UCLA CTSI CERP and co-collaborators awarded $6 million NIH grant for community-led research project

A team led by Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA), in partnership with CTSI's Community Engagement in Research Program (CERP) and CTSI hub, Charles Drew University, was awarded $6 million from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Community Partnerships to Advance Science for Society (ComPASS) Program. The funding will be used to conduct research addressing health disparities in the Los Angeles community of Watts by examining the structural factors at play that shape and impact overall health.

The ComPASS Program awarded grants to 26 innovative, community-led research proposals that will implement structural interventions aimed at tackling health disparities by addressing social determinants of health. The HACLA-led project will build upon existing work with the Watts Rising Initiative to address food insecurity and economic instability in the Watts community. 

Alongside HACLA, CTSI CERP serves as research partner in the effort, while Charles Drew University serves as data partner. Leading the Charles Drew team is Cynthia Gonzales, PhD, MPH, CERP Leader and assistant professor in the MPH Program in Urban Health at CDU.

Read more about the research, as well as other funded ComPASS projects. 

View the HACLA's official press release.

Image caption: ComPASS logo

Image source: NIH