Aging Biology and Potential Relevance for Clinical Practice

UNC Geriatrics Weekly Division Meeting featuring James L. Kirkland, MD, PhD

Dr. Kirkland is Director of the Robert and Arlene Kogod Center on Aging at Mayo Clinic and Noaber Foundation Professor of Aging Research. His research is on the contribution of fundamental aging processes, particularly cellular senescence, to age-related and chronic diseases and development of agents and strategies for targeting fundamental aging mechanisms to treat age- and chronic disease-related conditions and morbidities.

Additional research areas include molecular and physiological mechanisms of age-related adipose tissue and metabolic dysfunction, frailty, and loss of resilience to infections and acute diseases in old age. Dr. Kirkland published the first clinical trials of senolytic drugs and is currently conducting multiple clinical trials of senolytics, including three clinical trials for COVID-19. He has more than 225 publications and holds over 20 patents.

He is Principal Investigator of the Translational Geroscience Network, which brings together 8 academic institutions to translate healthspan interventions, including senolytics and other drugs that target fundamental aging processes, from bench to bedside. He is a scientific advisory board member for several companies and academic organizations.

He is President of the American Federation for Aging Research, a past member of the National Advisory Council on Aging of the National Institutes of Health, past chair of the Biological Sciences Section of the Gerontological Society of America, and past member of the Clinical Trials Advisory Panel of the National Institute on Aging. He is a board-certified specialist in internal medicine, geriatrics, and endocrinology and metabolism. Dr. Kirkland is the 2020 recipient of the Irving S. Wright Award of Distinction from the American Federation for Aging Research.

Zoom

Understanding a Patient’s Daily Experience Through Mobile Devices and Wearables: Lessons Learned From the 8,000 Patient MIPACT Study and Implementation in the PCORI THRIVE Pragmatic Trial

This NIH Collaboratory Rethinking Clinical Trials Grand Rounds features:

Sachin Kheterpal, MD, MBA
Professor of Anesthesiology
Associate Dean for Research IT
PI for MIPACT and Co-PI for THRIVE University of Michigan

Jessica Golbus, MD
Clinical Instructor, Cardiovascular Medicine
Co-I for MIPACT
University of Michigan

Nicole Pescatore, MPH
MIPACT Clinical Research Project Manager University of Michigan

Learn More

Join a live training session for the N3C Data Enclave. Users of all types can learn how to navigate the N3C, utilize the Enclave and resources it provides, and learn how to better achieve their analytical goals. This orientation is split into 2 sessions – Session A and Session B. These orientations are offered on a monthly basis. Session A is recommended before attending Session B.

Session A is for those who want to learn about N3C, as well as how to engage with project teams and access the data.

Topics include:

• Provide a general overview of N3C, including goals, organization, and community resources such as Domain Teams and Data Liaisons.
• Introduces the 3 data tiers available and important considerations for research driven by the data harmonization process.
• Discusses resources for training and help, as well as the Data Use Request (DUR) process required for researcher access.

Register

The TraCS Research Recruitment & Retention Program offers Drop-in Office Hours every third Wednesday. Get quick answers for your recruitment questions via Zoom. Our recruitment specialists can help answer brief questions, review documents, or provide resources. 

Whether you need recruitment troubleshooting, have questions about MyChart, or help designing a flyer, drop-in and we can help get things started!

Zoom

Join NC TraCS and the SOM CRSO for a presentation for current and future Principal Investigators on best practices for developing and maintaining a successful clinical research team. The CRSO’s Workforce Development core will present best practices for hiring, training, and developing clinical research staff to support and enable an evolving clinical research portfolio. Zoom information will be provided after registration is completed.

Register

Inclusive Science Program Series - Semblie: Introduction and New Feature Demo

Join a live training session for Semblie, a free platform for developing digital health interventions. Semblie was specifically designed with the needs of public health researchers and practitioners in mind. This web-based platform makes it easy to create interactive decision aids and tailored health education tools. This session will introduce the Semblie platform and the types of content that can be designed. We will also demo the new drag-and-drop feature for designing slides in Semblie.

