# Community Partnership Core

> **NIH NIH U54** · UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO · 2024 · $1,203,876

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
The UIC Maternal Health Research Center of Excellence Community Partnership Core (CPC) will address the
critical need for a structured, systemic approach to engage communities in research to address disparities in
maternal health outcomes. The Center expands on existing partnerships with EverThrive Illinois and
AllianceChicago to create a multi-sector coalition working together toward a common goal of improving
maternal outcomes for families in Chicago. EverThrive will convene a statewide Community Advisory Board
(CAB) that is representative of the diverse communities across Illinois, and they will support recruitment for
specific projects through their extensive and diverse community network. Through the CPC, the Center will
engage community partners in three ways: as Center members who are actively engaged in planning and
implementing research and dissemination, as a bridge to the community to recruit research participants and
disseminate information, and as community-based providers engaged in larger systems of care. Equitable
community engagement in research increases community trust, knowledge, and understanding of research,
drives community participation in research and implementation of best practices, and builds a sense of
collaboration between researchers and the community. However, the dissemination of research to a general
audience can be challenging. The CPC will address this challenge through an equitable human-centered
design (HCD) framework that recognizes the unique expertise of all partners, including community members
and community organizations, healthcare providers, policymakers, local government agencies, and
researchers, to create an environment where all partners contribute to the research from conceptualization to
dissemination of findings. This framework shifts the community from research “subjects” to collaborative
partners. HCD is particularly effective in engaging people who play key roles in the healthcare system, but
who are often excluded in the design of healthcare interventions and system reform. To accomplish this goal,
we propose the following aims: Aim 1: Facilitate, coordinate, and evaluate community engagement and
dissemination at all phases of the research and across the Center; Aim 2: Create an integrated community
partnership framework to promote meaningful engagement and responsive research, and facilitate appropriate
and relevant dissemination that is actionable in the community and responsive to the local context; and Aim 3:
Build capacity for bilateral exchange between community partners and researchers through partnerships that
establish shared understanding and goals for research processes and community experiences.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10748097
- **Project number:** 1U54HD113087-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO
- **Principal Investigator:** Tamara Hamlish
- **Activity code:** U54 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $1,203,876
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-06-26 → 2026-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10748097

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10748097, Community Partnership Core (1U54HD113087-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10748097. Licensed CC0.

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