Same Sky Appalachia is grounded in genuine partnership with universities and researchers who are embedded in Appalachian communities — people who understand what it means to do this work with care and integrity.
Same Sky Appalachia's research is co-led by faculty at the University of Kentucky and West Virginia University — two institutions with long histories of community-engaged research and deep roots in Appalachian life.
The University of Kentucky is one of the region's flagship research universities, with a long history of community-engaged scholarship in Appalachia. UK's faculty and students are embedded in eastern Kentucky communities and bring both rigorous research expertise and genuine local relationships to this work.
UK serves as the lead research partner for Same Sky Appalachia's eastern Kentucky engagement — co-designing the poll instrument, leading regional analysis, and helping ensure that findings are grounded in community reality rather than outside assumptions.
Bethany is a Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Kentucky, where she practices and leads research in pediatric hospital medicine. She brings deep expertise in child health and a genuine commitment to the communities of eastern Kentucky. She is a partner on the Same Sky Appalachia poll and leads community engagement for the region.
West Virginia University is West Virginia's flagship research institution, with a longstanding commitment to improving health and wellbeing across the state. WVU faculty have spent careers working alongside the communities they research — understanding that the trust required to do this work well takes time, presence, and genuine care.
WVU serves as the lead research partner for Same Sky Appalachia's West Virginia engagement — co-investigating the poll, leading state-level analysis, and helping connect findings to the people and institutions that can act on them.
Lisa is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at West Virginia University School of Medicine and a lifelong West Virginian. She is a partner on the Same Sky Appalachia poll and leads research and community engagement for West Virginia — bringing both scientific expertise and the kind of deep community understanding that comes from growing up and building a career in the place you are trying to help.
Same Sky — including the Appalachia initiative — is housed in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.
Emory's Rollins School of Public Health is ranked second in the nation among schools of public health, with particular strength in health policy, child health, and community-engaged research.
Same Sky is directed by Stephen W. Patrick, MD, MPH, MS, FAAP, the O. Wayne Rollins Professor and Chair of Health Policy and Management — who brings both the institutional resources of Emory and personal roots in Appalachia to this effort.
Same Sky Appalachia is actively building relationships with community organizations, advocacy groups, health systems, and funders across the region who share our commitment to children and families.
If your organization has a stake in the health and wellbeing of Appalachian children, we want to talk. The work ahead — translating poll findings into policy action — will require a much broader coalition than any one institution can build alone.
Community and funder partnerships are in development.
This section will be updated as partnerships are formalized.