ABSTRACT – COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND OUTREACH CORE There is tremendous need to coordinate disparate activities with a focus on better aligning research with the health needs and public policy priorities identified by the Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH), the broader Rhode Island (RI) community and the Latinx community in particular. Too often, interventions tested in traditional research studies and found to be effective do not translate into positive outcomes in practice or cannot be practically applied in clinical and community settings. Addressing the challenges of translating research findings into clinical practice must require the engagement of key stakeholders, community members, health care teams, program managers, and policy-makers, who are integral to the success, sustainability, and scalability of these efforts3. The goal of the Community Engagement and Outreach core (CEO) is to help ensure that the research undertaken by the Advance-CTR team is relevant, accessible and impactful for the entire state of Rhode Island. We further believe that we should support research projects that strive to reduce health disparities in our small, but very ethnically and racially diverse state. Perhaps most importantly, we believe this approach will help ensure that the translational research enterprise ultimately benefits communities that bear a disproportionate share of the disease burden in Rhode Island, particularly Latinx communities in our urban core surrounding Providence. RI is a small but racially and ethnically diverse state. Approximately 5% of Rhode Islanders are Black/African American. RI is also home to sizable immigrant populations from Southeast Asia, India, China and Lusophone Africa. Notably, Rhode Island is home to a large Latinx population; 18% of the state is of Latinx and 44% of Providence, RI’s largest city, is Latinx. Addressing the health of our diverse state requires culturally tailored approaches to integrate their participation into the translational research process, and ultimately, to oversee research that responds to the health needs of these populations. Our approach will contribute to research focused on helping reduce health disparities through elevating the health needs and participation of communities and patients in all research activities, integrating community engagement and a culture of reciprocity into all aspects of Advance-CTR, and creating a Community Engaged Practice-based Research Network (CEPBRN). Our activities will be grounded in the philosophy and culture of partnership and reciprocity. This is not a “research method” but a values system that informs and infuses all elements of our research activities and our team culture. Community stakeholders participate in dissemination of study results, including publication and dissemination of study findings to the general public and the communities who stand to benefit from knowledge production. This culture and our commitment to community participation a...