This session is for anyone interested in using Semblie for public health interventions or research. No prior experience with Semblie is required for this session. For more information about Semblie, please visit here.

Semblie was developed by RTI International with funding from NC TraCS.

Register

Presenters:

Laura Wagner
MPH, Health Behavior / Health Education, University of North Carolina
BA, Cognitive Science, University of Virginia
Laura Wagner, a research public health analyst with RTI's Center for Communication Science, has over a decade of professional experience in health
communication and public health research. Her expertise includes patient-centered outcomes, cancer prevention and care, digital and social media
strategy, and virtual and augmented reality. She is skilled at both quantitative and qualitative research methods, including the design, conduct, and
analysis of surveys, focus groups, in-depth interviews, behavioral measures, and web analytics.

Juliana Hoover
BA, Linguistics, Duke University
Juliana Hoover is a public health analyst in RTI's Center for Communication Science. She has experience supporting both quantitative
and qualitative health communication studies, including interviews, focus groups, surveys, text analysis, literature reviews, and
usability testing studies. She has supported projects for a range of clients including the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC), and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

For any questions regarding this event, please email Laura Villa-Torres at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Location: Zoom or in-person Pagano Room ground floor Lineberger

This seminar is sponsored by UNC Computational Medicine Program. Refreshments will be served.

David Odde is the Medtronic Professor of Engineering in Medicine at the University of Minnesota. Trained as a chemical engineer at the University of Minnesota and Rutgers University, Odde joined the newly created Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Minnesota in 1999 where he is a professor and Associate Director for Strategic Research Initiatives in the Institute for Engineering in Medicine. In his research, Odde’s group builds computer models of cellular and molecular self-assembly and force-generation-dissipation dynamics and tests the models experimentally using digital microscopic imaging of living cells ex vivo and in engineered microenvironments. His group seeks to bring an engineering approach that uses physics-based modeling and analysis to understand, predict, and control disease outcomes (oddelab.umn.edu).

Dr. Odde is an elected Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES), the International Academy of Medical and Biological Engineering (IAMBE), and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and is the Director of the Physical Sciences in Oncology Center at the University of Minnesota (psoc.umn.edu), which is focused on modeling the mechanics of cancer cell migration in biologically relevant contexts.

Zoom

Meeting ID: 931 0694 7286
Passcode: Seminar

Better Data on Ivermectin Is Finally Here: Results from the TOGETHER Trial (Edward Mills, PhD, FRCP; Craig Rayner, PharmD)

This NIH Collaboratory Rethinking Clinical Trials Grand Rounds features:

Edward Mills PhD, FRCP
Professor, McMaster University
Craig Rayner, PharmD
Adjunct Associate Professor, Monash University

Learn More

This two-day (3/21 and 3/23) course will be offered IN-PERSON only.

Course Summary:
This course teaches students when and how to use logistic regression models. This type of regression is used to estimate the odds or probability that an event with two categories will occur, e.g., whether individuals with characteristics of interest are likely to develop an illness, pay a debt, pass a class, have a car accident, or benefit from treatment. At the end of the course, students will be able to fit models, estimate and interpret results in terms of probabilities, odds, and logit coefficients using Stata. To achieve this end, students will learn to perform diagnostic tests: multicollinearity, discrimination, residuals, influential observations. Moreover, the class will cover how to do the following:
• Report standardized and unstandardized effects
• Compare the effect of coefficients in the model
• Interpret and graph interaction effects

Requirements:
1. Students must know how to model and interpret ordinary least square (OLS) regressions
2. Know how to use the basic Stata functions, i.e., enter and save data, create variables, use command window, and do file.

