A Funding Initiative for Community-Based Participatory Research: Lessons from the Harvard Catalyst Seed Grants

• Published in: Progress in community health partnerships Vol. 5; no. 1; pp. 35 - 44
• Main Authors: Tendulkar, Shalini A, Chu, Jocelyn, Opp, Jennifer, Geller, Alan, DiGirolamo, Ann, Gandelman, Ediss, Grullon, Milagro, Patil, Pratima, King, Stacey, Hacker, Karen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Johns Hopkins University Press 2011
• Subjects: Awards & honors; Biomedical Research - economics; Biomedical Research - methods; Biomedical Research - organization & administration; Community-Based Participatory Research - economics; Community-Based Participatory Research - organization & administration; Community-Institutional Relations; Data collection; Humans; Initiatives; Massachusetts; National Institutes of Health (U.S.); Research Support as Topic - organization & administration; Studies; Translational Medical Research - economics; Translational Medical Research - methods; Translational Medical Research - organization & administration; United States; Universities; United States; Massachusetts
• ISSN: 1557-0541; 1557-055X; 1557-055X
• DOI: 10.1353/cpr.2011.0005

The National Institutes of Health-funded Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) have increasingly focused on community-engaged research and funded investigators for community-based participatory research (CBPR). However, because CBPR is a collaborative process focused on community-identified research topics, the Harvard CTSA and its Community Advisory Board (CERAB) funded community partners through a CBPR initiative. We describe lessons learned from this seed grants initiative designed to stimulate community-academic CBPR partnerships. The CBPR program of the Harvard CTSA and the CERAB developed this initiative and each round incorporated participant and advisory feedback toward program improvement. Although this initiative facilitated relevant and innovative research, challenges included variable community research readiness, insufficient project time, and difficulties identifying investigators for new partnerships. Seed grants can foster innovative CBPR projects. Similar initiatives should consider preliminary assessments of community research readiness as well as strategies for meaningful academic researcher engagement.