Recruitment, Retention, and Community Engagement Core

The UM Pepper Center Recruitment, Retention, and Community Engagement Core (RRCEC) provides the critical infrastructure and resources essential for UM Pepper Center investigators conducting clinical and translational research. Closely aligned with the UM Pepper Center’s goal of integrating bench, clinical, and outcome research with clinical practice, the RRCEC collaborates with the LAC, REC, PESC, and the other three Resource Cores to support UM Pepper Center-funded pilots and other externally funded projects (EPs) related to the Center's central research theme. Formerly the Human Subjects and Assessment Core (HSAC), the focus of the RRCEC has expanded to not only continue supporting clinical aging research but also to enhance community engagement efforts, strengthen recruitment and retention of research participants more broadly across the geographic region, and foster the next generation of aging researchers. Priorities include supporting early career investigators new to aging research, translating basic research discoveries into human studies, and advancing high-impact clinical trials that promise to maintain or improve physical and cognitive function in older adults. The Specific Aims of the RRCEC are: 1. To expand and promote research on the predisposing factors, metabolic factors, infections and inflammation mediators and functional and health outcomes in the UM Pepper Center focus; 2. To provide training, consultation, and mentoring to UM Pepper Center researchers on issues related to experimental design (pre- and post-award), recruitment/retention of research participants from a range of sources including population-based data sets, and compliance with NIH and institutional policies regarding human research; 3. To enhance community engagement to promote older adults’ participation in aging research and facilitate the dissemination of Pepper Center research in a variety of local and academic communities.