Instructor: Eugenia Conde
Dr. Conde is a Statistical Consultant at The H. W. Odum Institute for Research in Social Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She provides consultations to students and faculty on research methods and statistics. Her Ph.D. is in sociology with a concentration in demography and medical sociology. In addition, she holds an MSPH in epidemiology. Before working at the Odum Institute, she worked at Rutgers University and at Duke University as a statistical consultant for graduate students and as a statistician for researchers from different disciplines, including political science, economics, psychology, sociology, and public health.

She is co-authoring a statistics book with Dr. Dudley L. Poston and Dr. Layton Field, Applied Regression Models in the Social Sciences (Forthcoming, Cambridge University Press). Her research interests include social inequalities, research methods, and statistics with a focus on missing data and methodologies to study people of color.

Registration Fees
- $0, with a $20 deposit to hold your spot (deposit is refundable upon your attendance for at least 66% of the course)

Additional Course Registration
- Registration will close at 12:01 am on 3/18/2022. Once registration closes, no late registrations will be accepted, no exceptions.
- Cancellation/ Refund Policy: A full refund will be given to those who cancel their registration no later than 10 days prior to the course. If you cancel within 10 days prior to the class, no refund will be given. Please allow 30 days to receive your refund.
- For questions regarding the status of this class, please contact Jill Stevens at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Register

This two-day (3/21 and 3/23) course will be offered IN-PERSON only.

Course Summary:
This course teaches students when and how to use logistic regression models. This type of regression is used to estimate the odds or probability that an event with two categories will occur, e.g., whether individuals with characteristics of interest are likely to develop an illness, pay a debt, pass a class, have a car accident, or benefit from treatment. At the end of the course, students will be able to fit models, estimate and interpret results in terms of probabilities, odds, and logit coefficients using Stata. To achieve this end, students will learn to perform diagnostic tests: multicollinearity, discrimination, residuals, influential observations. Moreover, the class will cover how to do the following:
• Report standardized and unstandardized effects
• Compare the effect of coefficients in the model
• Interpret and graph interaction effects

Requirements:
1. Students must know how to model and interpret ordinary least square (OLS) regressions
2. Know how to use the basic Stata functions, i.e., enter and save data, create variables, use command window, and do file.

Instructor: Eugenia Conde
Dr. Conde is a Statistical Consultant at The H. W. Odum Institute for Research in Social Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She provides consultations to students and faculty on research methods and statistics. Her Ph.D. is in sociology with a concentration in demography and medical sociology. In addition, she holds an MSPH in epidemiology. Before working at the Odum Institute, she worked at Rutgers University and at Duke University as a statistical consultant for graduate students and as a statistician for researchers from different disciplines, including political science, economics, psychology, sociology, and public health.

She is co-authoring a statistics book with Dr. Dudley L. Poston and Dr. Layton Field, Applied Regression Models in the Social Sciences (Forthcoming, Cambridge University Press). Her research interests include social inequalities, research methods, and statistics with a focus on missing data and methodologies to study people of color.

Registration Fees
- $0, with a $20 deposit to hold your spot (deposit is refundable upon your attendance for at least 66% of the course)

Additional Course Registration
- Registration will close at 12:01 am on 3/18/2022. Once registration closes, no late registrations will be accepted, no exceptions.
- Cancellation/ Refund Policy: A full refund will be given to those who cancel their registration no later than 10 days prior to the course. If you cancel within 10 days prior to the class, no refund will be given. Please allow 30 days to receive your refund.
- For questions regarding the status of this class, please contact Jill Stevens at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Register

CTSA Grand Rounds: Marquis Hawkins, PhD - The impact of sleeping and waking behaviors on maternal health during pregnancy

Please join us to hear Marquis Hawkins, PhD, a K scholar from the University of Pittsburgh, discuss his work on sleep health characteristics and gestational weight gain.

For any questions regarding the event, please email Susan Pusek at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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The Department of Allied Health Sciences and the Office of Research and Scholarship are hosting the research forum Writing Skills Development Program: How did they get all that money from IES?

