Online seminar: Strengthen your research with community partnerships

Project case study: Strengthening Translational Science Through Community Engagement: The Story of a Two-Decade University-Park District Collaboration​

This lecture will highlight a longstanding research partnership between UIC and the Chicago Park District. Over 20 years, studies have focused on the inclusion of children with ADHD in programming, examination of relationships between program quality and children’s mental health, the prevention of violence through teen program and the promotion of healthy home routines among participating children and families. Conceptual frameworks and concrete strategies for establishing and sustaining partnerships will be discussed, as well as the relative advantages and disadvantages of community-engaged research. Attendees will leave with practical suggestions for aligning with partner goals, ensuring fit between interventions and settings and maximizing public health impact in translational science.

Speaker:
Eduardo E Bustamante, PhD, FACSM
Associate Professor, Kinesiology and Nutrition
University of Illinois Chicago

About the speaker: Eduardo Esteban Bustamante is an associate professor of kinesiology and nutrition at UIC. He directs the UIC Healthy Kids Lab, which works with parks, schools and out-of-school service providers to develop and disseminate health promotion interventions among children and families. He has received awards for his teaching and community engagement and focuses on the influence of health behaviors on children’s mental health and neurocognitive development. His findings have been published in high-level journals and funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities, the Heising-Simons Foundation, the Chicago Partnership for Health Promotion and the UIC Center for Health Equity Research. Bustamante is a fellow and trustee of the American College of Sports Medicine and president-elect of the North American Society for Pediatric Exercise Medicine. Locally, he serves on the health advisory board of Chicago Park District and the board of directors of Urban Initiatives.