# Community Engagement and Training Core

> **NIH NIH P20** · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI · 2024 · $529,223

## Abstract

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND TRAINING CORE 
Project Summary/Abstract 
Mississippi is among the most medically underserved states in the nation and infamous for the poorest health 
outcomes. In states like Mississippi, the research workforce is limited by a lack of mentorship and training 
opportunities to conduct health research among underserved communities. The Community Engagement 
and Training Core (CETC) will leverage previously built community infrastructure to engage faculty, students, 
and the public in community-based participatory research (CBPR). It will enable collection of complex 
community data to answer critical biomedical and behavioral questions that will lead to actionable information 
that will translate discovery to practice through intervention research, clinical trials, and health innovations. The 
long-term goal is to improve the health of Mississippians by increasing representation of Mississippi 
communities in research through workforce development of scientists and health professionals. The CETC will 
foster opportunities for transparent and positive research interactions between academics and lay 
communities, increase the representation of Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) and city and state 
entities in research. The CETC will achieve this long term goals through the following specific aims: 1) Support 
pilot projects in CBPR through engaging CBOs with an emphasis on preventable conditions that influence chronic 
and infectious disease prevalence that disproportionately affect minorities, rural populations, and other medically 
underserved groups in Mississippi; 2) Augment biomedical and behavioral research projects at Primarily 
Undergraduate Institutes (PUIs) as well as other academic researchers with CETC infrastructure and 
community engagement initiatives to enhance communication between scientists and medically underserved 
groups; 3) Develop the next generation of scientists and practitioners through an intensive summer research 
program that emphasizes integrated, community participatory approaches to implement science in service of 
addressing health disparities in Mississippi. At the completion of the next award period, the CETC will have 
greatly increased the number of students, faculty and organizations involved in CBPR, furthering Mississippi's 
biomedical and behavioral research infrastructure to improve the health of underserved Mississippi 
communities.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10850657
- **Project number:** 5P20GM103476-23
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI
- **Principal Investigator:** Jennifer L Lemacks
- **Activity code:** P20 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $529,223
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2001-09-20 → 2028-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10850657

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10850657, Community Engagement and Training Core (5P20GM103476-23). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10850657. Licensed CC0.

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