Duvall Chair of Family & Community Health

Duvall Research Agenda

The Duvall Research Agenda represents the national scholarly and translational research portfolio of the Evelyn Duvall Endowed Chair of Family and Community Health. 

Grounded in implementation science, prevention science, and systems-level workforce development, the Research Agenda focuses on strengthening family and community health infrastructure through applied, practice-informed scholarship.

Unlike traditional academic research programs that operate independently from community systems, the Duvall Research Agenda is intentionally structured around research-to-practice translation, policy relevance, and workforce impact. 

Core Areas of Focus 

1. Behavioral Health Workforce Development 
Examining the preparation, competencies, and structural supports necessary to strengthen the behavioral health workforce, with particular emphasis on substance misuse prevention, peer integration, and MSW education capacity. 

2. Community–Academic Partnerships 
Designing, implementing, and evaluating partnership models that enhance local human service systems and increase sustainable community capacity. 

3. Substance Misuse Prevention Infrastructure 
Evaluating training models, certification pathways, and organizational readiness strategies that strengthen prevention and early intervention systems. 

4. Educational Innovation in Social Work 
Assessing curriculum design, field preparation, and systems responsiveness within MSW programs nationwide. 

5. Research-to-Practice Translation 
Advancing models that shorten the gap between academic knowledge generation and applied community implementation. 

This portfolio produces peer-reviewed scholarship, informs workforce standards, guides implementation strategy, and shapes regional and national conversations in social work and behavioral health.