# Center to Improve Chronic disease Outcomes through Multi-level and Multi-generational approaches Unifying Novel Interventions and Training for health EquitY (The COMMUNITY Center)

> **NIH NIH P50** · COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES · 2021 · $4,220,487

## Abstract

ABSTRACT:
Despite medical advances in treating chronic diseases and epidemiological findings identifying risk factors for
chronic diseases, there remain major persistent health disparities driven by the Social Determinants of Health
(SDoH). We have come together to address these disparities through the Center to Improve Chronic disease
Outcomes through Multi-level and Multi-generational approaches Unifying Novel Interventions and
Training for health EquitY (COMMUNITY Center). Our vision is rooted in public health which recognizes that
medical advances alone can only partially reduce the burden of disease and that reducing health disparities in
chronic diseases requires improving the health and wellness of individuals, families, communities and societies
throughout life. We seek to realize this vision within the communities we serve that are among the most highly
diverse in the U.S. with approximately 2/3 non-white, 1/3 foreign-born, and 1/5 living below the Federal poverty
line. The mission of the COMMUNITY Center is to reduce health disparities in chronic diseases in the New York
City Region through rigorous testing, disseminating and sustaining of interventions that incorporate the multiple
levels of influence from individual, interpersonal, community and societal approaches. We have designed three
synergistic projects that address chronic conditions identified by and responsive to the voice and concerns of
the communities we serve and each involve novel interventions employing the community health worker (CHW)
model for enrollment and/or retention into the studies while also connecting participants to services based on
five domains of SDoH (housing instability, food insecurity, transportation problems, utility help needs and
insurance enrollment). The three projects are 1) Community Health workers United to Reduce Colorectal cancer
and CVD among people at Higher risk (CHURCH); 2) Addressing Sleep Duration, Regularity, and Efficiency: A
Multidimensional Sleep Health Intervention for Reducing Disparities in Cardiometabolic Disease (DREAM); and
3) Intervention to iMProve AdherenCe equiTably (IMPACT TRIAL). In addition to the three research projects,
the Center supports Health Equity Scholars and pilots funded through the Investigator Development Core (IDC)
and community projects funded through the Community Core (known as the CONNECTOME). The
Administrative Core (ADMIN) which includes faculty with expertise in biostatistics, implementation science, and
data harmonization and biomedical informatics. The COMMUNITY Center involves strong collaborations
between researchers, community organizations, clinicians and healthcare systems, public health agencies and
other stakeholders and partners Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC) and Weill Cornell Medical
Center (WCM) joined through the greater New York Presbyterian (NYP) Hospital System with City University of
New York (CUNY) and the Physician Affiliate Group of New York (PAGNY). The uniqu...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10437176
- **Project number:** 1P50MD017341-01
- **Recipient organization:** COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES
- **Principal Investigator:** Elizabeth Gross Cohn
- **Activity code:** P50 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $4,220,487
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-09-24 → 2026-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10437176

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10437176, Center to Improve Chronic disease Outcomes through Multi-level and Multi-generational approaches Unifying Novel Interventions and Training for health EquitY (The COMMUNITY Center) (1P50MD017341-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10437176. Licensed CC0.

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