Event Description:

Learn about the grant proposal requirements for the Institute of Education Sciences with tips for how to get funded. Dr. Costa is an intervention scientist with the UNC-CH School of Medicine. Over her 15-year research career, she has secured IES funding for multiple projects aimed at improving the written expression for children in pre-K through 8th grade.

Presenter:

Lara Costa, PhD
Research Project Director
DAHS

Faculty, staff, PhD students & post-docs: Join us for presentation and discussion!

Questions? Email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Register

Join leading Indigenous health leaders and scientists as they discuss the ethical use of Native genetic, microbiome, biological, and cultural data. A one-day virtual symposium featuring a renowned Indigenous keynote speaker, leading Native scientists and health experts, conversation with Tribal leaders, and a Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math (STEAM) event for graduate and undergraduate students.

You'll learn:

- How a global movement toward data sovereignty is impacting health, science, ancient and ancestral social data, and research
- Ethical approaches for working with Southeast tribal communities within a cultural and political context
- Best practices for community-engaged research
- Research needs and data sufficiency issues in Southeast Indian Country

Organizers:

Based at UNC-Chapel Hill, Southeast Native American Health Data (SENAHD) is an initiative to bring information and programming to tribal communities, researchers, and health professionals in the Southeast about the ethical use of Indigenous genetic, microbiome, biological, and cultural data in collaboration with the Native BioData Consortium, the first 501(c)(3) nonprofit research institute led by Indigenous scientists and tribal members in the United States.

UNC Chapel Hill partners:

- UNC American Indian Center
- Odum Institute for Research in Social Science
- Kenan-Flagler Business School, Whole Community Health: Rural Innovation

Can’t attend live? Register! We will send you the recording afterward.

Register

CTSA Grand Rounds: Mona Mashayekhi, MD, PhD - The contribution of adipose tissue and systemic inflammation to cardiovascular diseases in obesity

Please join us to hear Mona Mashayekhi, MD, PhD, a K scholar from Vanderbilt University, discuss her work to characterize the anti-inflammatory potential of newer anti-diabetic agents.

For any questions regarding the event, please email Susan Pusek at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Register

A Telehealth-Delivered Pragmatic Trial of Mindfulness for Persons with Chronic Low Back Pain (Natalia Morone, MD, MS)

This NIH Collaboratory Rethinking Clinical Trials Grand Rounds features:

Natalia E. Morone, MD, MS
Associate Professor of Medicine
Boston University/Boston Medical Center

Learn More

This two-day course (3/28/22 and 3/30/22) will be offered via Zoom. Attendance is required as the course will not be recorded.

Course Summary:
Urbanization has been a fundamental trend of the past two centuries and a key force shaping the development of the modern world. While urbanization in rapidly growing nations is helping lift hundreds of millions of people out of poverty, it is also creating immense societal challenges by increasing greenhouse-gas emissions, destabilizing fragile ecosystems and creating new demands on public services and infrastructure that pose significant challenges on the environment. Despite the importance of understanding the drivers of urban growth, we are still unable to quantify the magnitude and pace of urbanization in a consistent manner at a high resolution and global scale.

The revolution in geospatial data has transformed how we study cities. Since the 1970s, terrestrial Earth observation data have been continuously collected in various spectral, spatial and temporal resolutions. As improved satellite imagery becomes available, new remote-sensing methods and machine-learning approaches have been developed to convert terrestrial Earth-observation data into meaningful information about the nature and pace of change of urban landscapes and human settlements. But until recently, most remote sensing studies focused on local settings. Mapping land cover at a national or regional scale is challenging because of the lack of high-resolution global imagery, the heterogeneous and complex spectral characteristics of land, the small and fragmented spatial configuration of many cities, and importantly, computational constrains (for storage and processing). Emerging cloud-based computational platforms now allow for scaling analysis across space and time. Google Earth Engine (GEE) is one platform that leverages cloud-computing services to achieve planetary-scale utility. GEE leverages cloud-computational services for planetary-scale analysis and consists of petabytes of geospatial and tabular data, including a full archive of Landsat, Sentinel-2, Sentinel-1, and MODIS, together with a JavaScript, Python based API (GEE API), and algorithms for supervised image classification.

