The Community-Engaged Research Center (CERC) is committed to improving community health by facilitating collaborative research partnerships that include Chicago-area organizations, community-based clinicians and Northwestern University academic partners. One of five centers of the Northwestern University Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute, the Community-Engaged Research Center is a key contributor to its mission of translational research, ensuring that advances from the bench to the bedside benefit the Chicago-area community and result in lasting improvements in community health. Through its program, The Alliance for Research in Chicagoland Communities and its Practice Based Research Program, seminar series, visiting professorships, research workshops and other means, CERC fosters increased involvement of community and academic partners in community engaged research. The Community-Engaged Research Center receives ongoing support and guidance from two important advisory groups, the Northwestern University Community Engagement Council, and the External Advisory Committee. Through these groups, the Center seeks to receive important input and feedback from the University community and its affiliates, as well as from organizations and leaders in the field. In addition, these groups assist the Center in advancing its mission. The Alliance for Research in Chicagoland Communities (ARCC) is the new name for the Community-Based Participatory Research Program. Our mission is growing equitable and collaborative partnerships between Chicago area communities and Northwestern University for research that leads to measurable improvement in community health. ARCC's goals and objectives are jointly defined by a steering committee comprised of representatives from community organizations, and faculty and staff from NUCATS. The program is committed to enhancing the knowledge and facilitating the translation of research into improved community health and developing long-term relationships with community groups that reflect a shared commitment to collaborative research that is mutually beneficial to all partners involved. The Practice-Based Research Program fosters collaborative research between community-based practitioners and Northwestern University full-time faculty. The program provides assistance and coordinates activities across Northwestern's primary care, practice-based research networks: The Pediatric Practice Research Group (PPRG), directed by faculty at Children’s Memorial Hospital, the Research and Education for Academic Achievement (REACH) Network, directed by faculty in the Feinberg School of Medicine Division of General Internal Medicine and in family medicine by faculty in the Northwestern University Department of Family Medicine. Katherine Kaufer Christoffel, MD, MPH, serves as the Director of the Community-Engaged Research Center. Dr. Christoffel is a professor of pediatrics and preventive medicine and deputy director of the Feinberg School of Medicine’s (FSM) Programs in Public Health. Virginia Bishop MD, MPH, and Jen Kauper-Brown, MPH serve as the co-directors of the Alliance for Research in Chicagoland Communities. Dr. Bishop is an assistant professor of Preventive Medicine and coordinator for professional experiences in the FSM’s Masters in Public Health Program. Josefina Serrato and Gina Curry are the community networkers for the ARCC program. Helen Binns, MD, MPH and Adolfo Ariza, MD, MPH serve as the co-directors of the Practice-Based Research Program. Dr. Binns is an assistant professor of pediatrics and preventive medicine and the director of the Pediatric Practice Research Group (PPRG); Dr. Ariza is a research assistant professor in the department of pediatrics and co-directs the PPRG. Susan LeBailly, PhD is the Associate Director of the Practice Based Research Program. David Baker, MD, MPH is the chief of General Internal Medicine at FSM and the director of the REACH practice based research network, based at the Northwestern General Internal Medicine Practice in Chicago. REACH Faculty and staff include Abel Kho, MD, Assistant Professor, who serves as the Assistant Director of the REACH Network, Toshiko Uchida, MD, Muriel Jean-Jacques, MD, Joe Feinglass, PhD, Research Professor, Kenzie Cameron, PhD, MPH, Research Assistant Professor and Charles Zei, Project Coordinator. Michelle Melin-Rogovin, MA is the Administrative Director for the Community-Engaged Research Center. For more information about CERC, please contact Michelle Melin-Rogovin at m-melin-rogovin@northwestern.edu or call 312-503-5050. | 
