The Community Engagement and Research (CEAR) Core of the UPenn CTSA is pleased to announce the first awards for the Community Scholars-in-Residence Program.  The program is co-sponsored by the School of Nursing, the Office of Inclusion and Diversity (OID), the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), the Center for Public Health Initiatives (CPHI), and the Implementation Science Working Group.  The Community Scholars-in-Residence program is designed to address challenges that researchers face in developing and maintaining relationships with community partner organizations.   

The goals of this program are to increase the research capacity of faculty by developing lasting relationships with community partners, establish best practices in community-engaged research, and leverage activities for scholarship and improved health outcomes.  In addition, this program aims to increase the research capacity of the community partner organizations by dedicating faculty time and expertise to shared initiatives.  Scholars selected for the program will receive dedicated support for their time to work in a community organization to develop research initiatives, mentoring and training in community-engaged research, and support to link their organizations with the University of Pennsylvania.

Two Community Scholars-in-Residence have been selected to participate in the inaugural cohort beginning in January 2015:  Bridgette Brawner, PhD, APRN and Nadia Dowshen, MD. 

Dr. Brawner will be working with the City of Philadelphia Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual Disability Services (DBHIDS) to better understand disparities in service penetration rates—the proportion of individuals who access behavioral health services.

Dr. Dowshen will be working with the City of Philadelphia Department of Public Health, Division of Maternal, Child, and Family Health (MCFH) to improve the health of youth living with and at risk for HIV, as well as LGBT and homeless adolescents.

Please contact chbrinfo@mail.med.upenn.edu with any questions or for more information about the program.