For immediate use
UNC-Chapel Hill’s 2015 Harvey Award to fund projects focused on sickle cell disease and mental illness
(Chapel Hill, N.C. – March 29, 2016) – Faculty members from the schools of nursing and social work at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have been awarded the 2015 C. Felix Harvey Award to Advance Institutional Priorities. The award recognizes “applied innovation of humanities and social sciences scholarly expertise.” This year’s winners will use the $75,000 award to fund projects seeking to improve the lives of patients suffering from sickle cell disease and mental illness.
Dr. Coretta Jenerette, an associate professor of nursing, will develop and test a web-based virtual training tool to help sickle cell disease patients better communicate with their health-care providers in an effort to achieve better health-care outcomes and relief from pain and symptoms.
“Mr. Harvey believed people’s attitudes significantly impact their lives,” said Jenerette. “Attitude influences communication. With this funding, I will be able to give patients the tools they need to approach encounters with health-care providers with the attitude of collaborative problem solving. I am excited to have this opportunity to make a difference.”
At the School of Social Work, Assistant Professor Amy Blank Wilson will work with a team of University and community partners to build “tiny homes” for people with serious mental illnesses. The homes will be located at the Farm at Penny Lane in Chatham County, operated by the UNC Center for Excellence in Community Mental Health, and will provide residents access to healthy food, meaningful daily activities and physical- and behavioral-health services.
“This award will allow the University to work in partnership with the community to fill a critical need for those with serious mental illnesses who live in non-urban areas,” said Wilson. “As far as I’m aware, this is the first time that tiny homes are being constructed for this purpose. Our project will have an impact locally and beyond as we will share our findings.”
The C. Felix Harvey Award to Advance Institutional Priorities recognizes exemplary faculty scholarship that reflects the University’s commitment to entrepreneurship and innovation and addresses a real-world challenge to serve constituencies outside the University.
The award’s namesake is the late C. Felix Harvey, who was chairman of Harvey Enterprises & Affiliates and founder of the Little Bank Inc., both in Kinston, North Carolina. A 1943 Carolina graduate, he joined his family in 2007 to endow the award with a $2 million commitment.
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About the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the nation’s first public university, is a global higher education leader known for innovative teaching, research and public service. A member of the prestigious Association of American Universities, Carolina regularly ranks as the best value for academic quality in U.S. public higher education. Now in its third century, the University offers 77 bachelor’s, 113 master’s, 68 doctorate and seven professional degree programs through 14 schools and the College of Arts and Sciences. Every day, faculty – including two Nobel laureates – staff and students shape their teaching, research and public service to meet North Carolina’s most pressing needs in every region and all 100 counties. Carolina’s more than 308,000 alumni live in all 50 states and 150 countries. More than 167,000 live in North Carolina.
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Communications and Public Affairs contact: MC VanGraafeiland, (919) 962-7090, mc.vangraafeiland@unc.edu