Congratulations to three community-academic research partnerships who have been awarded with planning grant funding from the Detroit URC to help them pursue their health equity initiatives in Detroit. With awards of up to $4,000 per team, the Round 6 (Spring 2016) Small Planning Grant recipients and proposed projects are as follows:  

Collaborative Approach to Community-based Research on Breastfeeding

• PARTNERS: Kiddada Green, Founding Executive Director of Black Mothers' Breastfeeding Association; Angela Johnson, Assistant Research Scientist, Program for Multicultural Health (See photo to these partners to the right presenting a poster at the Detroit URC's 20th Anniversary Symposium.)
• GOAL: To strengthen the existing partnership with University of Michigan Health System Program for Multicultural Health and to address persistent breastfeeding barriers unique to African American women by developing culturally appropriate community-wide breastfeeding support for African American women and their children based on best practices established through community-based research practices.

Identifying Healthcare Priorities In Detroit Homeless Populations

• PARTNERS: Ron Beford, Executive Director, Interfaith Health & Hope Coalition; Paul Kilgore, Associate Professor, Wayne State University College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences; Community and Home Supports Inc., The Noah Project; Advantage Health Centers, Detroit Central City Community Mental Health, Inc.
• GOAL: to better understand current health conditions from a homeless individual’s perspective and identify barriers that prevent the homeless population from seeking and acting on preventive healthcare.

Health Care Needs of People with Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities Living in Detroit

• PARTNERS: Carmen McIntyre, Chief Medical Officer, Detroit-Wayne County Mental Health Authority, Steven Erickson, Associate Professor of Soical and Administrative Sciences, University of Michigan College of Pharmacy; The Arc Detroit; Wayne State University Development Disabilities Institute
• GOAL: The overall goal of this partnership is to improve the health of people who have an intellectual/developmental disability related condition living in the city of Detroit through the development of a sustained relationship between community and academic partners.

The new partnerships and projects above were awarded with Small Planning Grant funding based on fulfilling a wide range of criteria, which is outlined on the Small Planning Grants program webpage. The selection committee included Detroit URC board members and staff members. 

Congratulations to two community-academic teams, which are each receiving up to $5,000 as part of the Detroit URC's Small Planning Grant Program (Round 7 - Summer 2016): 

Heat Waves, Housing and Health: Increasing Climate Resiliency in Detroit

• PARTNERS: Zachary Rowe, Director, Friends of Parkside; Marie O’Neill, Associate Professor, University of Michigan School of Public Health
• GOAL: to establish a community-academic steering committee utilizing a CBPR approach to support the development of long-term community partnerships addressing the health impacts of heat waves in vulnerable urban communities in Detroit, Michigan.

Development of a Hypertension-Focused Community Advisory Board

• PARTNERS: Lisa Mason, Vice President, Greater Detroit Area Health Council (GDAHC);
  Phillip Levy, Professor and Associate Chair for Research, Wayne State University School of
  Medicine.
• GOAL: to establish a Hypertension Community Advisory Board to inform hypertension research in the
  Detroit area.

The Detroit URC's Small Planning Grant Program, which is now offered in collaboration with the Michigan Institute for Clinical & Health Research (MICHR), aims to support the establishment of new community-academic partnerships and new collaborative health research efforts in Detroit. Click here to learn more.