Community Engagement Core

ABSTRACT - COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT CORE The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Environmental Research and Translation for Health (EaRTH) Center Community Engagement Core (CEC) at UCSF, established in 2020 as UCSF’s first ever NIEHS P30 Center, has played a pivotal role in creating transformational systems-level change in medical education and evidence-based decision-making to improve public health and reduce health inequities. The CEC equips target audiences of health care learners and professionals and California policymakers with the environmental health literacy and skills and evidence-based recommendations needed to address environmental determinants of health. Since its inception, the CEC has made substantial strides in advancing environmental health literacy within the health care sector by successfully facilitating thousands of hours of internships, required coursework, and translating research for successful clinical and health care professional engagement and action, including by national and international health care professional organizations. These have led to impactful results in clinical environmental health literacy and public policies, ultimately improving the health of communities. Building on these accomplishments, the CEC will strengthen and leverage bi- directional relationships with our advisors, target audiences, community members, and other EaRTH Cores to 1) Equip future health care leaders with environmental health literacy by incorporating EaRTH Center expertise and research into formal courses and educational opportunities for health care learners and strengthening our Environmental Scholars Program for underrepresented medical and nursing students; 2) Empower health care professionals to reduce environmental risk factors and improve clinical care by expanding the translation of EaRTH research into publicly accessible materials for health care professionals, strengthening collaborations with health care professional organizations, and training health care professionals to identify potential harmful place-based environmental exposures in patient populations and 3) Drive systemic change by fostering multi-sector collaborations and initiatives, including the Reach the Decisionmakers Program, among health care professionals, learners, scientists, community groups, EaRTH Cores and policymakers to support evidence-based policies that promote public health. Ultimately, the CEC will catalyze a paradigm shift in medical education, clinical practice, and public health policy formulation, leading to improved health outcomes and enhanced resilience against environmental threats in our communities.