This hands-on course will focus on the use of Google Earth Engine (GEE) for urban research applications. It will demonstrate how free and open-source satellite imagery – including electro-optical (EO) and Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery – can be utilized to map urban areas and urbanization trends and patterns, across space and time, and to perform a qualitative analysis of the impacts of urban expansion on the landscape. In addition to analyzing existing classification schemes of urban areas to understand how cities expand and evolve, the course will provide a brief introduction to concepts in Remote Sensing Machine Learning, with a focus on supervised pixel-based image classification. Students will learn how to automatically map built-up land cover based on publicly available satellite imagery (e.g., Landsat and Sentinel). In addition, the course will demonstrate recent innovations in the use of remotely sensed nighttime light observations to understand variations in economic activity within and between cities – all utilizing data and tools that are available in GEE. The course will include PowerPoint slides, group hands-on coding (in JavaScript) and short exercises. Prior coding knowledge is not required.

Instructor: Ran Goldblatt
Ran Goldblatt, Ph.D. is the Chief Scientist of New Light Technologies Inc. and is a Geographic Information System (GIS) and Remote Sensing expert. His work focuses on the complex interrelations between the physical and social environment and on utilizing geospatial data analysis for a more sustainable urban development.

Registration Fees
- UNC-CH Students: $0, with a $35 deposit to hold your spot (deposit is refundable upon your attendance for at least 66% of the course)
- UNC-CH Faculty/Staff/Postdoc: $95
- Non UNC-CH: $145

Additional Course Registration
- Registration will close at 12:01 am on 3/25/2022. Once registration closes, no late registrations will be accepted, no exceptions.
- Cancellation/ Refund Policy: A full refund will be given to those who cancel their registration no later than 10 days prior to the course. If you cancel within 10 days prior to the class, no refund will be given. Please allow 30 days to receive your refund.
- Zoom link for this course will be sent prior to the course. Registration must be made at least 3 days prior to the course date to receive the Zoom link.
- For questions regarding the status of this class, please contact Jill Stevens at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Register

This semester UNC-Chapel Hill is offering monthly virtual mental health seminars addressing the intersection of mental health with related topics such as faith, addition/substance use, intimate partner violence, and vulnerable populations.

The second seminar, Mental Health, Alcohol, and Drugs: How Do They Connect?, will be offered on Monday, March 28, from 3:30 p.m. until 5:00 p.m.

The conversation will be framed by a diverse panel of experts discussing the role that alcohol and drugs play in mental health.

Attendees will have the opportunity to listen, learn, and contribute thoughts and questions during the event. The seminar will be recorded for viewing by those who cannot attend.

More Info

This two-day (3/29 AND 3/31) course will be offered via Zoom only and will not be recorded.

Course Summary:
Usability testing in survey research allows in-depth evaluation of how respondents and interviewers interact with questionnaires, particularly web and mobile surveys. A respondent may understand the survey question and response options but may be unable to select their answer accurately on the small screen of a smartphone. Although there is a growing body of literature on best practices for web surveys and mobile devices, not all design guidelines work equally well for all surveys and all survey populations. In addition, it is clear that the capabilities of computerized surveys are constantly emerging. Examples are the use of images, videos, maps and GPS, interactive features, and mobile devices. As a result, it is critical for researchers to have the necessary tools to evaluate, test, and modify surveys to incorporate user-centered design in an iterative method as part of the survey pretesting process.

