Community Partners Educated as Arkansas Research Leaders (CPEARL) Program

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The Community Partners Educated as Arkansas Research Leaders (CPEARL) program is a 6-month leadership development training program offered by the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Translational Research Institute (TRI). The CPEARL program targets leaders and emerging leaders within non-profit community-based organizations (CBOs) located in Arkansas. This program is designed to enhance research partnership and program development competencies within CBOs. Each of the six CBO’s selected will be given up to $2,500 in seed funding to implement a real-world project.[HRB1]

Award Priorities

The Translational Research Institute has a goal of reducing health disparities in Arkansas and a special focus on vulnerable populations underrepresented in research (i.e., racial or ethnic minorities, veterans, LGBT individuals, people with disabilities, and others that experience a disproportionate burden of poor health outcomes). Projects focused on disparities might include but are not limited to efforts to address:

Higher rates of preventable illness and death due to cancer, chronic disease (e.g., diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, asthma, addiction, mental illness, HIV/AIDS, etc.), preventable injuries, and other conditions where disparities exist.
Health behavior, policy, systems, environmental, and other risk factors associated with obesity, nutrition, physical activity, or tobacco/drug use.
Barriers to health associated with rural residence, transportation, and geographic access to healthcare; lack of insurance and/or poor quality of care; and religious or cultural issues affecting health.
Social determinants of health such as homelessness and housing issues, unemployment, access to quality education, incarceration, stigma and discrimination, psychological stress, violence, neighborhood gentrification, environmental justice, and residential segregation.

Program Requirements

To accomplish the goals of the program, the full participation of each individual selected is necessary. To successfully complete the program, participants must:

Develop and implement a project to ensure that there is a “real world deliverable” that builds organizational and community capacity. Examples of projects and a budget are provided in the Appendix.
Attend all sessions. In order to achieve maximum benefit, each CBO’s entire team is expected to attend each session and attend the presentation of their project during the conference at the end of the program. We anticipate that this program will be highly competitive, so please carefully consider your commitment before you apply.

For questions, please contact Sarah Fountain at sbfountain@uams.edu, or 501-291-7301.