# Community Engagement Facility  Core

> **NIH NIH P30** · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · 2021 · $160,572

## Abstract

COMMUNIITY ENGAGEMENT CORE (CEC): ABSTRACT
The Community Engagement Core (CEC) supports the mission of the CEET by engaging stakeholders to identify
environmental health problems and address them collaboratively. Translation of ongoing Center environmental
health research to community stakeholders and communication of environmental health research needs from
community stakeholders back to CEET investigators is facilitated by the CEC’s strong collaborations with its
community stakeholders comprised of three major audiences: (a) target communities; (b) health care
professionals; and (c) policy and decision makers. Through our “Target Community Model” we first learn about
the spectrum of community problems and then address environmental health problems without imposing any
external agenda. Our regional focus is on the aging infrastructure of post-industrialized cities e.g. Philadelphia
and its surrounding rural communities in Pennsylvania. In our target communities we focus on identifying
vulnerable populations including children, the elderly and the disadvantaged to enable Precision Public Health
(PPH) approaches. The CEC actively facilitates Community Engaged Research (CER) and Community-Based
Participatory Research (CBPR). The CEC’s Stakeholder Advisory Board composed of CEET members and
community stakeholders prioritize research questions with a focus on our CEET’s thematic areas in which we
have considerable expertise, Air Pollution & Lung Health, Environmental Exposures & Cancer, Windows-of-
Susceptibility and Environmental Neuroscience. Research questions are often taken to the Integrative Health
Sciences Facility Core for input on study design. Our Target Communities Model allows for comprehensive
engagement to enhance the communication of environmental health information to improve public health. We
seek out and engage policy and decision makers by providing them with science to support improved public
health policy. As a result, we have promoted legislative changes in Philadelphia and Lancaster that will protect
children from lead exposure. We actively translate and disseminate research information through publication and
presentation to ensure that scientists, medical and health care professionals have the most current research
information. We have presented research information to local and national audiences. Our CEC leverages multi-
directional engagement regularly to expand the impact of our grant funding and promote active collaboration for
improved health outcomes. Through collaborations with other CEC’s, we have designed innovative community
engagement tools and worked on projects with national scope and impact.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10189591
- **Project number:** 5P30ES013508-16
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
- **Principal Investigator:** Marilyn Howarth
- **Activity code:** P30 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $160,572
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2006-04-01 → 2025-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10189591

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10189591, Community Engagement Facility  Core (5P30ES013508-16). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10189591. Licensed CC0.

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