The Community Engagement program supports the UCSF research community with infrastructure and capacity-building tools to facilitate and encourage community-engaged research. The program focuses on bridging academic research, health policy and community practice to build trust between researchers and the community and improve public health.
The program works at the structural, relational and operational levels to increase community participation in all stages of research and in every corner of the research enterprise.
Building Capacity for Practice-based Research
San Francisco Bay Area Collaborative Research Network (SFBayCRN) is a practice-based research network (PBRN) designed to encourage, facilitate and lead mutually beneficial practice-based research partnerships between UCSF researchers and community-based primary health care organizations, practices and clinicians in the San Francisco Bay Area and Northern California. W
In 2022, we launched the Training in practice-Based Research (TIPR) which meets ACGME requirements and builds capacity for practice-based research collaboration across our UCSF-affiliated residency programs that are centered off campus.
Partnerships
The STOP COVID project is just one example of the long-term partnerships forged by the Community Engagement Program. San Francisco had one of the more successful responses during the COVID-19 pandemic, due in large part to its partnerships with community- and faith-based organizations. In 2025, the STOP COVID project published a report on the importance of these partnerships in saving the city.
Community Engagement Consultations
Consultations are available for researchers and community-based organizations to facilitate mutually-beneficial academic-community partnerships in research. Researchers can explore community research methods, study design, partnership strategies, dissemination, evaluation goals, or advisory board development. Community partners can seek input into research questions, data management and analysis, and much more.
Resources & Services
The Community Engagement Program’s Toolkit, developed in partnership with the Center for Community Engagement provides a wide range of resources to support community-academic research partnerships. The toolkit houses publications, written by UCSF faculty, staff, and community partners and arranged in a clear and informative format, include Resource Manuals and Quick-Start Guides to Community-Engaged Research for academic and community partners, as well as webinars on a wide range of community engagement topics, including how to remunerate community advisors.