# Community Engagement Core

> **NIH NIH P20** · DREXEL UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $230,030

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY: COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT CORE (CEC)
The Drexel Climate Change and Urban Health Research Center (Drexel CCUH) seeks to build institutional
capacity at Drexel University and at our partner sites to support action-oriented research on the impacts of
climate change on population health and health inequities in cities across the Americas. The Center seeks to
design and implement research and evidence translation to support the urban policies needed to address the
health and equity impacts of climate change in cities. The guiding principle of the Drexel CCUH Community
Engagement Core (CEC) is that local communities, organizations, and policymakers in urban areas worldwide
play a key role in protecting and promoting health, health equity, and sustainability in the context of climate
change. Within the context of ever-increasing data volume, these actors need access to specific, actionable
evidence and the capacity to apply this evidence to urban adaptation and mitigation planning. The Drexel
CCUH-CEC will lay the foundation for engagement across a network of community and policy actors who will
inform timely and relevant research, engagement, and dissemination strategies that effectively respond to local
needs. The Drexel CCUH-CEC will leverage existing strengths at Drexel University and partner institutions in
urban health, health equity, policy-translation and community-engaged research, including an extensive
research network in Latin America and US cities, and external institutional partnerships. The CEC will be led
by Dr. Mariana Lazo (Drexel University) and supported by co-lead Dr. Monica Mazariegos (Institute for
Nutrition in Central America and Panama [INCAP] in Guatemala), as well as additional faculty and policy- and
community-engagement specialists. The CEC will work closely with the other center cores and research
project leadership, and with the Community and Policy Advisory Board. The Core-specific aims include: Aim 1:
To ensure our research and engagement activities are guided by local needs and priorities, Aim 2: To create
opportunities for transdisciplinary and multi-sector exchange and capacity building Aim 3: To develop,
implement, and define dissemination strategies and best practices for reaching various audiences, driving
advocacy, and supporting policymaking. Aim 4: To evaluate the impact of our activities on agenda-setting, and
outline plans for future engagement. Our multi-country team has an established track record of projects,
partnerships, and engagement activities that will enable us to scale-up these efforts quickly and achieve our
objectives within the three-year timeline. Importantly the CEC will support foundational work needed to ensure
that meaningful community and policy engagement are core and integral elements to the future development of
the Drexel CCUH in ways that support solutions-oriented evidence generation and actions.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10934585
- **Project number:** 5P20MD019221-02
- **Recipient organization:** DREXEL UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Mariana Lazo Elizondo
- **Activity code:** P20 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $230,030
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-09-25 → 2026-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10934585

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10934585, Community Engagement Core (5P20MD019221-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10934585. Licensed CC0.

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