CHARA Academic and Community Partners Join Together to Discuss Research Collaboration Efforts

On Saturday, November 7th, 20 community and academic partners participated in the CHARA Community Research retreat held at Water’s Edge in The Dalles.  
 
Partners reflected on the benefits of the retreat:
​
“…it was a very safe and inviting space to learn and ask questions that can lead to collaborative partnership”

“Great people, great atmosphere, great authentic vibe”

“Rarely is it worth giving up a Saturday for a work event - this was an exception”

“I don't know what was on your list of 30 rules [for collaboration], but I bet that we followed them all. That's what true collaboration looks like. A friend of mine was in [the area] for a [another] research conference. We shared stories of our day and we both agreed that mine won hands down. It really changed my outlook in ways I didn't expect. Thank you for including me.”
 
The partners met to discuss personal interests, learn about CHARA’s history and mission, reflect on what makes academic-community partnerships work, and to engage in preliminary discussion regarding research collaborations focused on three broad areas of community interest:

• Mental health and substance use (with a focus on general community needs, as well as homeless and incarcerated populations)
• Colorectal cancer screening
• Healthy lifestyles – nutrition and exercise

 
​Moving forward CHARA will focus on:

1. Developing a comparative effectiveness research application focused on improving colorectal cancer screening. (This is the primary deliverable for CHARA’s current funded PCORI Pipeline to Proposal Award.)
2. Exploring opportunities for supporting collaborative research grants related to mental health and substance use treatment.
3. Encouraging local activities to quantify the needs of the homeless population and those who are incarcerated.
4. Securing additional support to enable a designated, longer-term CHARA community/academic research liaison who can leverage additional interests and research opportunities.

 
Notes from the CHARA retreat are available below.
 
We appreciate those who were able to attend, share, and contribute to the discussion to make this such a rich experience. We will reach out to individuals regarding specific next steps.
 
Best,
 
Melinda Davis, PhD and Kristin Dillon, MD (CHARA co-leads)

---