News and Current Activities

  • DC Public Health Case Challenge: The DC Public Health Case Challenge aims to promote interdisciplinary, problem-based learning around a public health issue that faces the local Washington, DC, community. Universities in the DC area form teams consisting of five to six members from at least three disciplines. Teams are given a case, written by students from the participating universities, that provides background information on a local public health problem. Teams have a limited amount of time to devise a comprehensive intervention, which they present to an expert panel of judges. Teams are judged on the interdisciplinary nature of their response, feasibility of implementation, creativity, and practicality. Each year a topic for the case is chosen that is relevant in the local DC area and also has broader domestic and global resonance.2022 Case: Protective Community Environments and Their Contribution to Intimate Partner Violence Prevention: The Role of YouthThe 2022 DC Public Health Case Challenge took place on Monday, October 10, 2022. Six DC-area university teams developed and proposed solutions with a hypothetical $1 million budget to be used during a five-year span. The teams presented their solutions to a panel of expert judges, and they were evaluated on the interdisciplinary nature of their response, feasibility of implementation, creativity, and practicality. The Grand Prize was awarded, along with prizes for interprofessionalism, and two Wildcard prizes (for integrating theater into a solution, and for cohesive and detailed presentation of the solution).Team from George Washington University Wins Grand Prize in 2022 D.C. Public Health Case Challenge

     


    The 2022 Case Challenge judges were:

    • Candace (Candy) Campbell, professor of nursing, University of San Francisco
    • Brenda (Bren) Elliott, chief, School Improvement and Supports for District of Columbia Public Schools
    • Cynthia B. Greer, associate professor, Graduate Program in Counseling and Mental Health, School of Nursing and Health Promotion, Trinity Washington University, representing the Research Team Initiative on ACEs and Trauma
    • Kelly Klinger, member services and wellness coordinator, D.C. Coalition Against Domestic Violence
    • Rita K. Kuwahara, primary care internal medicine physician and health policy fellow
    • Christian Sutton, organizer for food distribution and technology programs, Serve Your City/Ward 6 Mutual Aid, and changemaker, New Deal for Youth (a program at the Center for Law and Social Policy)

    Presentation:

    Dr. Luane Oprea, Associate Professor of Counseling, presented a workshop on November 2, 2022 for the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia. The workshop, “Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and ACE questionnaire Training”.

    The objectives of the training were to:
    1. Become familiar with the types of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs).
    2. Learn how to utilize the ACE questionnaire.
    3. Learn what specific scoring indicates.
    4.  Learn how to implement ACEs into mitigation reports/advocacy work at PDS

Other Current Activities

  • Collaborating with community partners using the Building Community Resilience (BCR) model
  • Continuing to develop community partners in the metropolitan area, with a focus on the District of Columbia
  • Gathering data on current and changing curriculum in the programs in counseling and teacher education at Trinity Washington University
  • Developing a speakers bureau from the research team on ACEs to make presentations on and off campus
  • Developing an ACEs informed credential with local school systems
  • Creating ACEs informed tracks and continuing education courses
  • Assisting faculty with developing ACEs/trauma learning outcomes for appropriate courses