Stephen Sills, Director, Center for Housing and Community Studies; Sandra Echeverria, Associate Professor, Department of Public Health Education; and Cone Health Healthy Communities Director Kathy Colville announce that they were selected for an award as Interdisciplinary Research Leaders (IRL) under the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF).
The IRL program supports the vision of the foundation to build a Culture of Health, where all people have an opportunity to live their healthiest lives, and where systemic barriers to equity are removed.
As Echeverria explains, “I am thrilled to collaborate with my colleagues and community partners on this prestigious RWJF project. This collaboration serves as a model for new ways to conduct rigorous research while centering equity and justice.”
The goals of the research project are to: develop a framework for addressing environmental justice concerns; evaluate the effectiveness of an environmental education program; and build the case for remediation of a park and streams.
“This fellowship will help us better understand the impact on residents’ health today and hopefully, inspire actions for a healthier tomorrow,” says Colville.
See more about the project at: Investigating Community Social Action to Identify, Remediate, Evaluate, and Sustain an Environmental Justice Initiative