Community-Engaged Research Interest Group seeking members

The Community-Engaged Research Interest Group (CEnRIG) is beginning its third year and is looking to welcome new members into the group who are interested in working with communities and clinical partners in research.

Established by the Great Plains IDeA Clinical and Translational Research Network, CEnRIG’s goal is to ensure research is relevant and impactful to the community. The CEnRIG brings researchers, clinicians, community partners and network members together to enhance the quality of community-engaged research, generate new ideas, increase funding opportunities, improve the potential community impact and move community-engaged science forward.

CEnRIG addresses challenges and identifies opportunities to strengthen community-engaged research through interactive events and provision of various resources to researchers and community partners.

“We hope to foster collaboration and innovative community projects through CEnRIG meetings to further amplify the overall community impact of local research efforts,” said Fabio Almeida, PhD, co-director of the community engagement and outreach core of the Great Plains IDeA-CTR.

Previous CEnRIG topics included:

  • Hispanic Family Connections: Using Community-Engaged Approaches to Address Childhood Obesity in Rural Underserved Areas
  • The Impact of Telehealth Intervention on Activity Profiles in Older Adults during the COVID-19 Pandemic
  • The Implementation Research Logic Model: Benefits, Challenges, and Proposed Adaptations When Used with RE-AIM

In addition to CEnRIG, the community engagement and outreach core of the IDeA-CTR offers training activities such as the annual community-engaged research institute and consultation services, which address topics such as grant preparation, community partner matchmaking, establishing engagement and dissemination research protocols. It also facilitates networking opportunities across members of the network and involved communities.

Clinical and translational research improves public health by moving scientific innovations from pre-clinical to clinical, then to population health solutions that address priority health concerns across the nation. To achieve this goal, CTR requires active engagement with the clinical and community systems that would ultimately adopt, implement and sustain new research-developed innovations.

CEnRIG aims to close the communication gap between researchers and members of the community, fostering a positive and trusting relationship supporting science discovery and implementation.

Fill out the interest form here. For additional information, email Dr. Almeida.