the STEM Scouts’ and Ms. Powell’s hard work. Students at Lanier Elementary will get to enjoy and learn with this new tech for years to come.
Paying it forward for our community
From Extreme Classroom Makeovers to summer STEM for students, ORAU President and CEO Andy Page talks about the importance of giving back to the community. Hear it all on the Further Together podcast.
Exercise Builder Nuclear simplifies management of industry drills and exercises
Emergency preparedness managers are challenged with increasing scrutiny and regulations requiring more comprehensive drills and exercises. Exercise Builder Nuclear (EBN) helps meet these challenges with powerful drill and exercise management tools and the convenience of an online application that stores years of data in one place.
Since 2016, ORAU has traveled to six Appalachian states training over 30 anti-drug coalitions, not-for-profit organizations, local health departments, emergency responders and law enforcement agencies through an Opioid Prevention Social Media Training and Technical Assistance Program. The program trains local organizations to more effectively use social media to communicate with the public about opioid misuse and abuse.
Perspective: Using social media to address substance misuse and abuse: An analysis of Instagram’s “get support” feature
Of the 27.1 million adults battling substance use disorders in the U.S., less than 20% receive proper treatment. Stigma is a pivotal factor keeping those in need from seeking treatment.
Is social media helping or hindering vaccination rates?
A team from ORAU and the University of Georgia is characterizing the digital channels, principal arguments and communication message tactics used by pro-vaccine and anti-vaccine advocates across social media for three different types of vaccines. Funded by ORAU's ODRD program, this project is examines message tactics and other components that can be used as part of a digital strategy to improve vaccine messaging on social media in an effort to increase vaccination rates.
Improving adult vaccine communication, education with virtual reality
ORAU and the University of Georgia (UGA) partnered in 2017 to study the use of virtual reality and eye-tracking technologies to improve adult vaccine communication and education. ORAU and UGA also used eye-tracking technology to measure participants’ visual attention to vaccination education materials. With this technology, researchers can evaluate the type of content a person chooses to look at and which content the subject views the longest.
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.
Upcoming Events
Events Sponsorship Program
The Events Sponsorship Program provides up to $4,000 to support events that involve participants from more than one ORAU institution. Typical events might include visits to an ORAU institution by a renowned speaker, conferences or workshops with a focused theme, or a technology transfer/business plan competition.
As an investment in the future of science education in America, ORAU’s Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Awards Program rewards ambitious young faculty at our member universities.
The Events Sponsorship Program provides up to $4,000 to support events that involve participants from more than one ORAU institution. Typical events might include visits to an ORAU institution by a renowned speaker, conferences or workshops with a focused theme, or a technology transfer/business plan competition.
Phase 2 projects are defined as innovative research projects that enhance ORAU’s core scientific and technical competencies in partnership with a member university. The project should be achievable in 3 to 6 months, but no longer than 1 year, and is designed to produce "proof-of-concept"-type results leading to a white paper, conference presentation, and/or a technical publication with a clear proposal concept and identification of target funding sources.
