Community Engagement Core

The Meharry Community Engagement Core connects community members and organizations with Meharry researchers to conduct research and share results that will improve health for communities that experience the poorest health outcomes.

Vision

To eradicate health and healthcare disparities through long-term, collaborative, mutually beneficial community/academic research partnership.

Mission

The mission of the Meharry Community Engagement Core is to “combine the passion, knowledge, and skills of community partners and academic researchers to carry out research, share research results, and put into practice research findings that advance health equity and improve health for communities that experience the poorest health outcomes.”

Apart from efforts to increase community capacity to engage in research and partner with them in advancing their own health-related priorities, the Community Engagement Core provides direct support to Meharry researchers, including:

  1. providing community-engaged research training;
  2. identifying and facilitating collaborators with various community members, such as community-based organizations;
  3. identifying potential research study participants; and;
  4. providing assistance for sharing research study results beyond traditional academic venues.

A Community Advisory Board, including representatives form health advocacy, health equity, and faith-based organizations, provides guidance to the Community Engagement Core and serves as one avenue for researchers to get community feedback about their research and explore potential community-academic research partnerships.

Resources

  • Consultations for researcher and community members/organizations
  • Partnerships with more than 100 community members and organizations
  • Community Advisory Board
  • Training modules for researchers and community member
  • Research Volunteer Database
  • Community Engagement Studios
  • Community/Academic partnership development support
  • Lay Research Dissemination Procedures and Methods

For any inquires contact, Community Engagement Core Director, Stephania Miller-Hughes PhD MS, smiller@mmc.edu or Co-Director, Leah Alexander PhD MPH, lalexander@mmc.edu or Program Manager, Mariah Chambers MHA, mchambers@mmc.edu

Partnership Opportunities

To learn more about the Community Engagement Core, visit their website below.

Community Engagement Core Publications

Kinesin Family Member B18 Is Related to Gastric Mucin Phenotype and Contributes to Gastric Cancer Progression by Regulating Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition.
Akira Ishikawa, Ryo Yasumatsu, Takafumi Fukui, Aya Kido, Narutaka Katsuya, Kazuhiro Sentani, Kazuya Kuraoka, Naohide Oue, Takahisa Suzuki, Shiro Oka, Takahiro Kotachi, Kazuaki Tanabe, Hideki Ohdan, Hassan Ashktorab, Duane Smoot, Wataru Yasui

Scoping Review: The Role of Psychedelics in the Management of Chronic Pain.
Christopher L Robinson, Alexandra C G Fonseca, Efemena M Diejomaoh, Ryan S D'Souza, Michael E Schatman, Vwaire Orhurhu, Trent Emerick

Predictors of seasonal influenza and COVID-19 vaccination coverage among adults in Tennessee during the COVID-19 pandemic.
J Cunningham-Erves, W George, M Sanderson, E Stewart, S W Jin, J Davis, H M Brandt

Survival disparities in rural versus urban patients with pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor: A multi-institutional study from the US neuroendocrine tumor study group.
Muhammad Bilal Mirza, Jordan J Baechle, Paula Marincola Smith, Mary Dillhoff, George Poultsides, Flavio G Rocha, Clifford S Cho, Emily R Winslow, Ryan C Fields, Shishir K Maithel, Kamran Idrees

An International Learning Collaborative Phase 2 Trial for Haploidentical Bone Marrow Transplant in Sickle Cell Disease.
Adetola A Kassim, Josu de la Fuente, Erfan Nur, Karina Wilkerson, Ali Alahmari, Adriana Seber, Carmem M S Bonfim, Belinda Pinto Simões, Mohsen Alzahrani, Michael J Eckrich, Biljana Horn, Rabi Hanna, Nathalie Dhedin, Hemalatha G Rangarajan, Roseane Vasconcelos Gouveia, Fahad Almohareb, Mahmoud Aljurf, Mohammed Essa, Bader Alahmari, Katie S Gatwood, James A Connelly, Elisabeth Dovern, Mark Rodeghier, Michael R DeBaun

Acceleration of benzo(a)pyrene-induced colon carcinogenesis by Western diet in a rat model of colon cancer.
Kelly L Harris, Kenneth J Harris, Leah D Banks, Samuel E Adunyah, Aramandla Ramesh