This media kit contains all you need to know about the HERE Center, including key information and events, contact details, and assets (official images and branding materials). To get in touch with us, please email .
About the Center
Summary
About
The HERE Center is a university-chartered center at California State University, Northridge (CSUN) dedicated to community-partnered participatory research. 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.
Mission
The HERE Center is dedicated to improving health equity for individuals in the San Fernando Valley (SFV) and surrounding communities through education, community-academic partnerships, and health disparities research.
Vision
All individuals in the San Fernando Valley and surrounding communities live healthy lives and feel connected to their communities.
Objectives
- Increase health equity in the San Fernando Valley and the broader Los Angeles region
- Increase community-academic research collaborations around health equity using interdisciplinary, culturally humble methods including Community-Partnered Participatory Research (CPPR)
- Provide a focal point for biomedical research training by centralizing campus resources related to health equity for students, faculty, and community members
- Increase grant activity in the area of health equity
- Serve as a source of information and dissemination to all affected audiences, especially those communities that we study.
HERE Center Model
Research in Action and Education
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
Current Projects
Partnerships for Empowerment
- Mapping Health Hazards in the San Fernando Valley: (Map SFV)
- SFV African American Infant and Maternal Mortality
Research Projects
COVID-19 Studies
- COVID-19 Autoethnography Study - Researcher: Jose H. Vargas
- CSUN’s response to COVID-19 as it relates to health and wellbeing: A Case Study - Researcher: Nelida Duran
- Exploring COVID-19 perspectives - Researcher: Lisa Chaudhari
Culture Health and Development Lab
- Cultural Mismatch, Health and Academic Adjustment Among Latinx Students During the Transition to College
- Exploring Home-School and Peer-Peer Cultural Value Mismatch Among Latinx First-Generation College Students During the Transition to College
- Predictors and Consequences of Home-School and Peer-Peer Cultural Value Mismatch During the Transition to College
- Predictors and Consequences of Home-School Cultural Value Mismatch in Mexico During the Transition to College: An International Replication
- Socioeconomic and Peer-peer Cultural Value Mismatch, Health and Academic Adjustment Among Dormitory Roommates During the Transition to College
- The Causal Impact of Home-School Cultural Value Mismatch on Latinx Students’ Attentional Control During the Transition to College
Health, Opportunities, M-Health, Mamas, Equity Lab (HO2ME)
- Augmented Reality Milk Flow
- Determining the availability and marketing of infant formula and lactation support products
- Evaluating the Quality of Lactation in Higher Education Policies in California
Metabolism & Stress Assessment Lab (MESA)
- Diabetes risk and ectopic adiposity in minority youth (DREAM) study
- Maternal And Developmental Risks from Environmental and Social Stressors (MADRES) study
- Metabolism and Stress Assessment (MeSA) pilot study
Par-D Lab
Publications
Pilot Study of an Intervention to Increase Cultural Awareness in Research Mentoring: Implications for Diversifying the Scientific Workforce
Byars-Winston, A., Womack, V. Y., Butz, A. R., McGee, R., Quinn, S. C., Utzerath, E., Saetermoe, C. L., & Thomas, S. (2018). Pilot Study of an Intervention to Increase Cultural Awareness in Research Mentoring: Implications for Diversifying the Scientific Workforce. Journal of clinical and translational science, 2(2), 86–94. https://doi.org/10.1017/cts.2018.25
Critical race theory as a bridge in science training: the California State University, Northridge BUILD PODER program
Saetermoe, C. L., Chavira, G., Khachikian, C. S., Boyns, D., & Cabello, B. (2017). Critical race theory as a bridge in science training: the California State University, Northridge BUILD PODER program. BMC proceedings, 11(Suppl 12), 21. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12919-017-0089-2
Using critical race theory to reframe mentor training: theoretical considerations regarding the ecological systems of mentorship
Vargas, J.H., Saetermoe, C.L. & Chavira, G (2020). Using critical race theory to reframe mentor training: theoretical considerations regarding the ecological systems of mentorship. High Education. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-020-00598-z
Past Events
End the Silence Initiative Events
The End the Silence initiative was formed by a small coalition of CSUN faculty members in response to a surge in public criticism around police brutality sparked by the brutal murder of George Floyd on May 25, 2020.
Getting Into Research - 10/8/2020
BUILD PODER presents our 3rd annual Getting into Research event! Research programs, centers, and faculty at CSUN will be invited to talk about what research they have available for CSUN students!
Community-Academic Partnerships Conference: Collaborating for Change - 2/26/2020
A collaborated effort to bring together CSUN faculty and scholars who have been working on projects with the community or are interested in getting involved.
Fact Sheets
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