To advance the science of health disparities and health equity research, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Common Fund launched the ComPASS Program. https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/nih-launches-community-led-research-program-advance-health-equity

The goals of ComPASS are to:

1. Study ways to reduce health disparities by addressing underlying structural factors within communities
2. Develop a new research model for NIH where the projects are led by community organizations in collaboration with research partners and with local Health Equity Research Assemblies (HERAs) for each site.

ComPASS funds 25 Community-Led, Health Equity Structural Intervention (CHESI) projects across the United States, empowering community organizations to lead research aimed at improving health outcomes.

In collaboration with research partners, these projects focus on structural barriers like lack of access to quality healthcare, housing, employment opportunities, food deserts and inadequate nutrition, and unsafe environments. By working at the community level, ComPASS supports systemic changes that address the root causes of health inequities.

The ComPASS Coordinating Center (CCC) is led by Drexel University, in partnership with The University of New Mexico and Mathematica, and provides the oversight, training and administrative support needed to implement and evaluate these community-led projects successfully. The CCC is also responsible for fostering collaboration among the Health Equity Research Hubs and CHESI projects.

Through these efforts, the ComPASS program seeks to develop a new model of research led by community organizations, paving the way for innovative approaches to reduce health disparities and promote health equity across diverse populations.

University of New Mexico is a subcontract and a co-lead with Drexel University in research capacity building.  Dr. Shannon Sanchez Youngman and Dr. Nina Wallerstein co-lead the Research and Capacity Building Core with co-leads at Drexel.  UNM works with the Drexel team to identify, tailor, and deliver the training and capacity needs of the CHESI.  Specifically, UNM is leading and overseeing the Engage for Equity facilitated training/planning with CHESIs. UNM is also leading the annual Capacity and Needs Assessment Survey (CNAS) for the CHESIs and their Health Equity Research Assemblies (HERAs) and other partners to provide ongoing input to meet the changing needs of CHESIs in the development, implementation, and research of their structural interventions.