The Detroit Community-Academic Urban Research Center (Detroit URC) recently hosted 12 community-academic teams from across the U.S. to participate in the one-week intensive component of the Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) Partnership Academy. Now in its third year, this year-long program is designed to enhance participants’ knowledge and skills in CBPR, so they may apply this collaborative research approach to address racial and ethnic inequities in health in their communities.

Funded by the National Institutes of Health, the CBPR Partnership Academy includes:

• a week-long intensive course, taught by both University of Michigan academic researchers and Detroit community partners;
• one year of structured learning activities and mentorship; and
• access to ongoing networking opportunities. 

The CBPR Partnership Academy course was awesome," said Academy participant Anamaria Bejarano, of The Health Trust in San Jose, California. "It really transformed how I view my work and my organization." 

Throughout the year, the newly formed partnerships will work together to develop and implement a joint CBPR research project focused on improving the health and well-being of the communities involved.

Those selected through an extensive competitive review process hail from nine states, including California, Connecticut, Georgia, Michigan, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, Texas, and Washington. The teams are addressing a wide range of health equity and quality-of-life issues involving diverse populations, such as improving the well-being of older adults in rural communities, pursuing poverty solutions in one of the most racially and linguistically diverse cities in the U.S, and collaborating on interventions to prevent alcohol and drug abuse among women.

These community-academic teams participated in their week-long program in Ann Arbor, Michigan from July 16 to July 21, 2017. Please visit the CBPR Partnership Academy webpage to learn more about the Academy, and click here for team profiles.