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CARE Program at Yale Invites the New Haven Community to Become Research Partners to Improve Health of New Haven Residents

Yale researchers and New Haven community leaders collaborate to improve health of city's residents.

Jeannette Ickovics, Ph.D., Professor in the Division of Chronic Disease Epidemiology, Head of the Social and Behavioral Sciences at Yale School of Public Health and Director of Community Alliance for Research and Engagement (CARE), has announced that CARE, a program of The Yale Center for Clinical Investigation (YCCI), is inviting New Haven community-based organizations and other community partners to apply for CARE Pilot grants for up to $25,000.  CARE’s goal is to translate research from bedside to community by fostering ambitious community-based research and transforming scientific breakthroughs into practical benefits.

The two available grants will fund one-year research projects conducted by Community and Yale collaborators to improve the health of New Haven residents.  Preference will be given to projects that seek to reduce health disparities and/or promote health equity. The criteria for the grants were determined by New Haven and Yale University leaders during the CARE Future Search Conference, a large consensus-building forum held in May 2007. Women and underrepresented minorities are encouraged to apply.  To learn about criteria for a CARE Pilot grant and to complete a Letter of Intent by the deadline of Monday, October 15, 2007, see details at http://ycci.yale.edu/outreach/care.html, or contact Rita Kolb at 203-785-5817 or Rita.Kolb@yale.edu.

According to local and national health statistics, New Haven is at elevated risk for several negative health outcomes when compared to Connecticut and the United States. Racial and ethnic disparities, combined with soaring rates of poverty and unemployment contribute to high rates of asthma, diabetes, HIV/AIDS, lead exposure, substance abuse, and obesity. 

Ickovics explains, “Yale is invested in making the New Haven community stronger and healthier.  We are beginning to collaborate in innovative ways to work toward improving health outcomes for the residents of our city.  Since we launched CARE in May 2007, we are proud to have awarded two Research Partnership grants, with two more now planned, for a total of $100,000 going to sponsor innovative community-based health research.”  

The first funded CARE Research Partnership Program grant is entitled, “Evaluating the Impact of a Violence Prevention Program on Urban Youths’ Violence Perceptions and Behavior.”  New Haven Public Schools will collaborate with principal investigators, Charles A. Pillsbury from Community Mediation, Inc, Nora Groce, Ph.D., Yale School of Public Health, and Kerem Shuval, M.P.H., Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center. The aim of this project is to systematically evaluate Community Mediation’s “Youth Training Partnership” which targets urban youth, engaging them in positive activities both during and after school, while integrating school-based peer mediation and conflict resolution for youth throughout the City of New Haven.

Reginald Mayo, Ph.D., Superintendent of New Haven Public Schools, comments, “I am inviting CARE to join Community Mediation and the New Haven Public Schools to nurture, strengthen and prepare our public school students to become tomorrow’s leaders.”

Maria Mauldon, M.S.N., A.P.R.N., Fair Haven Community Health Center and Karen Dorsey, M.D., Ph.D, Yale Department of Pediatrics are the principal investigators for the second funded grant entitled “Family Based Group Visits to Combat Pediatric Obesity.”  The primary objective of this project is to determine the effectiveness of a new strategy in weight management for children.  The research will incorporate individual clinical assessments and goal setting, coupled with group education and parent participation.

“While obesity rates among children nationwide have increased to 20 percent, at Fair Haven Community Health Center, the rate approaches 50 percent, reflecting the increased vulnerability of our minority population to the obesity epidemic.  This CARE Research Partnership Project will enable us to explore the best ways to intervene with children and families at risk for obesity and its adverse health and social consequences,” states Laurie Bridger, M.D., Medical Director of the Fair Haven Community Health Center. 

Funding is made possible by a grant from the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR), a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), as part of Yale University’s Clinical and Translational Science Award.