ENGAGED: Disability Community Engaged Medical Rehabilitation Research Center

Modified Project Summary/Abstract Section The ENGAGED Medical Rehabilitation Research Center (MRRC) is a bi-institutional collaboration between the University of Illinois Chicago and the University of Texas Health Houston/TIRR, developed in close collaboration with the national disability community and medical rehabilitation research (MRR) organizations. Through cross-partnerships, research teams, and project cores, including shared resources and infrastructure, as well as cross-disciplinary project staff, we will advance the national MRR infrastructure to support rigorous community-engaged research (CEnR) in ways that would not be possible with any single institution or investigator acting alone. The advancement of the science of CEnR for and with the disability community is supported by the three synergistic cores and a multi-phase community-based participatory research project. With leadership from an exceptional multidisciplinary team and guidance from our internal and community advisory boards, we will accomplish the following overall specific aims: Aim 1: Establish a national infrastructure to support meaningful community engagement in MRR to support the co-creation and dissemination of research to support the development of evidence-informed interventions to address social determinants of health. Aim 2: Network with new and established researchers through the provision of technical assistance and consultative support on best practices for community-engaged rehabilitation research. Aim 3: Generate new knowledge on community engagement through the conduct of original research grounded in the appreciative inquiry process. Aim 4: Advance multidisciplinary observational, experimental, and implementation research that intentionally involves people with long-term disabilities, promoting improved health and participation outcomes through pilot funding to support CEnR and partnership building. Aim 5: Generate and curate state-of-the-science knowledge products on community engagement for disability and MRR communities that will be shared through our newsletter, social media, and on our website. Aim 6: Empower disability communities to engage in medical rehabilitation research through the provision of training programs and peer mentorship. Aim 7: Disseminate best practices through a quarterly seminar series and National Symposium on Community Engaged Scholarship for the disability and MRR community. People with lived experience of long-term disabilities are integrated into all elements and components of the ENGAGED MRRC as Research and Core Leaders, as paid research personnel and consultants practicing in their areas of professional expertise, while simultaneously leveraging insights from their lived experiences to enhance relevance and innovation. Innovation: The ENGAGED MRRC will utilize state-of-the-science CEnR approaches, integrated knowledge translation, and extreme citizen science to advance the science of CEnR and generate and disseminate new knowledge about the impact of social determinants of health on individuals with lived experiences of disabilities, thereby identifying intervention targets for medical rehabilitation researchers. Project Number: 1P50HD118631-01 | Fiscal Year: 2025 | NIH Institute/Center: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) | Principal Investigator: Susan Magasi (+1 co-PI) | Institution: UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO, Chicago, IL | Award Amount: $1,351,969 | Activity Code: P50 | Study Section: Special Emphasis Panel[ZHD1 DSR-N (55)] View on NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/1P50HD11863101