Instructors: Emily Geisen and Jennifer Romano
Emily Geisen is a Senior Experience Management scientist at Qualtrics. She manages a team of 10 Project Managers in Qualtrics’ Sample Science and Delivery unit. She specializes in improving data quality and reducing respondent burden in web surveys by employing best practices in questionnaire design, visual design, and user experience.

Jennifer Romano is a Staff UX Researcher and Manager at Google, an instructor at UC Berkeley Extension, an instructor at the University of Maryland, and a UXR Coach. She specializes in efficient applications of research methods to ensure scientific rigor is not compromised while working fast to gain actionable results.

Registration Fees
- UNC-CH Students: $65
- UNC-CH Faculty/Staff/Postdoc: $90
- Non UNC-CH: $90

Additional Course Registration
- Registration will close at 12:01 am on 3/26/2022. Once registration closes, no late registrations will be accepted, no exceptions.
- Cancellation/ Refund Policy: A full refund will be given to those who cancel their registration no later than 10 days prior to the course. If you cancel within 10 days prior to the class, no refund will be given. Please allow 30 days to receive your refund.
- Zoom link for this course will be sent prior to the course. Registration must be made at least 3 days prior to the course date to receive the Zoom link.
- For questions regarding the status of this class, please contact Jill Stevens at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Register

Join a live training session for the N3C Data Enclave. Users of all types can learn how to navigate the N3C, utilize the Enclave and resources it provides, and learn how to better achieve their analytical goals. This orientation is split into 2 sessions – Session A and Session B. These orientations are offered on a monthly basis. Session A is recommended before attending Session B.

Session B is for analysts, statisticians, data scientists, or anyone who wants to gain a broader understanding of the tools needed to work with the data.

Topics include:

• Focus on technical aspects of working with data in the secure N3C Enclave, including use of OMOP concept sets and N3C-specific tooling, such as the Concept Set Browser.
• Introduce commonly used analysis tools, such as Contour and Code Workbooks and corresponding workflows for simple analyses.
• Introduce the Enclave Knowledge Store, a mechanism for sharing and using community-developed code and data across projects.

Register

This two-day course (3/28/22 and 3/30/22) will be offered via Zoom. Attendance is required as the course will not be recorded.

Course Summary:
Urbanization has been a fundamental trend of the past two centuries and a key force shaping the development of the modern world. While urbanization in rapidly growing nations is helping lift hundreds of millions of people out of poverty, it is also creating immense societal challenges by increasing greenhouse-gas emissions, destabilizing fragile ecosystems and creating new demands on public services and infrastructure that pose significant challenges on the environment. Despite the importance of understanding the drivers of urban growth, we are still unable to quantify the magnitude and pace of urbanization in a consistent manner at a high resolution and global scale.

The revolution in geospatial data has transformed how we study cities. Since the 1970s, terrestrial Earth observation data have been continuously collected in various spectral, spatial and temporal resolutions. As improved satellite imagery becomes available, new remote-sensing methods and machine-learning approaches have been developed to convert terrestrial Earth-observation data into meaningful information about the nature and pace of change of urban landscapes and human settlements. But until recently, most remote sensing studies focused on local settings. Mapping land cover at a national or regional scale is challenging because of the lack of high-resolution global imagery, the heterogeneous and complex spectral characteristics of land, the small and fragmented spatial configuration of many cities, and importantly, computational constrains (for storage and processing). Emerging cloud-based computational platforms now allow for scaling analysis across space and time. Google Earth Engine (GEE) is one platform that leverages cloud-computing services to achieve planetary-scale utility. GEE leverages cloud-computational services for planetary-scale analysis and consists of petabytes of geospatial and tabular data, including a full archive of Landsat, Sentinel-2, Sentinel-1, and MODIS, together with a JavaScript, Python based API (GEE API), and algorithms for supervised image classification.

