SIHI at the University of North Carolina

The SIHI–UNC Hub provides a supportive platform for researchers and practitioners interested in applying social innovation in health to research, practice and teaching.

About

As part of the Social Innovation in Health Initiative (SIHI)—a global network of hubs working to advance community-engaged, equity-centered innovations—SIHI–UNC serves as the North America hub, linking collaborators at UNC, across North Carolina, and with SIHI partners worldwide. The Hub has grown out of the long-standing collaborations of its co-directors, and it aims to formalize and expand a network connecting UNC, North Carolina and global SIHI partners.

Mission

To accelerate universal health coverage and health equity through research, capacity strengthening, and advocacy for social innovation, community engagement, and social justice—anchored at UNC and connected with SIHI hubs globally.

Our Focus

The SIHI–UNC Hub focuses on advancing social innovation in health through three priorities: connecting social innovation in health researchers and practitioners across UNC, throughout North Carolina, and with SIHI hubs globally; building capacity for participatory approaches—such as crowdsourcing, co-design, designathons, and rapid prototyping—to support real-world problem solving; and evaluating the processes, outcomes, and public health impact of social innovations to strengthen evidence, accelerate learning, and inform scalable, equity-centered action.

OUR ACTIVITIES

Connect

Build and maintain a SIHI–UNC Directory.
Host quarterly network forums (speakers, lightning talks, matchmaking).

Build Capacity

Produce “InnoBites” short video series (practical learning bites) – a series of engaging, 5–10 minute FAQ-style “how-to” videos focused on entrepreneurship, intersectionality, and practical SIH tools that align with GLOWS, the Global Learning Opportunities within Social innovation in Health put forth by Wallace et al., 2026.
Launch a new 3-credit elective course on social innovation in health: This course explores the concept of social innovation and its application in promoting community engagement in research. Students will learn various methods of social innovation and how to implement them to enhance participation and collaboration within communities.
Run rapid prototyping workshops for SIH projects.

Evaluate

Develop metrics and indicators for SIHI efforts.
Create impact dashboards to visualize progress and learning.

ABOUT US

Read Biography

Co-Director, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health

Dr. Chen has over 15 years of experience as a teacher, public health practitioner, and researcher and earned both her MPH and PhD degrees in this department. Dr. Chen’s research interests are at the intersection of adolescent health, technology and human-centered design. Her current research focuses on how to integrate design thinking mindsets and methodologies into public health training, practice, and research. Dr. Chen has a pan-campus role as Design Thinking Lead for Innovate Carolina, UNC’s office for innovation, entrepreneurship, and economic development.

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Co-Director, UNC School of Medicine / UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health

Weiming currently leads one grant from the UNC Center for AIDS Research evaluating crowdsourcing approaches to HIV self-testing. He managed several large crowdsourcing projects in China and has a special interest in epidemiology and evaluation. He serves as Co-Director at UNC Project-China and mentors undergraduates, graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows interested in challenge contests.

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Co-Director, UNC School of Medicine

Joe is the study principal investigator on several United States National Institutes of Health R01 grants that evaluate crowdsourcing to enhance HIV services. He has implemented over 30 crowdsourcing challenge contests and has a special interest in collective intelligence and crowdsourcing. He has helped to organize crowdsourcing contests in China, Thailand, Vietnam, the United States, Australia, South Africa, and globally. He has led or co-led several WHO guides related to participatory health research.

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Hub Manager, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health

Yanqi Wang is a student leader of a crowdsourcing research on hepatitis stigma reduction among medical students in China. He was also a student leader of an association dedicated to sexual health and HIV-related stigma reduction campaigns.

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Hub Intern, UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School

Neha is a sophomore at UNC Chapel Hill studying data science, neuroscience, and finance. She is interested in the intersection of healthcare, technology, and sustainable finance, especially leveraging technological innovation to address the most pressing healthcare challenges in society. Neha is excited to be a part of launching such an impactful organization.