# RCMI@Morgan: Center for Urban Health Disparities Research and Innovation

> **NIH NIH U54** · MORGAN STATE UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $345,118

## Abstract

Community Engagement Core – Summary
The main goal of the Community Engagement Core is to facilitate meaningful interactions between the
community and academic researchers to better understand and find solutions to the root causes of
urban health disparities which have not been fully addressed by traditional approaches to public health
and social sciences research, mainly due to limited engagement of underserved communities in
research. Being defined as a collaborative approach to research, Community Based Participatory
Research (CBPR) aims at increasing participation of underrepresented communities in research,
enhancing the relevance and quality of the studies, and improving the dissemination of findings and the
impact. The Community Engagement Core will serve as the infrastructure for recruiting and
empowering community partners interested in finding solutions to urban health disparities through
CBPR. The Core will be branded as Community-Aligned Research Enterprise (CARE) which will be
housed in a Morgan State University’s extension building within the Morgan Community Mile. Through
CARE, community partners meet peers, get access to a physical place with shared equipment and
resources, and benefit from numerous opportunities for CBPR projects. The Core will be a learning
community where both academicians and community stakeholders learn from one another and form a
think tank for the overall leadership of the health disparities reduction movement spearheaded by many
public and non-profit agencies. The overall leadership and direction of CARE will be overseen by a
Community Steering Committee comprised of members representing various local organizations. CARE
will serve as a clearinghouse for faculty and student training in community-oriented and community-
engaged research and provide opportunities to practice such competencies in the real-life context of the
community. Common activities include mobilizing and recruiting grassroots members and
professionals, establishing organizational structures, capacity building, planning for action, evaluating
outcomes, and institutionalizing strategies. Throughout these processes, community and academic
partners will work in an equal partnership to design relevant community-engaged research resulting in
effective and culturally appropriate products and services. CARE will work synergistically with faculty
members involved with the Research Infrastructure Core and the Investigator Development Core to
facilitate partnerships. CARE also has the potential to be a base for generating new high impact
entrepreneurial initiatives and improving the local economy of underserved communities.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9986908
- **Project number:** 5U54MD013376-02
- **Recipient organization:** MORGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Payam Sheikhattari
- **Activity code:** U54 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $345,118
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** — → —

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9986908

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9986908, RCMI@Morgan: Center for Urban Health Disparities Research and Innovation (5U54MD013376-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9986908. Licensed CC0.

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