This hands-on course will focus on the use of Google Earth Engine (GEE) for urban research applications. It will demonstrate how free and open-source satellite imagery – including electro-optical (EO) and Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery – can be utilized to map urban areas and urbanization trends and patterns, across space and time, and to perform a qualitative analysis of the impacts of urban expansion on the landscape. In addition to analyzing existing classification schemes of urban areas to understand how cities expand and evolve, the course will provide a brief introduction to concepts in Remote Sensing Machine Learning, with a focus on supervised pixel-based image classification. Students will learn how to automatically map built-up land cover based on publicly available satellite imagery (e.g., Landsat and Sentinel). In addition, the course will demonstrate recent innovations in the use of remotely sensed nighttime light observations to understand variations in economic activity within and between cities – all utilizing data and tools that are available in GEE. The course will include PowerPoint slides, group hands-on coding (in JavaScript) and short exercises. Prior coding knowledge is not required.

Instructor: Ran Goldblatt
Ran Goldblatt, Ph.D. is the Chief Scientist of New Light Technologies Inc. and is a Geographic Information System (GIS) and Remote Sensing expert. His work focuses on the complex interrelations between the physical and social environment and on utilizing geospatial data analysis for a more sustainable urban development.

Registration Fees
- UNC-CH Students: $0, with a $35 deposit to hold your spot (deposit is refundable upon your attendance for at least 66% of the course)
- UNC-CH Faculty/Staff/Postdoc: $95
- Non UNC-CH: $145

Additional Course Registration
- Registration will close at 12:01 am on 3/25/2022. Once registration closes, no late registrations will be accepted, no exceptions.
- Cancellation/ Refund Policy: A full refund will be given to those who cancel their registration no later than 10 days prior to the course. If you cancel within 10 days prior to the class, no refund will be given. Please allow 30 days to receive your refund.
- Zoom link for this course will be sent prior to the course. Registration must be made at least 3 days prior to the course date to receive the Zoom link.
- For questions regarding the status of this class, please contact Jill Stevens at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Register

This two-day (3/29 AND 3/31) course will be offered via Zoom only and will not be recorded.

Course Summary:
Usability testing in survey research allows in-depth evaluation of how respondents and interviewers interact with questionnaires, particularly web and mobile surveys. A respondent may understand the survey question and response options but may be unable to select their answer accurately on the small screen of a smartphone. Although there is a growing body of literature on best practices for web surveys and mobile devices, not all design guidelines work equally well for all surveys and all survey populations. In addition, it is clear that the capabilities of computerized surveys are constantly emerging. Examples are the use of images, videos, maps and GPS, interactive features, and mobile devices. As a result, it is critical for researchers to have the necessary tools to evaluate, test, and modify surveys to incorporate user-centered design in an iterative method as part of the survey pretesting process.

Instructors: Emily Geisen and Jennifer Romano
Emily Geisen is a Senior Experience Management scientist at Qualtrics. She manages a team of 10 Project Managers in Qualtrics’ Sample Science and Delivery unit. She specializes in improving data quality and reducing respondent burden in web surveys by employing best practices in questionnaire design, visual design, and user experience.

Jennifer Romano is a Staff UX Researcher and Manager at Google, an instructor at UC Berkeley Extension, an instructor at the University of Maryland, and a UXR Coach. She specializes in efficient applications of research methods to ensure scientific rigor is not compromised while working fast to gain actionable results.

Registration Fees
- UNC-CH Students: $65
- UNC-CH Faculty/Staff/Postdoc: $90
- Non UNC-CH: $90

Additional Course Registration
- Registration will close at 12:01 am on 3/26/2022. Once registration closes, no late registrations will be accepted, no exceptions.
- Cancellation/ Refund Policy: A full refund will be given to those who cancel their registration no later than 10 days prior to the course. If you cancel within 10 days prior to the class, no refund will be given. Please allow 30 days to receive your refund.
- Zoom link for this course will be sent prior to the course. Registration must be made at least 3 days prior to the course date to receive the Zoom link.
- For questions regarding the status of this class, please contact Jill Stevens at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Register