Research Capacity Building Core

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SUMMARY – RESEARCH CAPACITY BUILDING CORE The Research Capacity Building Core (RCBC) is an integral component of the Drexel Center on Climate Change and Urban Health and will support its central theme: “the creation and dissemination/translation of evidence that will support urban policies to address the health and equity impacts of climate change in cities.” In support of this theme, the overarching objective of the RCBC is to increase capacity to conduct policy- relevant research on the health and equity impacts of climate change in cities, among researchers with extensive expertise in urban health research. The RCBC is designed to increase such research capacity by building on existing strengths at the Drexel Urban Health Collaborative and our partner sites, including: (a) extensive experience in urban health, inter- and intra-urban health inequities, racial/ethnic disparities inequities, social determinants of health and environmental health broadly defined; (b) demonstrated engagement in transdisciplinary research; (c) capacity to translate research findings to policy audiences; and (d) a long history of cultivating a diverse research workforce. Capacity strengthening activities will include structured workshops, webinars, journal clubs, and working groups. The RCBC will also conduct transdisciplinary research that combines methods used in climate-and-health science with methods used in urban health research, and catalog and support the use of research methods (both study designs and analytical approaches) available to urban health researchers that can be used to address novel questions about the impact of climate change on urban health and health equity. In addition, it will collaborate with the Administrative Core and Community Engagement Core to solicit, award and support pilot projects. The RCBC will provide integrated biostatistics and study design support for the use of pilot study findings as preliminary data in new grants and will provide methodological support for grants development more generally. The Specific Aims of the RCBC are: (1) To increase urban health researchers’ capacity to conduct transdisciplinary research on climate change and urban health by strengthening content area knowledge on climate change, strengthening and leveraging their research design and analytical skills; and expand their skills to engage in transdisciplinary research and integrate policy needs into the development of solutions-oriented research questions about climate change. (2) To develop, translate and support the use of research methods and designs to examine inter- and intra-urban variation in health impacts of climate change; and (3) To strengthen systems and structures to develop new transdisciplinary projects on the impacts of climate change on health by awarding and supporting pilot/feasibility studies that engage multiple disciplines, and supporting methodological aspects of new grant development. Ultimately, the RCBC will strengthen capacity to conduct impactful, policy-relevant transdisciplinary research on climate change and health and health equity in cities.