180+ networks across 21 NJ counties
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT CORE OVERVIEW
NJACTS draws leading academic, industry and community groups together to understand and address the health needs of New Jersey. Central to this is engagement with our community to ensure that our efforts respond to their priorities. Our goal is to conduct research with the New Jersey community, in the community and for the community, and yet, have impact beyond our state’s boundaries.
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Empowering Community-Based Research
Through Cultural and Linguistic Collaboration
- Navigating interpreter-mediated encounters
- Effective translation for research
- Understanding cultural nuances in literacy, trust, and belonging
Through collaboration across disciplines and leveraging expertise within and beyond Rutgers, CrEER ensures that research is inclusive, culturally relevant, and impactful both locally and globally.
👉 Discover how CrEER is shaping the future of community-based research here.
Association for Clinical and Translational Science (ATCS) Membership for Community Members
Did you know that community members are eligible to become members of ACTS through their affiliation with NJ ACTS?
Community members are able to access ACTS’ member benefits, including:
- Discounted registration to the annual Translational Science meeting
- Opportunities to participate in Special Interest Groups and Committees
- Access to the community platform website and more!
Resource for Investigators – CTSA Compendium of D&I Catalogs
Dissemination and implementation (D&I) research focuses on translating evidence-based interventions into real-world settings to improve health outcomes in the broader community.
An open-source CTSA Compendium of D&I Catalogs has been developed by the Clinical & Translational Science Awards (CTSA) Program’s “Advancing Dissemination and Implementation Sciences in CTSAs” working group to support investigators at any stage of their D&I skill-building journey. It provides a curated list of resource catalogs relevant to the conduct of D&I science. The materials include frameworks/theories/models, methods/measures, funding resources, practice resources, training, and health equity resources. Click here to learn more.
CIRTification – A New Alternative to CITI for Community Partners
The rollout of CIRTification at Rutgers has begun. The CIRTification program provides research ethics training alternative for individuals in community organizations, with limited understanding of conducting human research and protecting potential research participants. This option provides training that focuses on establishing the skills in community partners to conduct human subject research effectively and safely in their communities.
To learn more about the program at Rutgers, please visit this link CIRTification.
NJ ACTS COMMUNITY SCIENTIST PROGRAM
This program is designed to provide researchers with rapid feedback from expert community members to ensure their research projects are culturally appropriate and relevant to the community.
PARTICIPATE IN OUR NEXT COHORT!
For more information, please contact njactscommunity@rwjms.rutgers.edu
NJ HEROES TOO
Through the ongoing New Jersey Healthcare Essential Worker Outreach and Education Study – Testing Overlooked Occupations (NJ HEROES TOO), we have gained a wealth of data on COVID-19’s effects, gleaned valuable learnings on attitudes toward testing and vaccines, and improved COVID-19 awareness in underserved communities.
Community Blog
2025 Toxicology Risk Assessment Bootcamp, January 13-14
Topics Covered: Risk analysis, systematic review, weight of evidence, hazard identification, susceptible populations, exposure pathways, point-of-departure, reference values, and more. Case studies and hands-on exercises will provide real-world scenarios for applying...
Tricking the Body into Replacing Lost Muscle.
The human body can heal itself, but only up to a point. If an injury removes 20% or more of a muscle — as can happen in car accidents, certain surgeries or explosions in combat zones — natural processes can’t, on their own, replace it. Instead, the wound seals up,...
NJACTS Community Engagement Core Available Services
Virtual Community Engagement Salon The NJ ACTS CEC Virtual Community Engagement Salons bring researchers together with patients, community members and health care stakeholders to actively participate in cross-talk — to incubate ideas for engagement in the...
AI Algorithms Used in Healthcare Can Perpetuate Bias.
The AI algorithms increasingly used to treat and diagnose patients can have biases and blind spots that could impede healthcare for Black and Latinx patients, according to research co-authored by a Rutgers-Newark data scientist. Fay Cobb Payton, a Mathematics and...
New Method Makes Brain Imaging Research More Accessible for Psychiatric Studies.
A new approach to analyzing brain scans could help researchers better understand psychiatric illness using much smaller groups of patients than previously thought necessary, potentially accelerating the development of more precise mental health treatments. Until...
Tobacco-Related Health Inequities are a Social Justice Issue.
The 2024 Surgeon General’s Report estimates that each year, more than 490,000 deaths are attributable to cigarette smoking and exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke in the United States. “With one in five U.S. deaths attributable to tobacco and persistent disparities...