About

We are a university-chartered center at California State University, Northridge (CSUN) dedicated to community-partnered participatory research and health equity advocacy.

The HERE Center grew from the foundation that the Building Infrastructure Leading to Diversity (BUILD) Promoting Opportunities for Diversity in Education and Research (PODER) program provided. BUILD PODER is an undergraduate biomedical research training program established in 2014 with a $22 grant from the National Institutes of Health.

Located in CSUN’s first research building, Lilac Hall, the center was chartered in 2019 with the goal of institutionalizing and accelerating the university’s health disparities research through dedicated campus resources, community affiliations, and joint activities with research partners. We seek and initiate cooperative research projects targeting local health issues.

Founder's Statement

“A community coalition who works together to take on, a step at a time, community health and healthcare problems that generate health disparities. We strive for excellence in research rigor and research ethics, we collect evidence for policy change, and we follow through with policy implementation watches and support for social change on the ground.”

Carrie Saetermoe
Founder

Our Mission

The HERE Center is dedicated to improving health among historically marginalized communities through research, education, community-academic partnerships, and advocacy.

The Vision

All individuals in the San Fernando Valley and surrounding communities live healthy lives.

Our Values

Stand for health equity among historically marginalized communities in the San Fernando Valley and the broader Los Angeles region.
Support activities and projects around health equity.

Our Center Objectives

Promote community-academic research collaborations around health equity using interdisciplinary, culturally humble methods.
Provide a focal point for health-related research training, education, and resources for students, faculty, staff, and community members.
Serve as a source of information and dissemination to affected audiences, especially those communities that we serve.
Provide a space for community knowledge and experiences in health equity research and education.

The HERE Center Model

Research In Action

Data Resources and Referrals

Through compiling local statistics, community stories about health disparities in the San Fernando Valley (public)

Community Connections

Through collaborative events and community cafes to build mutual advocacy between community and faculty partners (public)

CPPR-Inspired-Community-Academic-Partnerships

For collaborative action research

Research and Grant Writing

Training opportunities for CBO’s, community members, faculty, and students

HERE Center

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