NM-INSPIRES Community Engagement and Partnership Core (CEC)

The Community Engagement and Partnership Core is happy to collaborate with community-based organizations, and with scientists who would like to engage with and be inspired by communities.

For more information on possible collaborations, please contact us at cecinspires@unm.edu

Our Vision

To prevent environmentally induced adverse health outcomes and reduce the impact of environmental health disparities by sustaining a strong, mutually beneficial community-academic partnership that promotes meaningful community engagement in research of environmental factors in disease initiation, progression, outcomes, and community impacts in New Mexico. 

Our Mission

To promote multi-directional communication that advances environmental public health knowledge, health literacy, and disease prevention among NM-INSPIRES researchers and community stakeholders in underserved communities by using collaborative processes to ensure Center research is widely and effectively disseminated as well as responsive to local community needs.

The CEC team is led by Dr. Tamar Ginossar, Professor at the Department of Communication and Journalism. Dr. John Yu is a Co-leader and a Professor at the College of Nursing. The CEC team works with community, academic, and organizational stakeholders to utilize the tools developed through NM-INSPIRES research groups to advance environmental health literacy, environmental public health, and disease prevention. The CEC facilitates multi-directional interactions with diverse New Mexico communities, including Native American communities, active mining communities, and communities along the US-Mexico Border Region, and others throughout New Mexico.

We collaborate with environmental health scientists, citizens, community groups, journalists, clinicians, public health practitioners, and policy makers in order to:

1. Translate NM-INSPIRES research and enhance environmental communication and environmental health literacy using participatory, culture-centered processes; 
2. Ensure NM-INSPIRES’ responsiveness and relevance to community priorities through multi-directional interactions among researchers and community stakeholders;
3. Build capacity and enhance community-academic environmental health partnerships by increasing enrollment of community stakeholders and researchers in communication and cultural training;