Resources for Partners

The CTSC has launched its first Community Advisory Board. For additional CAB resources identified by the CTSC, please visit the Community Advisory Board site or request a consultation through SPARC for further assistance.

The Urban Institute Tools and Resources for Project-Based Community Advisory Boards Community Voice and Power Sharing Guidebook offers practical guidance, questions, and approaches for incorporating a community advisory board (CAB) into a project or initiative to strengthen community empowerment, buy-in, and participation. It includes:

• Seven key considerations when forming a CAB
• External tips and tools related to CABs
• Examples of Urban projects that incorporate CABs
• CAB budgeting and compensation guidance
•  Institutional review board considerations
• Questions to ask to determine whether your project is ready for a CAB

These resources help community members, stakeholders, and organizations begin or strengthen community-engaged research (CEnR). The guides and toolkits offer practical guidance and support for effective partnerships with researchers to advance community health.

Community Members’ Guide to Submitting A Community- Engaged Research Federal Grant Application - 

From Tufts University CTSI, this Community Members’ Guide outlines the steps required to submit a federal grant application to funding agencies such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), and the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI).

Southern California Clinical and Translational Science Institute On-Demand Course Library -

Browse the Southern California CTSI's educational video library covering community engagement research and other topics.

Duke University - A Researcher's Guide to Community Engaged Research -

This guide is meant to be a first stop for researchers who are trying to learn about and implement community engagement in their work and includes how-to-guides and other resources, recommended readings as well as key concepts and a useful glossary of terms. What is CEnR? - A Researcher's Guide to Community Engaged Research.

Penn State - Promoting Health Through Partnership: The CEnR Community Partner Toolkit -

The CEnR (Community-Engaged Research) program connects Penn State researchers with community members and organizations across Pennsylvania to improve health and wellness. The CEnR Community Partner Toolkit is a resource designed to help community partners understand and get involved in research that makes a real impact. It provides practical guidance, inspiring examples, and proven approaches to collaboration—showing how community voices can shape meaningful research and build healthier, stronger communities.

Scripps Hub Academic Research Core -

The Scripps Hub Academic Research Core (SHARC) is supported by the Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) Program, which is funded by the National Institutes of Health. The Community & Collaboration team offers resources and knowledge about Community Engaged Research (CEnR). CEnR aims to bring researchers and community partners together with a common goal of improving community health. Both sides have knowledge, skills, and resources to share with each other. Together, they can help to advance science and improve health in communities. Community_Engaged_Research_Toolbox.

PCORI Engagement in Health Research Literature Explorer -

PCORI’s searchable database of peer-reviewed articles about engagement in health research, called the PCORI Engagement in Health Research Literature Explorer, helps connect you to best practices, lessons learned, and other topics related to the practice and study of engagement. This information can support teams planning or conducting engaged research—including PCORI applicants adhering to PCORI's Foundational Expectations for Partnerships in Research; people studying and developing the science of engagement, including developing ways to measure engagement; and anyone looking to learn about engaging patients, communities, and other partners in health research.

Browse the Team Science Community Toolkit -

These tools and resources were designed by community partners; however, they are applicable to everyone. Go through Northwestern University's Team Science Community Toolkit to learn more about Team Science and Community Engaged Research.

Grants & Contracts

The Case Western Reserve University Office of Grants and Contracts provides assistance with proposal submissions, account set-up, contract negotiation and processing, and other services related to federal and non-federal grants, foundation agreements, state and county grants, and industry contracts.

Kelvin Smith Library: Research Services

The goal of research services at the Kelvin Smith Library is to provide quality service to all members of the Case community in fulfillment of their educational and research needs. To achieve this goal, research services librarians provide research assistance, including answering reference questions, providing collection development support, and providing information literacy and research instruction services. These services are provided to all members of the Case community both locally and remotely, through telephone, e-mail, text, and live chat reference.

CWRU Affiliate ID

To improve stakeholder and community collaboration among investigative research teams, CWRU Network ID accounts and related services can be provided to individuals who are affiliated with the University.  Complete the online Case Affiliate Request Form or download the ‘How-To’ Guide for setting up or renewing an affiliate ID.  

CWRU CREC Certification

Case Western Reserve University's Continuing Research Education Credit (CREC) Program provides investigators documented training in the protection of human subjects in research. The program is available to human subjects researchers at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, The MetroHealth System, Case Western Reserve University, Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center, and The Cleveland Clinic. The Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) is a training service to which the University subscribes. CITI provides comprehensive online educational programs in multiple areas including the protection of human subjects in research.

In cases where the study personnel are community partners, the CTSC and the Office of Research and Technology offer the CIRTification program as an alternative method when the traditional human research protection training may not be appropriate. All alternative training plans must be submitted and approved by the Office of Research and Technology.  There are two paths to receive your training:

1. You may go to the University of Illinois - Chicago CCTS website and do the Online training course. Your credentials will then be sent to the CWRU Site Administrator: Yovonda Reese 
2.  If there is more than one person taking the course, you may chose to do an In-Person Training.  All materials to conduct the training are available at the UIC CCTS website. C&C staff are also available to facilitate an In-Person Training, please contact Meredith Goodwin for more information.

The CTSC has developed a series of online videos with accompanying toolkits to provide best practice strategies to address common challenges that arise when working on multidisciplinary research teams. These include:

• Building a Culture of Teamwork from the Beginning
• Running Efficient and Effective Meetings
• Managing Conflict in Teams
• Communicating Across Disciplines

For more information, visit Team Science Strategy Modules