CACHE receives Presidents’ Award of Distinction from Georgia CTSA

A multidisciplinary team from the Center for Advanced Computer-Human Ecosystems (CACHE) researching public health impacts through cutting-edge immersive media technologies is the recipient of the Presidents’ Award of Distinction from the Georgia Clinical and Translational Science Alliance (Georgia CTSA).

The award, presented at the Georgia CTSA’s annual conference in March, is given to a research team in recognition of innovative, high-functioning teamwork that has, or will likely, advance clinical and translational science and positively impact human health. 

“For the past 15 years, our research has demonstrated that immersive media technologies can be powerful tools for translational science, providing critical scientific information to community members through tangible and realistic experiences,” said Sun Joo (Grace) Ahn, the founding director of the CACHE center and Professor at the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication. “We are delighted and honored to see our collaborative efforts for innovation and scientific rigor be recognized with this award and are excited to continue our translational scientific efforts with community partners across the state.”

In the letter announcing the recipient of the award, the committee noted that the CACHE team “has done outstanding work in testing and applying cost- and labor-effective interventions for behavior change. This is science that powerfully impacts lives.”

CACHE features a collaborative research hub housed in the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, and joined by the College of Engineering, the College of Public Health, and other units on the UGA campus who have a shared vision for using emerging technologies for transdisciplinary research. The center features immersive and interactive virtual environments, including virtual- augmented- and mixed-realities to address timely societal issues such as physical and mental well-being, education and training, future of work in virtual teams, and community preparedness for natural hazards.

“From an engineering standpoint, translating core scientific principles into impactful and usable real-world systems has only been achievable through deep collaboration of people with complementary skills and resources, but also a shared goal,” said Kyle Johnsen, a professor at the UGA College of Engineering and CACHE co-founder and director of the Virtual Experiences Lab. “Seeing that ​recognized is a great honor and affirms our approach.”

Projects that CACHE has created that contributed to this honor include the examination of future of work, where teams may be working together in virtual spaces, despite being thousands of miles apart, including virtual conferences and meetings in virtual reality. In the public health arena, CACHE has developed virtual reality environments that address influenza vaccination hesitation and show consequences when vaccines are not taken, and creating simulations that show environmental risks around a house and how they can affect those who are sensitive to poor indoor air quality. Along with Emory University’s School of Nursing, the CACHE center also co-directs the Center for Children’s Health Assessment, Research Translation, and Combating Environmental Risk, which focuses on translating time-sensitive environmental risk information to communities in the southeastern United States.

“Children and adults alike are increasingly spending their time in virtual settings, a reality that has paved the way for new implementation research on human behaviors and health,” said Allan Tate, associate professor in the UGA College of Public Health and CACHE director of biostatistics. “The teamwork of CACHE challenges current approaches in preventive medicine and will have transformative effects on public health translational research over the next decade.”

Another research project developed by CACHE, Virtual Fitness Buddy, is a mixed reality game that can be used to improve physical activity among youth. The Virtual Fitness Buddy program was supported by a $3.3 million grant from the National Science Foundation.

Weather the Storm, a virtual reality simulation that takes users through the effects of storm surge to communicate its devastating and sometimes fatal consequences, was released this March to the public to download for educational and training purposes. Weather the Storm was created with a $500,000 grant funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association.

Georgia GTSA includes research faculty from Emory University, Morehouse School of Medicine, Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of Georgia. The Presidents’ Award of Distinction is awarded by the presidents of these institutions. Georgia GTSA is supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences. 

Author: Sarah E. Freeman, freemans@uga.edu