Are you interested in a remote, paid, health-focused and community-engaged learning project this winter? 

If so, apply for the New Jersey Alliance for Clinical and Translational Science (NJ ACTS), short-term micro-internship. NJ ACTS is working in partnership with the Program for Community-Engaged Scholarship (ProCES) on this Wintersession opportunity.

NJ ACTS will be able to support up to 4 undergraduate students to work remotely with select community partner organizations (see below).

The external funding source for this opportunity must adhere to federal guidelines. Only students who are US citizens, permanent residents of the US or non-citizen nationals are eligible for funding. 

Brief applications submitted in SAFE are due Monday, December 2, 2024.

What opportunities are available?
These remote micro-internship placements are available during Wintersession. There are five project options to choose from. Please see the accompanying project description document for details about each opportunity and the partnering organization. 

Apply for only one project:

1. Data Collection and Analysis for Public Health Department Accreditation 
2. Cannabis Use, Education, and Prevention: a Literature Review and Messaging for Public Health Professionals
3. The History of Hospital Closures and Community Health Activism in New Jersey 
4. Health and Social-Emotional Impacts of COVID-19 on Children
5. RSV Vaccination for Infants: Educational Resources for Parents
    

Given the short timeframe to conduct the projects, projects requiring Institutional Review Board review are NOT eligible for funding. Partner organizations may provide de-identified data on human subjects which would not require IRB review. 

What does the funding cover?

The funding can offset expenses incurred and may cover project or research-related expenses such as transportation, educational material development or translation, access to publications, and food.

What is the amount of the funding?

• Participants can receive $1,500 for two weeks of participation. A minimum of two weeks and 70-80 hours of work on the project is required.
• Please note that half of the funds will be paid in early January 2025, and half will be paid upon submission and staff review of the final report in late February 2025. 
• Stipends may be subject to tax and may be reported by the University to the Internal Revenue Service. See University guidelines 

What is the timeline?

• Tuesday, November 12, 2024 – application period starts.
• Apply between November 12, 2024 and December 2, 2024. The deadline to submit applications is midnight on Monday, December 2.
• Finalists meet over Zoom with NJ ACTS and ProCES staff and receive a decision in early to mid-December 2024.
• Projects should be conducted during the month of January 2025.
• Final reports (1–2-page description of the project goals, activities and outcomes) are due in SAFE by February 14, 2025. Final deliverables are also due to partner organizations, ProCES and NJACTS by February 14, 2025.

What do I need to know about applying and reporting?

• Submit your application proposals via the Student Activity Funding Engine (SAFE). To apply, search for "Program for Community-Engaged Scholarship (ProCES) Health-Related Project Funding" 
• Use the following search criteria to find the opportunity. Activity: Undergraduate Internship, Time Period: Winter Break or Intersession Break, Project Duration: Less than 4 weeks.
• Applicants will be asked to submit demographic information for sponsor reporting requirements.
• You must submit a 1-2-page report; see details above. 
• The external funding source for this opportunity must adhere to federal guidelines. Only students who are US citizens, permanent residents of the US or non-citizen nationals are eligible for funding.

TO APPLY:
Navigate to the Student Activities Funding Engine (SAFE)

Search for "Program for Community-Engaged Scholarship (ProCES) Health-Related Project Funding" 

Use the following search criteria to find the opportunity in SAFE:

• Activity: Undergraduate Internship
• Time Period: Winter Break or Intersession Break
• Project Duration: Less than 4 weeks.
• In your SAFE application, please specify:
  • Which project and partner organization you hope to work with (Project 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 + Project Title)
  • Your learning goals and the expected impact of your work
  • A statement of why this particular organization and the project interest you
  • Any relevant experience, knowledge or skills that would help you perform the project activities (note the specific requirement for project 1, Data Collection and Analysis)
  • In the "Supervisor of Internship" field, list Bianca Freda, NJ ACTS (you will be informed of the community organization project supervisor if selected for the micro-internship)
  • In the “Anticipated Expenses” field, request $1,500 but you do not need to provide a breakdown of costs. For expense type “Other”, enter “Completion of project” in the description field).

Questions?

• Contact Tania Boster (ProCES) at [email protected]  or Bianca Freda 98 (NJ ACTS) at [email protected]. Please do not contact the partner organizations directly.
• For IRB-specific questions, contact the IRB at [email protected].

