Vaping Prevention Resource

A team of UNC researchers has developed a non-commercial, open-access website called Vaping Prevention Resource (VPR). This website is led by Dr. Kurt Ribisl, Professor and Chair of Health Behavior, Dr. Seth Noar, Professor of Journalism and Media, and Hannah Prentice-Dunn, Project Manager at the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Communities across the country are grappling with the youth vaping epidemic – with 1 in 4 U.S. high schoolers reporting that they currently vape. VPR’s goal is to respond to the vaping epidemic by empowering communities with the resources and information they need to communicate with the public about the harmful effects of vaping.

Health Communication & Policy: The VPR website includes key resources to help practitioners communicate with youth about the harmful effects of vaping, as well as comprehensive policy resources for stakeholders who want to advocate for change in their communities. The website includes a Media Gallery that offers free, open access vaping prevention ads and materials for practitioners and community members to download and use. VPR also hosts a Policy Playbook for E-Cigarettes developed in Fall, 2020 in partnership with the Public Health Law Center.

We are seeking a graduate student to support VPR’s continued growth and outreach to public health practitioners in the 2021-2022 academic year

Major activities:

• Support VPR’s collaboration with the Public Health Law Center to launch Version 2.0 of the Policy Playbook for ECigarettes in fall, 2021.
• Assist the planning and launch of a VPR newsletter to reach public health practitioners across the country.
• Work with leading vaping prevention experts at UNC and other institutions to collect and summarize best practices for public health practitioners.
• Work with the VPR team to survey public health agency websites, identify vaping prevention and cessation ads, and enter these ads into the Media Gallery database.

Education and Qualifications:

• A minimum of a bachelor’s degree in communication, public health, social sciences, or related area
• Must possess excellent verbal, written, organizational, and interpersonal skills
• Attentive to detail, organized, and able to seek advice when project concerns arise
• Proficiency in MS Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
• Preference will be given to candidates with graphic design experience and proficiency in related software (examples: Adobe InDesign, Canva, Adobe Photoshop)

The ideal candidate will be available to work 10-15 hours per week from August, 2021 through May 2022.

Compensation will be $20-$25/hour. Applicants should submit a cover letter and resume by Friday, April 23rd.

For more information and to apply for this opportunity, please contact: Hannah Prentice-Dunn, Project Manager for Cancer Prevention & Control at hannahpd@unc.edu