Community Research Program at MGH Chelsea
The Community Research Program at MGH Chelsea Healthcare Center supports research across the lifespan. We emphasize interdisciplinary collaborations that target health disparities, advance clinical practice, and improve the well-being of the Chelsea community.
Research Week
This annual event at MGH Chelsea consists of poster sessions and a keynote speaker and typically occurs on the first or second week in October.
In light of COVID-19, for the year 2020, Research Week presentations took place via Zoom. The goals of our annual event are as follows:
- To encourage MGH Chelsea HealthCare Center (CHC) staff and their community partners to further an interest in research
- To showcase the strength of the MGH CHC community during the COVID-19 pandemic
- To nurture partnerships across MGH CHC and the Chelsea community
- To spotlight research that addresses and/or explores disparities in health
- Watch a video of year's Community Research Week events (Partners ID and password required)
We look forward to your participation in Virtual MGH Chelsea Community Research Week! If you have any questions regarding Research Week events, please email communityresearch@partners.org for more information.
Background
The Community Research Program at MGH Chelsea began in May 2013 with the first meeting of the MGH Chelsea Interdisciplinary Research Roundtable.
The Research Roundtable was initially supported by the Speech, Language & Swallowing Disorders and Reading Disabilities Department, and then by MGH Chelsea Administration. It is now supported by the Mass General Division of Clinical Research, Community Access, Recruitment & Engagement (CARE) and the Division of General Internal Medicine (DGIM).
The Program is led by Amy Izen, M.S., CCC-SLP, a speech-language pathologist; Rohit Chandra, MD, a psychiatrist; and Julie Levison, MD, MPhil, MPH; an infectious disease specialist. Josh Metlay, MD, PhD, chief of the DGIM, provides feedback to the Program.
Participants
The Community Research Program at MGH Chelsea communicates with more than 200 individuals who work in Chelsea, Revere, Boston and Charlestown. Many of our participants work at MGH and others work elsewhere with an interest in community research.
These individuals want to connect with the research that is being done in their community either through conducting studies or quality improvement initiatives, learning how to contribute to studies, or learning about local research. Many of these participants lead studies within the departments at MGH Chelsea, including:
- Adult Medicine
- Lab
- Specialties
Research Council
The Research Council consists of 8-12 individuals who represent a variety of departments at MGH Chelsea and have experience conducting research or an interest in promoting research and quality improvement. The Research Council meets quarterly to work toward Community Research Program goals. Julie Levison chairs the Research Council.
Advisory Board
The first meeting of the MGH Chelsea Research Advisory Board occurred in October 2016. The Advisory Board consists of 7-13 people who work across the MGH system and provide ongoing bi-directional communication between the Community Research Program and the Advisory Board members’ constituency. Meetings are held annually with the Research Council.
Benefits of Community-based Research
- Inclusive and collaborative research results from grassroots partnerships with stakeholders. Since the research occurs in partnership with communities of interest, study results are more likely to be relevant to the community and promote development of solutions that address community-identified problems.
- Community-based research allows community members to receive training and opportunities to collaborate with interdisciplinary research teams in order to study topics of importance to the community. The results of these studies directly affect the lives of the participants, and can potentially improve the lives of other community members as well.
If you are interested in developing a research project in Chelsea, please contact MGH Community Research and give us some background information on your project by filling out this information form. We welcome anyone interested in developing a research project to contact us and attend a Roundtable meeting.
Example Research Projects at MGH Chelsea
Julie Levison, MD, MPhil, MPH, works with HIV-infected Latino/Hispanic immigrants and their health care providers in Chelsea and the greater Boston area to develop community-based interventions to overcome non-adherence to longitudinal HIV care.
Anne Thorndike, MD, has been working with the Center for Community Health Improvement at MGH Chelsea, as well as with Chelsea corner store owners, to improve the purchasing and eating habits of Chelsea residents by both adapting the stoplight menu to product labeling and moving nutritious items to more prominent and appealing positions in the store.
Resources
- Explore upcoming courses available through the Division of Clinical Research
- Find a researcher at Massachusetts General Hospital
- See an overview of past Research Roundtable presenters and discussion
- Download past abstract books (PDF files) from MGH Chelsea Community Research Day: 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019
Research Roundtable
Join us to share clinical and community research and resources at MGH Chelsea on the fourth Thursday of the month from 12-1 pm. Phone participation is available.