MT INBRE: A Multidisciplinary Research Network

MONTANA INBRE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT CORE SUMMARY The MT IDeA Community Engagement Core (CEC) is a shared core between MT INBRE and the Center for American Indian and Rural Health Excellence (CAIRHE), a Phase 2 COBRE program at Montana State University. The core collaborates with three networks: the MT INBRE statewide network (16 partner institutions), the CAIRHE Health Network (local, statewide, and regional health agencies, foundations, and institutes), and RAIN (Regional Alliance of INBRE Networks), which includes all seven INBRE programs in the IDeA Program’s Western Region states (AK, HI, ID, MT, NM, NV, WY). Working among these networks enhances the impact of the CEC by facilitating public access to research findings, sharing data and new models, providing additional opportunities for shared grant funding, and enhancing collaborative community-based participatory research (CBPR) activities. Overall, the CEC elevates solutions to health challenges and helps to improve the health of people in Montana. To maximize impact, the CEC will accomplish three specific aims. Specific Aim 1: Train investigators and students involved in community-based participatory research (CBPR). In addition to the CEC’s existing portfolio of formalized training tools spanning introductory to advanced topics, the core is working with the Institute of Translational Health Sciences (ITHS), a CTSA at the University of Washington (UW), to leverage expertise on both sides to build a solid educational platform for investigators. Specific Aim 2: Expand the Health Network and partnerships in Montana and regionally. These partnerships are an excellent complement to the academic institutional network developed by MT INBRE and have enhanced and expanded research and its collective impact through community partnerships. Specific Aim 3: Develop strategies for increased and improved dissemination and implementation of research and development of interventions. Analysis of CBPR studies during INBRE IV revealed that in many cases information and findings were not widely disseminated. We recognize that uncommunicated knowledge and limited availability of research findings impedes the value of many CBPR studies. The core will offer academic-community partnership training for disseminating research statewide and regionally, with the vision that research outcomes and interventions can be replicated in other communities facing similar health challenges.