2025 TIIP Award projects help new mothers, doulas, educators

From left to right - a photo collage of Crystal Schiller, Hsiu-Wen Yang and Larelle H. Bookhart on a Carolina blue back ground and Argyle. — (L-R) Crystal Schiller, Hsiu-Wen Yang and Larelle H. Bookhart. (Submitted photo)

Three researchers at UNC-Chapel Hill have been named recipients of the most recent Translating Innovative Ideas for the Public Good Awards. Their work includes equipping doulas with tools to help families continue breastfeeding, delivering mental health support for new mothers with innovative strategies and using artificial intelligence to help early childhood educators plan and adapt learning activities for children with disabilities.

The latest recipients are:

Larelle Bookhart, assistant professor in the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health’s maternal and child health department and Carolina Global Breastfeeding Institute. Bookhart’s project aims to strengthen breastfeeding support by developing a training program in collaboration with doulas who have completed the Lived Experience Accessible Doulas program. With support from Innovate Carolina, the program will be refined and initially delivered with practicing doulas. If successful, the training could be expanded to doulas across North Carolina, with the potential for broader national and global reach.

“Too many families lose breastfeeding support once they leave the hospital, which is often when challenges begin,” Bookhart said. “By partnering with families and doulas to co-design practical, culturally responsive training, this project aims to strengthen community-based support so families can reach their breastfeeding goals where they actually live and care for their babies.”

Crystal Schiller, associate professor in the UNC School of Medicine’s psychiatry department and director of the UNC Center for Women’s Mood Disorders. Schiller’s work focuses on improving access to effective mental health care for women during pregnancy and the postpartum period, using digital tools.

“My goal is to build a solution that meets women where they are — something evidence-based, accessible and designed with their real lives in mind — so that no one has to wait months for help during one of the most vulnerable periods of their life,” Schiller said.

Hsiu-Wen Yang, research investigator at the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute. Yang is co-developing an AI tool to help early childhood educators support children with disabilities.

AccessPlay will help educators plan and adapt activities for children with disabilities in both home and classroom settings. Designed to fit into educators’ everyday workflows, AccessPlay aims to be a practical, widely shareable resource that supports improved learning outcomes.

“The goal of this project is not to replace professional judgment, but to strengthen and build on professionals’ expertise, supporting them in planning learning experiences for all children with confidence,” Yang said. “We will use a design-thinking approach to ensure the tool directly addresses the real-world challenges faced by early childhood educators.”

The TIIP Awards were launched in 2023 by Innovate Carolina’s Design and Innovation for the Public Good team to help University faculty and staff turn their research into real-world impact for communities across North Carolina. Each award provides up to $50,000 in funding and encourages projects to use human-centered design to move ideas from the lab or classroom

In just three years, the program has awarded more than $450,000 to support 10 projects, including initiatives exploring commercialization and market research alongside public benefit.

A photo of Bill Romani smiling for a photo on a blue background with argyle on the right of the graphic.

Bill Romani (Submitted photo)

“It’s exciting to celebrate this cohort of TIIP Award recipients and see the growing impact of these projects across North Carolina,” said Bill Romani, director of Design and Innovation for the Public Good. “These faculty are turning innovative ideas into programs and technologies that can improve health, education and community outcomes, showing just how far research and innovation at Carolina can reach when we work in concert with our communities to focus on the public good.”

The TIIP Awards are open to UNC-Chapel Hill faculty, staff and ventures advancing ideas, projects or companies designed to translate Carolina innovation into public benefit in North Carolina and beyond. Applications for the 2026 TIIP Awards will open Mar. 2.