CTSI celebrates community-engaged research at the Power of Partnerships event
In February, community members and U of M researchers gathered in Saint Paul’s Midpointe Event Center to celebrate community-engaged research at the Power of Partnerships poster session and dinner. The annual Power of Partnerships event highlights community-engaged research between University researchers and community partners and invites a community-engaged speaker to share their experiences with academic-community partnership to affect change in the health of communities.
The 2020 Power of Partnerships event, themed, “Putting Results into Action,” featured posters describing research from CTSI’s Community Engagement to Advance Research and Community Health (CEARCH) and the Medical School’s Program in Health Disparities Research (PHDR) grantees. The event also included a keynote address from Ella Greene-Moton, a community organizer, advocate, and partner from Flint, Michigan.
Greene-Moton’s keynote highlighted organizing work she took part in around the ongoing Flint water crisis, and the integral role of partnerships in the response. She urged academic institutions and others who have resources and want to help to rely on communities to identify their own needs, then work with them as partners to share resources and solutions.
“We always welcome opportunities to celebrate the work of grantees and to enable them to share their work with other members from the University and numerous communities through the Power of Partnership event,” said Mickey Eder, PhD, CTSI Associate Director and CEARCH Director. “Ella Green-Moton’s message reminds us of CEARCH’s mission to support research that engages community members directly affected by health problems, and really social problems as well, in developing solutions to those problems.”
The Poster Session featured research results from both CEARCH and PHDR grantees. Topics included disseminating environmental health data to the Frogtown community, understanding barriers to lung cancer screening, the dangers of mercury in skin-lightening products, racial inequities in long-term care, and more.
The Power of Partnerships event is an annual, joint effort between CTSI, PHDR, the Medical School, and Healthy Youth Development - Prevention Research Center.
Learn more about community-engaged research at CTSI on the CEARCH page.