Can communities and academia work together on public health research? Evaluation results from a community-based participatory research partnership inDetroit

This article reports the results of a formative evaluation of the first 4 y ears of the Detroit Community-Academic Urban Research Center (URC), a commu nity-based participatory research partnership that was founded in 1995 with core funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Se veral organizations are members of this partnership, including a university , six community-based organizations, a city health department, a health car e system, and CDC. The Detroit URC is a strong partnership that has accompl ished many of its goals, including the receipt of over $11 million in fundi ng for 12 community-based participatory research projects during its initia l 4 years. Detroit URC Board members identified a number of facilitating fa ctors for their growth and achievements, such as (1) developing a sound inf rastructure and set of processes for making decisions and working together, (2) building trust among partners, (3) garnering committed and active lead ership from community partners, and (4) receiving support from CDC. Board m embers also identified a number of ongoing challenges, including organizati onal constraints, time pressures, and balancing community interests in inte rventions and academic research needs. Overall, the Detroit URC represents a partnership approach to identifying community health concerns and impleme nting potential solutions.