UK ASCEND (Achieving Success in Community-Engaged research to elimiNate Disparities)

Modified Project Summary/Abstract Section ABSTRACT The Community Engagement and Dissemination Core of University of Kentucky (UK) ASCEND (Achieving Success in Community-Engaged research to elimiNate Disparities) provides a critical and integral component of UK ASCEND’s objective, to achieve healthier lives by promoting community-engaged research (CER) success among early-stage investigators (ESIs) through the ASCEND Scholars Program, (ASP), a novel and comprehensive CER Training Program followed by a rigorous CER Pilot Program; and bi-directional engagement with community stakeholders through a Community Advisory Board (CAB). Fostering such research success through community engagement is critical everywhere, and particularly in Kentucky, recently ranked as #50 in national health standing, with the nation’s highest cancer mortality and among the highest rates of other diseases. The mission of the CEDC is to ensure that these ESIs, “ASCEND Scholars,” form and sustain productive research collaborations and engage in impactful dissemination activities with community stakeholders. The CEDC is led by experienced, NIH-funded community-engaged health researchers and supported by strong and enduring community and institutional partnerships. The CEDC has the following aims: (1) Cultivate bidirectional interactions between ESIs and community stakeholders to stimulate research collaborations and participatory planning processes and (2) Disseminate research findings to a broad range of audiences to ensure translation of research results into sustainable community-level and system-level changes that improve health. These aims will be achieved by leveraging existing and developing new institution-wide resources, coordinating interactions with a CAB to facilitate sustainable relationships with community stakeholders, and collaborating with the other UK ASCEND Cores. The CEDC will achieve bi-directional interaction between ESIs and community stakeholders by managing a central Resource Catalog that supports CER infrastructure, developing a Research Dissemination Toolkit and Individualized CER Plans, and hosting an annual community-researcher Summit. The dissemination and translation aim will be achieved by the provision and exchange of evidence-based health information and ESI research findings through UK’s Community Health Worker Program and the creation of a Sustainability Planning Guide. The CEDC constitutes a critical resource interwoven throughout UK ASCEND. Such bi-directional collaboration enhances the likelihood of achieving UK ASCEND’s outcomes, ESI CER career development, community engagement, and ESI research success. The CEDC will promote the integration and authentic engagement of community perspectives into ESIs’ CER training and pilot projects, critical to improving health.