# Center for Appalachian Research in Environmental Sciences-Community Engagement Core (CEC)

> **NIH NIH P30** · UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY · 2024 · $224,830

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY- Community Engagement Core (CEC)
The University of Kentucky Center for Appalachian Research in Environmental Sciences (UK-CARES)
Community Engagement Core (CEC) will grow, maintain, and enhance strong, sustained, multidirectional
community-academic partnerships that 1) support meaningful community engagement; 2) build environmental
health literacy; 3) reduce environmental health risks; and 4) decrease health disparities in rural Appalachia.
Decades of legacy mining and fracking operations, as well as an aging water infrastructure, have resulted in
exposure to water and air contaminants which have led to community concerns about water and air quality as
well as emerging environmental health threats. The CEC will build on a strong foundation of successful
community engagement and support environmental health science (EHS) by connecting investigators with
community partners to promote projects consistent with the three science themes of the Center—(a) Health
Impacts of Waterborne Contaminants; (b) Health Impacts of Indoor & Outdoor Airborne Contaminants; and (c)
Emerging Environmental Health Threats. The CEC will use an iterative multidirectional process that brings
local knowledge into the Center, leverages UK-CARES’ investigator strengths and institutional support, reports
back research findings with at-risk communities, and encourages solution-focused communication among
community and organizational stakeholders. Specifically, the aims of the CEC are to: 1) foster and cultivate
multidirectional community-academic partnerships engaged in UK-CARES research that is responsive to
regional environmental health issues, needs and concerns; 2) translate and disseminate EHS findings through
science communication and advocacy training to foster clinical decision making and policy formation; and 3)
strengthen partnerships with community and healthcare stakeholders in UK-CARES’ environmental health
research across the translational spectrum. First, we will engage our Stakeholder Advisory Board members to
offer culturally appropriate insight that will inform and assist Center investigators in their research. The CEC
will use formal (e.g., focus groups) and informal (e.g., listening sessions) means to engage in multi-directional
dialogue with community stakeholders to assess environmental health concerns. In turn, the CEC will serve as
a bridge to and from the community to facilitate community engagement in EHS that leverages the strengths of
UK-CARES and is responsive to community concerns. Second, will provide training in effective science
communication and advocacy with healthcare providers, faculty, and community stakeholders. We will build on
our impactful science communication training curriculum to prepare scientists for effective multi-modal
dissemination of findings, including use of evidence-based advocacy skills with policymakers. Lastly, we will
collaborate with the Integrated Health Sciences Facility Core to create tailored multi-m...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10854765
- **Project number:** 5P30ES026529-07
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY
- **Principal Investigator:** MARK B DIGNAN
- **Activity code:** P30 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $224,830
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-05-01 → 2028-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10854765

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10854765, Center for Appalachian Research in Environmental Sciences-Community Engagement Core (CEC) (5P30ES026529-07). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10854765. Licensed CC0.

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