This paper describes the Community-Engaged Research Team Support (CERTS) program. Led by the Northwestern University Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute, the goals of CERTS were: (1) to help community-academic teams build capacity for conducting rigorous community-engaged research and (2) to support teams as they prepared federal grant proposal drafts. Through the CERTS program, all teams clarified their research and acquired new knowledge about the preparation of NIH-style proposals. Trust, partnership collaboration, and a structured writing strategy were assets of the CERTS approach. CERTS also uncovered gaps in resources and preparedness for teams to be competitive for federally funded grants, and these gaps are discussed.

Winckler, E., Brown, J., LeBailly, S., McGee, R., Bayldon, B., Huber, G.,…Nunez, A. (2013). A novel program trains community-academic teams to build research and partnership capacity. Clinical & Translational Science, 6(3), 214-221. Full Text.