Winter 2025 NJ ACTS Project Descriptions

Project 1: Data collection and analysis for Public Health Department Accreditation 

Community Partner: Montgomery Township Health Department

Description:  The mission and purpose of the Montgomery Township Health Department (MTHD) is the good health of the people of the communities it serves. The department works to prevent disease and injury, promote healthier choices, protect food, water and air, and prepare for emergencies.  Two different project opportunities are described below.

In Spring 2025, MTHD will be applying to the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) for reaccreditation. The health department is requesting support with data collection and analysis, specifically with meeting Measure 1.3.1A of PHAB’s Standards and Measures for Reaccreditation guidance blueprint (pg. 46-47). The purpose of this measure is to assess the health department’s capacity for data analysis, as well as its ability to draw conclusions and to engage with others about data findings. The focus of the health-related topics and de-identified data sets to be analyzed will be finalized in December and in discussion with the Health Officer. One possible topic may involve examining food insecurity in the community. Analytic processes for quantitative data could include, for example, crosstabs (i.e., tables showing how the mean, median, or count varies by demographic category), tests of significance (T-test, chi-square, ANOVA), cluster analysis, factor analysis, or regression analysis. 

In the application, students applying for this project must describe their prior experience using these analytic processes for quantitative data approaches and be comfortable conducting these analyses independently without supervision. 

Project 2: Cannabis Use, Education, and Prevention: a Literature Review and Messaging for Public Health Professionals

Community Partner: Montgomery Township Health Department

Description:  The mission and purpose of the Montgomery Township Health Department (MTHD) is the good health of the people of the communities it serves. The department works to prevent disease and injury, promote healthier choices, protect food, water and air, and prepare for emergencies.  Two different project opportunities are described below. 

The use of cannabis is on the rise in the communities served by the MTHD. There are reports of use by high school students, by youth at affordable housing developments, and comments about general acceptance with little to no messaging on longer term effects and impacts. Health educators have continued to face challenges with messaging in the community about the risks of marijuana abuse. A significant challenge stems from the polarizing views on cannabis use, with strong opinions both for and against it. Prevention educators have also faced gaps in guidance for effectively communicating its associated public health risks to youth and the general community. MTHD would appreciate an updated literature review of recent studies, especially through the lens of public health education, cannabis use prevention, and cannabis abuse, including by minors. As part of the project, the student can identify and document relevant resources and educational tools being used by public health professionals in other communities.  Finally, the student intern can suggest messaging and talking points for the MTHD health educators for different audiences (e.g., teens, parents) based on findings in the literature review and existing community resources.  

Project 3: The History of Hospital Closures and Community Health Activism in New Jersey 

Community Partner Organizations: Truth & Repair: The History of Health Inequity in New Jersey, and Newark Public Library

Description: Truth & Repair: The History of Health Inequity in New Jersey is a research study involving scholars at Princeton University, Rutgers University, Saint Peter’s University, and community-based experts that documents the historical impacts of structural racism on the health and wellbeing of communities of color in New Jersey. T&R partners with cultural institutions that preserve and produce the historical records necessary to document these histories. In collaboration with the Newark Public Library, Truth & Repair is seeking an intern to conduct research on the history of hospital closures, community protests against the facility closures, and the development of alternative, community-based health care institutions. Since the 1970s, poor and minority communities across the state have organized to prevent hospital closures in their neighborhoods. When hospitals did close, these communities developed mutual aid networks and community health clinics, a tradition that spans from the 1940s under segregation through the HIV/AIDS crisis of the 1980s and 1990s to the present-day shuttering of hospitals across the state.

The intern will conduct this research using digitized archival collections held primarily at the Newark Public Library (NPL). The NPL is dedicated to preserving and documenting the histories of marginalized communities in New Jersey, including the effects of institutional discrimination on community health. As part of that effort, it has digitized several health-related archival collections, including newspaper clippings related to health and medicine in New Jersey, and the Newark Community Project for People with AIDS containing files from the Newark Coalition for Neighborhoods and the New Jersey Department of Health on HIV/AIDS in New Jersey during the 1990s. The NPL has also digitized many New Jersey periodicals, including African American and LGBTQIA+ newspapers that recount these histories of discrimination, marginalization, and activism.

