The Center for Community Health (CCH)
The Center for Community Health (CCH) was established in 2006 to support communityacademic health partnerships to improve community research and service. Its mission is to: To
join forces with the community to promote health equity, improve health through research,
education, services and policy, and establish local and national models for prevention and
community engagement. The CCH was founded by Nancy M. Bennett, MD, MS, and is located
off-campus in the heart of the Rochester community. The CCH employs six multidisciplinary
faculty members and 69 staff, receives $1M in institutional support and approximately $5-6M in
extramural funding each year, and provides consultation and support to faculty, staff, and
students throughout the URMC to establish community-based initiatives and research. The CCH
coordinates and convenes the Community Advisory Council and the Population Health Interest
Group and serves as a hub for community based research and service throughout the URMC.
The philosophy of the CCH, joining research and community service, has resulted in increased
community engagement and population health research across departments and schools
leading to research addressing community priorities, such as obesity, diabetes and mental
health, and increased attention to the translation of basic science to community health
improvement. The CCH supports community research and interventions, in collaboration with
the Monroe County Department of Public Health (MCDPH) and other community-based
organizations, to reduce health disparities and to prevent communicable and chronic disease.
These include CDC, NIH, NYS and foundation-funded research programs in the application of
behavioral science to health improvement, health improvement programs, and community
health policy. For nearly ten years, the CCH has led the community engagement activities and
coordinated the Greater Rochester Practice Based Research Network of the URMC’s Clinical
and Translational Science Institute, as well as developing resources for community engagement
education and for recruitment and retention. Recently the CCH has assumed the coordination of
the Upstate New York Translational Research Network.
In addition to chronic disease prevention research, the CCH is home to the Rochester Emerging
Infections Program, a site for the national CDC funded Emerging Infections Program. The
Rochester site focuses on research related to influenza, human papillomavirus vaccine,
pneumococcal disease, and healthcare associated infections.
CCH Facility:
The Center for Community Health provides office and work space to 75 faculty, staff, and
students and is located off campus in the City of Rochester at 46 Prince Street. The CCH is
home to physicians, nurses, clinical nutrition specialists, health project coordinators, community
liaisons, community health workers, finance administration and support staff. It also provides a
centrally located meeting place for community groups.
CCH Technology/Computer Resources:
The CCH makes available to its faculty, staff and students over 80 state-of-art personal
computers and portable units. The University’s Information Technology Services, a group of
over 400 professionals, provides technical support services (including website support and
networking / telecommunications) for the University Community. CCH offices are equipped with
7 network printers, copy machines, fax facilities, a professional video observation lab, and
computers linked by a computer network with Internet access. These include a Xerox
WorkCentre 7845 and a Xerox WorkCentre 5330 which are capable of copies, e-mails, scans
and faxes. All internal hard disks on CCH workstations and portable devices, are fully encrypted
using Pointsec encryption software which is the standard for federally mandated HIPAA
compliance. Each CCH workstation is running Sophos anti-virus software to protect against
computer viruses. Sophos software is automatically updated on a regular basis. Email
messages on Medical Center Email Servers are also scanned for viruses, and anti-spam
software filters out spam. CCH users typically work with programs such as Microsoft Office
Suite, SAS, SPSS, ArcGIS for Windows, and EndNote.
The CCH is interconnected with the University of Rochester Schools of Medicine, Dentistry, and
Nursing, and Strong Memorial Hospital’s electronic resources, including the Edward G. Miner
Library’s online biomedical knowledge base, which contains over 200,000 bound volumes,
1,700 periodicals, a large selection of monographs and textbooks, and access to a wide variety
of computer databases. The CCH has an onsite Healthy Living Library which provides access to
health information for internal/external users.
Community Advisory Council
The URMC Community Advisory Council (CAC), created in 2006 to represent the voice of the
community and guide and support the four missions of the URMC (education, research, clinical
care and community health). The CAC, comprised of 22 community leaders from multiple
sectors (e.g., health and human service agencies, government, business, community-based
organizations, the faith community, media, and community coalitions) meets quarterly, is
coordinated by the Center for Community Health (CCH), and works with the CCH to identify and
analyze community health data, establishes health priorities, and provides community input to
the clinical enterprise as well as education and research. In particular, the CAC advises the
Clinical and Translational Science Institute, providing consultation to investigators in all phases
of research, partnering on specific research projects, and participating in the dissemination of
findings.
The Population Health Interest Group
The Population Health Interest Group (PHIG) is an interdisciplinary, interdepartmental group
that serves as a resource to advance research and education programs in population health and
community engagement at the University of Rochester. The committee collaborates with the
clinical and community service programs across the University, and fosters discussion about
relevant research, events, activities, developments and progress at local, regional and national
levels. The PHIG is convened by the Center for Community Health and the Clinical and
Translational Science Institute. The group is open to all UR faculty, staff and trainees with an
interest in population health or community engagement research.