On Friday, Jan. 27, community engagement representatives from four CCTS Partners (UA, UAB, UMMC, and USA) gathered in Jackson, MS. They were joined by six local community members excited by an agenda focused on several ambitious yet achievable goals for 2017. These joint initiatives are highlighted below.

PURE Rollout: Elsevier’s PURE platform, traditionally limited to academic profiles, has been adapted to catalogue faith-based programs, community engagement methods, and “research apprenticeships.” The goal is to connect academic investigators and community leaders who have similar research and practice interests to better understand the kinds of engagement strategies that work in local communities and to catalyze investigation. Development of profiles for CCTS Partners and their local community representatives is underway. The target timeframe for “go live” of the enhanced PURE system is Spring 2017.

R13 Grant: The consortium will seek to fund for a regional Community Engagement conference. A potential theme is increasing awareness and understanding of the translational science spectrum. 

Regional Community Engagement Institute (RCEI): The consortium is exploring the potential for a regionally focused CCTS CEI. This would complement the Birmingham event that takes place in the fall and the USA meeting in the spring. The RCEI would build upon these meetings by providing an opportunity for participants from these and other regional CE meetings to share lessons learned, coordinate efforts, and develop best practices. 

The next Regional Community Engagement Consortium meeting will take place in May 2017, hosted by CCTS Partner University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. Full details will be announced in the CCTS Digest and listed on the CCTS Events page. Stay tuned!