Community Research Exchange 2022 equips researchers, community for engaged research
This year’s Delaware Clinical and Translational Research (DE-CTR) ACCEL Program Community Research Exchange focused on incorporating community engagement across and throughout the translational research spectrum, encouraging community participation at every phase of research.
“We consider the community voice as a driving force for research and incorporates that voice into the approaches to better understand the problem, to conduct the research activities, to interpret those results, and to draw conclusions in the context of shared power,” Gwendoline Angalet, PhD, CEO of GBA Consulting said during the conference. “It requires researchers to become partners with a community and community members to become members of the research team.”
The translational spectrum describes the course of medical advances from discovery through testing, implementation, and adoption by the larger medical community. During the keynote presentation, Rhonda G. Kost, MD, of the Center for Clinical and Translational Science at The Rockefeller University, explained how some projects can be in various phases of the spectrum simultaneously and how community-engagement could be incorporated into the various phases.
“You don’t have to join the full spectrum right away,” Dr. Kost explained. “Learning can be incremental and community engagement can be incremental. Helping a basic scientist … to understand how giving a full spectrum translational town hall – doing that and engaging the community and just sharing what you’re doing – opens the door. It might not be this project or protocol it might be the next one, it might be incremental for that investigator.
Fellow keynote speaker, Jonathan N. Tobin, PhD, FAHA, FACE, also of the Center for Clinical and Translational Science at The Rockefeller University, explained that full spectrum community-engaged research is successful when the common priorities and common reward systems of the researchers, stakeholders, and community partners are identified “and at the same time, to value and respect those differences and ensure that all of the stakeholders achieve and experience the benefits of this collaboration.”
To learn more about the community-engaged research tools available or to hear how other research projects were successful at incorporating community engagement, check out the videos below!
Community Engaged Research Panel: Benefits, Challenges & Realities
Community Engagement (Main Breakout Session)
Community Engagement Breakout Session - Subgroup A
Community Engagement Breakout Session -Subgroup B Lead Poisoning
Latinx Health Breakout Session
Environmental Justice & Community Engagement Breakout Session
Grant Writing Breakout Session
Welcome Remarks
Welcome Remarks include “Why Community Engaged Research Matters” by Gwendoline Angalet, PhD, CEO of GBA Consulting; and, an address from Delaware Governor John Carney.
Keynote Presentation
The keynote presentation, “Building Full Spectrum Translational Research Teams of Laboratory Investigators, Practicing Clinicians, Patients and other Stakeholders” was provided by Rhonda G. Kost, MD, and, Jonathan N. Tobin, PhD, FAHA, FACE, both of the Center for Clinical and Translational Science at The Rockefeller University.
Podium Presentations
Research presentations during the 2022 Community Research Exchange included
AnnMarie Brescia, MD Synovial Biomarkers in Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis
Shannon Virtue, Psy.D. A Patient-Centered Perspective on Managing Type 2 Diabetes during Breast Cancer Treatment
Scott Siegel, PhD, MHCDS Pragmatic RCT of a Precision Pharmacotherapy Hospital-Based Smoking Cessation Intervention
Katrina Morrison, EdD Exploring the Health of Black Girls in Delaware
Community Engaged Research Panel: Benefits, Challenges & Realities
Moderator: Marlene Saunders, DSW, MSW, LMSW
Particpants:
Dorothy Dillard, PhD Director, Center for Neighborhood Revitalization and Research, Delaware State University
Vicky Funanage, PhD Executive Director, Research, Nemours Children’s Health
Jennifer Sims-Mourtada, PhD Director, Translational Breast Cancer Research, Helen F. Graham Center, ChristianaCare
This workshop will address the earlier forms of translational research, how, when, and why community engagement matters, and provides exemplar strategies from two groups on the cutting edge of this work for discussion.
Workshop Leaders:
Dana Ketcher, PhD, MPH University of Minnesota Medical School
Rhonda G. Kost, MD The Rockefeller University
Jonathan N. Tobin, PhD, FAHA, FACE The Rockefeller University
Moderator: Lee Pachter, DO Facilitator: Anuradha Hashemi, MPH
Community Engagement Breakout Session - Subgroup A
Community Engagement Breakout Session -Subgroup B Lead Poisoning
Latinx Health Breakout Session
This workshop will explore the ways in which the Latino community is currently engaged in research in Delaware and hear from leadership of the CTR in Puerto Rico to share best practices, needs and strategies for engagement.
Workshop Leaders:
Edna Acosta Pérez, PhD, MSc Associate Professor, University of Puerto Rico
Alicia Salvatore, DrPH, MPH Director of Community-Engaged Research, ChristianaCare
Marizaida Sánchez-Cesáreo University of Puerto Rico
Keishla Y. Hernández Vargas, M.A., Instituto Tercera Mision (IM3) at Albizu University
Moderator: Omar Khan, MD
Environmental Justice & Community Engagement Breakout Session
This workshop will focus on community engagement efforts to address environmental inequities. The presenters will share strategies, examples, lessons learned and effective approaches to addressing environmental issues of concern to community members, in partnership with researchers.
Workshop Leaders:
Omega and Brenda Wilson Co-Founders, West End Revitalization Association
Ayo B. Wilson Director, West End Revitalization Association (WERA) Clean Energy & Climate Justice Initiative
Moderator: Marlene Saunders, DSW
Facilitator: Cassandra Codes-Johnson, MPA
Grant Writing Breakout Session
This workshop will walk through the basic ins and outs of grant writing and will provide a toolbox of resources that can help make the process simpler and less time consuming.
Workshop Leaders:
Allison Karpyn, PhD Co-Director, Center for Research Education & Social Policy University of Delaware
Mia Papas, PhD, MS Chief Scientific Officer, Institute for Research on Equity and Community Health ChristianaCare