Significance of the Research Training/Education Core: This Core contributes substantially to the COE mission of mutually enhancing university and community capabilities to conduct disparities research and engage in effective and efficient information dissemination. The Core will further the collaborative research goals of the Department of Prevention and Community Health (DPCH) to reduce health disparities in the Latino immigrant community through close collaboration with community partners to create a two-way research and training process that both enhances community capacity and builds the capacity of GW (interdisciplinary) faculty and students to understand immigrant health disparities issues. The faculty director ofthe Research Training/Education Core is Dr. Karen McDonnell. Dr. McDonnell has served as the Chair of the SPHHS curriculum committee and oversaw the overhauling of the academic curriculum to be competency based and the school was awarded a full seven years accreditation by CEPH and now serves as a reference and model for other schools of public health to follow. In addition Dr. McDonnell was awarded the 2009 Pfizer/ASPH Eariy Career in Public Health Teaching Award and was inducted into the ASPH Academy of Distinguished Teachers. This national award recognizes graduate school faculty who are notable for their teaching, practice and research excellence. She is also PI of the etiological study (gender violence) in the intervention community. Important with respect to this Core, the Exploratory COE will include an education and training program through which undergraduate and graduate students, junior faculty, and members of the partner communities will enhance their knowledge of research and research skills through participation in the Center activities (educational and research). This will contribute to closing the gap witli respect to minority public health professionals, and, importantiy, will also result in a better understanding ofthe research process in the community - which may help to increase participation in the future. Furthermore, the Research Training/Education Core will complement the MPH and DrPH program in the DPCH by increasing the involvement of graduate students in the problems of racial/ethnic health disparities, especially among immigrant/refugee populations. The training program will be integrated into the educational activities of the DPCH. Goals: The goals of the research/education training core will be 1) To increase MPH and doctoral candidates' ability to conduct applied research on health disparities among immigrant and refugee communities - speciflcally the Latino community; 2) to increase awareness and insight of faculty and students within the department of Prevention and Community Health and the School of Public Health and Health Services about the nature of, and contributing factors for, disparities in substance abuse and related risks among the Washington Metro area Latino community, as well as approaches to reducing such disparities; 3) To enhance community partners capacity to conduct research related to interventions in order to generate evidence for the field, support identification of emerging best practices, and obtain funding; and 4) to provide an ongoing structure for training of students, faculty, and community members.
