About CE

The Community Engagement Program provides a centralized infrastructure for developing and sustaining partnerships between clinical researchers at UCSF and community collaborators, emphasizing engagement between UCSF researchers and members of communities experiencing health disparities. We build capacity for translational research on implementation and dissemination of efficacious intervention prototypes in generalizable settings among diverse populations. We facilitate mutually beneficial clinical research partnerships between UCSF and the community that will result in:

• More community participation in all stages of research;
• More research that is relevant to community needs; and
• Greater awareness and successful uptake of useful research findings in diverse community settings.

Through our consultation, training, and linkage services, we foster collaborative relationships between researchers and the diverse communities of the San Francisco Bay Area and other locations where UCSF conducts research through three points of engagement:

1. Integrated delivery systems (e.g., Kaiser Permanente and the Community Health Network of the San Francisco Department of Public Health);

2. Networks of community-based clinicians; and

3. Community members and community-based organizations.

CE Staff

• Ellen Goldstein, MA
  Program Manager
  egoldstein@fcm.ucsf.edu
  415-206-5329
• Paula Fleisher, MA
  UCSF Navigator
  pfleisher@fcm.ucsf.edu
  415-206-5611
• Maureen Fitzpatrick, MPH
  Kaiser Permanente Navigator
  Maureen.B.Fitzpatrick@kp.org
  510-891-3133
• Sachini Bandara
  Program Assistant
  bandaras@fcm.ucsf.edu
  415-206-4048

CE Steering Committees

The Community Engagement Program has four steering committees comprised of UCSF faculty from all four health sciences professional schools at UCSF and expert community representatives. These committees carry out program projects and answer consultation and training requests.

Community Clinician Committee — fosters linkages between clinical researchers at UCSF and our academic partners and community clinicians (physicians, nurses, dentists, and pharmacists) in public or private health care settings.

• Current Projects: Convenings of potential partners; revision of CHR application to document community collaborations; training manuals and forums for researchers and community clinicians on principles and methods of practice based research; ongoing project consultations.
• Members

Community Academic Research Engagement (CARE) Committee — links UCSF researchers with community-based organizations, individual stakeholders, and other community based non-clinical settings (e.g., public schools), emphasizing principles of community based participatory research.

• Current Projects: Technical assistance in research and evaluation to grassroots community-based organizations (e.g., CBOs working on youth violence prevention), the SF Unified School District, and partnerships with the Health Equity Institute at SFSU; training manuals for researchers and community partners on principles and methods of community-based participatory research; ongoing project consultations.
• Members

Integrated Delivery Systems Committee — links UCSF researchers with clinicians in integrated delivery systems, with an initial focus on partnerships with Kaiser Permanente.

• Current Projects: Development of web-based collaboration resources, including a database on research programs; development of policies and practices that enhance collaboration.
• Members

Reach, Relevance, and Dissemination Committee — emphasizes the broader translation of clinical research through its focus on implementation and dissemination of clinical and social-behavioral interventions, moving clinical research from studies focused on efficacy in clinical trials to investigating effectiveness in more generalized application.

• Current Projects: SFSU-Health Literacy-Ethnic Media Conference; implementation of dental flouride varnish application in community based settings; training manuals for researchers and partners; ongoing project consultations.
• Members