Research deliverables could include: a write-up of the research, including scans and bibliographic citations for significant archival documents; a timeline of major events; and a list of important people, places, and archival collections from which to develop future research. This project would be conducted remotely with the possibility of in-person archival visits to explore physical collections and consult with archivists. The intern will have the opportunity to present their research at an end-of-summer conference held in late August.

Project 4:  Health and Social-Emotional Impacts of COVID-19 on Children 

Community Partner:  Hamilton Area YMCA

Description: Hamilton Area YMCA is a charitable association dedicated to building a healthy spirit, mind, and body. Part of a world-wide movement, we put Christian principles into practice through programs that promote good health, strong families, youth leadership, community development, and international understanding. YMCAs are open to men, women, and children of all ages, incomes, abilities, races, and religions. Over the last six decades, the Hamilton Area YMCA has evolved along with the community. Today, we offer everything from childcare to cardio and free weights, senior services to teen mentoring and development, and more. From the beginning, our goal has remained the same: To provide Hamilton Township and surrounding areas with a family-friendly recreation outlet to maximize every resident's potential in achieving better physical, mental and spiritual fitness, and living a healthier, more rewarding life. 

As the Hamilton and greater Trenton area has changed demographically in recent years, we are committed to keeping pace with the evolving needs of our community and providing responsive programming based on data-driven priorities. As we work to support underserved populations in particular, we are seeking health data and summary reporting on the impacts of COVID-19 on school-aged children in our community.

The Hamilton Y serves schools throughout the district and has been building data-driven and responsive programs to support youth in Title 1 schools. There seems to be general agreement that COVID has impacted underserved communities far more than wealthier ones. We see a difference between our Title 1 schools and our more affluent schools on the other side of town. One example is in lower math and reading scores in Title 1 schools, where it is believed COVID, along with location or economic environment, may have contributed to accelerating those gaps.  The student selected for this project will be charged with providing data, research and summary reporting on the health and social-emotional impacts of COVID-19 on school-aged children to assist us in understanding and explaining to potential funders the context in which we are working. The student’s deliverables may be used in grant submissions requesting funding to support the continuation and expansion of a 2024 summer pilot program. 

 Sample deliverables:

• Overview of the literature on the health and social-emotional impacts of COVID-19 on school-aged children, written in accessible language with visualizations
• Summary of the data on COVID-19 in the relevant zip codes using publicly available data sources and local Hamilton and NJ state health department resources
• Summary of peer reviewed studies describing outcomes (including behavioral and physical health) of programs for school children like those offered at the Hamilton Area YMCA

Project 5: RSV Vaccination for Infants: Educational Resources for Parents 

Community Partner: Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital and RWJ University Hospital, Department of Pediatrics

Description: Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) is a very common virus especially in the winter months. Although most infants and children only have a bad cold, some develop life-threatening symptoms including respiratory failure requiring hospitalization or even being placed on a ventilator. Rarely, children can die or have life-long health issues. Until recently, there has not been a good way to prevent serious complications from this illness. The most vulnerable were able to receive a monoclonal antibody shot that lasted one month, requiring them to get up to 6 shots depending on when they were born. Now there is a new, long-acting monoclonal antibody that is "one and done" for the season and is available for ALL infants. Although there are always risks to any drug, this shot has been tested in newborns and older infants and is very safe and most importantly effective. 

The RWJUH Department of Pediatrics and Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital are beginning to administer RSV vaccines to newborns. While preprinted resources about this immunization are currently available, parents in the newborn nursery need different educational tools with information about the vaccine to help them make a decision about giving their baby the shot. The department and hospital would like a student to devise a creative way to impart the information to parents at a sixth-grade literacy level. The tool or tools developed don’t need to be a hand-out. Other formats are welcomed and pictures, cartoons, animation, video, or a QR code that leads to a link are all possibilities for consideration. The student can also partner with the hospital to translate the information and tool into Spanish.  

The project will involve researching what parent-facing informational resources already exist on the topic and using reputable sources to develop the educational tool(s) (e.g., American Academy of Pediatrics, the Centers for Disease Control, etc.). The student could also consult with health care providers in the department to learn more about parents’ greatest concerns, their most frequently asked questions and which formats might be most effective and feasible for reaching the target audience.