Notably, since its inception as an NIH Autism Center in 2003, the UCLA Center for Autism Research and Treatment (CART) took the lead in developing advanced training in behavioral, clinical, and health services research in the field of autism, as well as disseminating these research findings to the community. Within this ACE Center renewal, one of the primary aims of the Dissemination, Outreach, and Education Core (Core D) activities will be to strengthen community partnerships to enhance our dissemination and outreach practices to further encompass those from diverse racial and ethnic groups and disadvantaged backgrounds, while continuing our long established practice of providing education and training to the next generation of autism researchers. We will broaden our community ties through formalized partnerships with mental health agencies and schools in ethnically diverse and under-resourced areas in order to reach stakeholders in underrepresented areas throughout Los Angeles. To this end, the specific aims of Core D include: (1) strengthening our community partnerships to ensure successful recruitment and retention of study participants from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups and those from disadvantaged backgrounds; (2) establishing an infrastructure to optimize outreach and promote two-way communication between CART investigators and the community of individuals with ASD, their caregivers, and other stakeholders through the sharing of current research, as well as the discussion of feasibility about proposed studies; (3) translating and disseminating accessible research findings to research participants, stakeholders, and the broader scientific and practitioner communities through community-focused and University-based cross-center training activities; and (4) developing new interdisciplinary training and mentorship initiatives in autism research for graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, and early career investigators, including those from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds and those who are new to the field of autism. While Dissemination and Outreach are considered fundamental components of Core D within the ACE Centers, the inclusion of Education within this Core is a unique aspect of this proposal and underscores the importance which the UCLA CART places upon the training of future generations of autism researchers. Our ultimate goal though Core D is to develop a pathway toward interdisciplinary research that is enriched through the consideration of the needs and expectations of the community, and through the inclusion of more racially and ethnically diverse groups, from research participants to the scientists who serve them.
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