The Research Institute
Uniting Passion for Community Wellness with Research Fueled Solutions
- $20+ Million Research Funding Awarded
- 12+ Applied Wellness Products Evolved from Our Research
We Deliver Proactive Strategies Backed By Science
The Institute to Promote Athlete Health & Wellness (IPAHW) at the UNC Greensboro innovates product development while aiding in the distribution and use of promising research. As the commercialization partner to IPAHW, our goal is to maximize healthy societal impact for young people and organizations utilizing these products.
Learn More >Our Research & Development Process
Project Origins
Ideas for our projects are derived from the following sources:
- Environmental scanning
- Feedback from school administrators and/or athletes
- Conversations with partners and peers
Background Research
When a topic is selected our team performs a literature search to discover if progress has been made by others in the field. If we choose to pursue the topic, a decision is then made whether to develop it internally or seek research grant opportunities.
Project Development
Project approval is typically sought following a grant writing process of a year or more. If granted approval, Phase I research and development commences and may last up to one year. If Phase II research is authorized, it may continue for up to three years.
The Back Story: Prevention Strategies + IPAHW
In 2006, with the help of UNC Greensboro, David L. Wyrick, PhD launched Prevention Strategies with his research partners Melodie Fearnow-Kenney, PhD and Cheryl Haworth Wyrick, PhD. David founded the Institute to Promote Athlete Health & Wellness (IPAHW) in 2013.
This research institute is aimed at advancing research in applying the goals of prevention science to improve the well-being of youth, adolescent, and young adult athletes. The mission of IPAHW is to improve the health and well-being of athletes, through the translation of prevention research to effective programs, policies, and practices.
Evidence-based programs can only have meaningful impact if they are effectively taken to scale, implemented with high quality, and sustained over time. Prevention Strategies creates an infrastructure for commercializing and disseminating the behavioral interventions that result from that research.
Our groundbreaking partnership generates trusted solutions vetted by experts within an academic research university infrastructure.
The Role of Prevention Strategies
- Secure research and development funding provided by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) through application of Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) & Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) grants. These grants are only awarded to for-profit businesses that meet Small Business Administration criteria.
- Drive broad dissemination and commercialization of products resulting from behavioral intervention research conducted within IPAHW. Evidence-based programs can only have meaningful impact when taken to scale effectively, implemented with high quality, and sustained over time.
The IPAHW Purpose
- Support research and development of evidence-based health promotion programs, practices, and policies through externally and self-funded research.
- Evaluate programs, practices, and policies to effectively improve the health and wellbeing of young people and student-athletes.
- Disseminate research and evaluation findings.
Research Driven Alliance Supporting Wellness
The shared goal of Prevention Strategies and IPAHW is to enable advancement of wellness research that produces more effective support resources and programs for young athletes and beyond.
Symbiotic Relationship
Prevention Strategies provides the legal structure, support, and resources to commercialize IPAHW’s research. We are then able to advance the research products and programs to scale for significant impact.
Trailblazers
We’re excited to make history with the unique collaboration between Prevention Strategies and IPAHW at UNC Greensboro. Effectively merging a research emphasis with commercialization competencies creates a unique partnership not found in other university research organizations.
Our Culture
Our connection with IPHAW and UNC Greensboro allows our focus to remain research driven (not just revenue driven as occurs in solely for-profit entities). We’re empowered to perform vital wellness research even if it doesn’t result in a marketed product.