The purpose of MICHR's Annual Community Engagement Symposium is to enhance collaboration between researchers and community-based, nonprofit, and governmental organizations interested or engaged in clinical and health research. Academic and community partners will have opportunities to network, share their research and experience, and develop skills to become engaged and effective partners.  

This theme of this year’s symposium The Power of Partnerships: Improving Research and Health Outcomes will focus on the importance of community involvement and leadership in the research process and how both communities and researchers benefit from partnership approaches.

Bus Transportation Information:
Bus transportation will be provided from specific locations in the cities of Flint and Detroit. If you plan to take the bus, please indicate this on your registration form.  For more details, including pick-up/drop-off locations and times, please contact:

Detroit Bus: Karen Calhoun, karen@cityconnectdetoit.org, or Zachary Rowe,  zrowe@friendsofparkside.org

Flint Bus: Kent Key, kkey25@aol.com

Symposium Agenda:

8:00 - 10:00 a.m.         Registration and Breakfast

8:30 - 10:00 a.m.         Poster Session

Posters will showcase a broad range of topics related to community-university partnered research (e.g. partnership development, participatory methods, dissemination strategies).

10:00 - 10:15 a.m.       Welcome & Opening Remarks

Marc Zimmerman, Co-Director of Community Engagement with Community-Based Organizations, OPIS, MICHR, Director, Prevention Research Center of Michigan & Michigan Youth Violence Prevention Center, Chair, Health Behavior and Health Education, U-M School of Public Health

10:15 - 11:45 a.m.       Keynote Presentation: The Importance of Community Academic Partnership in Clinical and Translational Research

Sergio Aguilar-Gaxiola, Director, Center for Reducing Health Disparities & Community Engagement Program of the Clinical Translational Science Center, University of California Davis, School of Medicine, Co-Chair, National Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) Community Engagement Key Function Committee

Alan Richmond, Director, North Carolina Institute for Minority and Economic Development, Jobs and Leadership Development, Community Co-Chair, National CTSA Community Engagement Key Function Committee, Immediate Past President, National Community Based Organization Network

11:45 - 1:00 p.m.         Networking Lunch

1:00 - 1:15p.m.            Break

1:15 - 2:15 p.m.           Workshop/Panel Sessions 1

Culturally-Tailored Community-Based: Recruitment Approaches That Work
Panel presentation facilitated by Kanchan Sehgal Lota, Assistant Managing Director, OPIS, MICHR
Don Vereen, Director, U-M Substance Abuse Research Center, U-M School of Public Health, Director, Community Academic Engagement, Prevention Research Center of Michigan
Astrid Fishstrom, Project Manager, Friese Lab, U-M School of Nursing
Charo Ledon, Executive Director, Casa Latina
Joan Kellenberg, Program Manager, Clinical and Health Research Recruitment Program, MICHR

Community Leaders Across the U.S. Call for Health Research Equity and Impact
Karen Calhoun, MICHR Detroit Clinical Research Associate, Community Co-Facilitator, MICHR Community Engagement Coordinating Council
Alan Richmond, Director, North Carolina Institute for Minority and Economic Development, Jobs and Leadership Development, Community Co-Chair, National CTSA Community Engagement Key Function Committee, Immediate Past President, National Community Based Organization Network

The Art of Dissemination: Sharing Your Work With Diverse Audiences
Panel presentation facilitated by Celeste Choate, Associate Director for Services, Collections & Access, Ann Arbor District Library, Community Co-Facilitator, MICHR Community Engagement Coordinating Council
Emily Greenberg, Student, U-M School of Public Health, Advocacy Intern, Ann Arbor YMCA
Jimena Loveluck, President/CEO, HIV/AIDS Resource Center
Fran Talsma, Policy Clinical Research Associate, MICHR
Jamie Racklyeft, Director, Communications, MICHR

Strategies for Building and Sustaining Equitable, Effective Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) Partnerships
Barbara Israel, Principal Investigator/Director, Detroit Community Academic Urban Research Center
Zachary Rowe, Executive Director, Friends of Parkside

Finding Funding Opportunities and Strengthening Grant Proposals for Health Research
Karen Downing, Librarian, Foundation Center, U-M Hatcher Graduate Library
Debra Warrick, Coordinator, Pilot Grant Program, MICHR
Tamara Havermahl, Manager, Research Development Core, MICHR

2:15 - 2:30 p.m.           Break

2:30 - 3:30 p.m.           Workshop/Panel Sessions 2*

*All workshops/panel sessions REPEAT

3:30 - 3:45 p.m.           Break

3:45 - 4:30 p.m.           Poster Awards & Closing Comments

Marc Zimmerman, Co-Director of Community Engagement with Community-Based Organizations, OPIS, MICHR, Director, Prevention Research Center of Michigan & Michigan Youth Violence Prevention Center, Chair, Health Behavior and Health Education, U-M School of Public Health

Event Partners and Co-Sponsors:
The Ann Arbor Center for Independent Living, Ann Arbor District Library, Ann Arbor YMCA, City Connect Detroit, Community-Based Organization Partners, Friends of Parkside, the DECIDERS project, Prevention Research Center of Michigan, U-M School of Public Health Office of Public Health Practice, U-M Health System Program for Multicultural Health, and Washtenaw County Health Department.