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26th Pilot Research Project Symposium

Oct 17, 2025, 12:03 PM by Jessica Bloomer

The annual Pilot Research Project (PRP) Symposium was held on October 9-10, 2025, in the University of Cincinnati’s Kettering Lab Complex. The symposium highlights pilot research projects in various fields of occupational health and safety. The symposium began with events on Thursday, October 9th, including the undergraduate careers workshop, an Identifying, Understanding, and Resolving Ethical Dilemmas workshop, and a welcome reception on Thursday evening. Dinner was provided by Ollie’s Trolley. Thank you to the PRP Steering Committee members for your donations! Without generous donations, the networking dinner would not be possible.

People in an auditorium

Attendees gather in the auditorium for symposoim presentations

On Friday, October 10th, Dr. Kermit Davis, Professor and ERC Director Department of Environmental and Public Health Sciences, attended and welcomed the attendees to the 25th symposium.

The keynote speaker was Dr. Nancy Daraiseh, Professor, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. Her presentation was called “From Fellowship to Frontline: Advancing Occupational Health in Healthcare Through Research and Real-World Practice”. Dr. Daraiseh is a safety and health researcher in systems engineering, human factors/ergonomics, and occupational epidemiology. Her career has centered on improving the health and safety of pediatric healthcare workers, an area she has helped pioneer through innovative research. As one of a select group of scientists nationally and internationally addressing workplace safety in pediatric healthcare, Dr. Daraiseh has significantly advanced the field.

She has served as PI on multiple funded projects, most notably four from UC’s PRP as a graduate student. These grants played a pivotal role in launching her research career and laid the foundation for her contributions to occupational health and safety. Dr. Daraiseh is now a research professor at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center (CCHMC) and has secured sustained funding, including an R21 on her first attempt and a perfect-score R01. She currently leads the Employee Safety Learning Laboratory at CCHMC and collaborates on multiple grants fostering interdisciplinary innovation and sustainable safety solutions.

person presenting at a podium

Keynote speaker Dr. Nancy Daraiseh presenting on "From Fellowship to Frontline: Advancing Occupational Health in Healthcare Through Research and Real-World Practice"

2024-25 PRP awardees presented their final project results. Topics included;

  • Waging the Low Wage War: Differential Work Experiences of Low Wage Workers
  • Evaluating the Role of Human Sweat in the Dermal Absorption of Inorganic Pb
  • A Machine Learning Approach to Predicting Core Body Temperature
  • Evaluation of Intrinsic Risk Factors for Patient Falls in Long-term Care Facilities and Home Healthcare Settings
  • Spatial and Temporal Assessment of Secondhand Cigarette Smoke Exposure to Home Healthcare Workers
  • Utilizing AI with Digital Human Modeling to Assess Risk of MSDs in Non-fireground Firefighter Activities
  • Effects of Energy Recovery Ventilation on Nanoparticulate and Gaseous Indoor Air Pollution
  • 3D Printed Headforms for Evaluating Respirator performance among Home Healthcare Workers

2025-26 PRP awardees presented project plans in the form of posters as well as one other poster presenter that applied to present at the symposium. Topics included;
  • Objective Quantification of Postural Demand Experienced by Caregivers in Long-Term Care Facilities
  • Occupational Heat Stress: Comparing Subjective Symptoms and Physiological Signs
  • Examining the Role of Social Support on Nurses’ Mental and Physical Health
  • Extended Reality (XR) in OHS Training: Assessment of Aviation Worker Outcomes
  • Assessing the Relationship Between Workplace Ergonomics and Respirable Crystalline Silica Exposure in Construction Industry Workers
  • Carbon-based Lead Composite as Flexible and Lightweight Shield against Roentgen and Gamma Radiation
  • Evaluation of Emesis Containers with Integrated Air Filtration to Reduce Airborne Infections
  • Occupational Exposure to Aircraft Exhaust in Aviation Workers and Biofuels
people gather at a poster session Poster presenters sharing their research with symposium attendees

The symposium concluded with a panel discussion among experts in the field; Dr. Victoria Wulsin and Dr. Amit Bhattacharya, from University of Cincinnati as well as Dr. Gary Brown, from Eastern Kentucky University, and Dr. Rayhan Shaheb from Central State University. The panel was facilitated by Dr. Gordon Gillespie, National League for Nursing.  

Jessica Bloomer, program director at the University of Cincinnati ERC, presented awards; two for people’s choice favorite poster and podium presenters, two that a panel of judges selected for best podium and poster presenters, and the top three that participated the most in the event app.

The award winners were:

  • Award for Distinguished Podium Presentation: A Machine Learning Approach to Predicting Core Body Temperature, Sai Yeshwanth Vejendla & Israel Ajiboye 
  • Award for Distinguished Poster Presentation: Examining the Role of Social Support on Nurses’ Mental and Physical Health, Barbara Warner
  • Award for People’s Choice Podium Presentation: Waging the Low Wage War: Differential Work Experiences of Low Wage Workers, Aarti Polavarapu
  • Award for People’s Choice Poster Presentation: Occupational Exposure to Aircraft Exhaust in Aviation Workers and Biofuels, Yevgen Nazarenko & Onyinye Ezeifeka

The symposium used the Whova event app which allowed for online networking, access to event resources, and a leaderboard contest that all attendees could participate in to win prizes by engaging in the app. The leaderboard winners were Peggy Ann Berry (third), Rayhan Shaheb (second), and Onyinye Anthonia Ezeifeka (first). The symposium gave many attendees the opportunity to interact with each other as well as learn about new research areas.


Thank you to the Ohio Association of Occupational Health Nurses for sponsoring the symposium this year!

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Department of Environmental and Public Health Sciences
Education and Research Center (ERC)
Kettering Lab Building
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Cincinnati, OH 45267-0056
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