Interdisciplinary Research Leaders

With their ability to design research to meet urgent community needs and to directly apply research to create change, researchers and community leaders—such as directors of nonprofits, faith leaders, community organizers, and advocates—are powerful partners for impacting urgent community health needs.

As one of only 15 three-person teams selected from 185 applicants, Yumiko Aratani, PhD, joins Interdisciplinary Research Leaders, a new Robert Wood Johnson Foundation program that brings together researchers and community leaders from across the country to collaborate and innovate to solve persistent challenges and advance a Culture of Health—one that places well-being at the center of every aspect of life. Dr. Aratani, NCCP director of health and mental health, joins researchers and community leaders from across the country to collaborate and innovate to solve persistent challenges and advance a Culture of Health—one that places well-being at the center of every aspect of life.

Led by the University of Minnesota, Interdisciplinary Research Leaders will bring together teams comprised of two researchers and one community leader, helping them develop advanced leadership skills and a clear focus on health and equity that will enable them to break down silos, address health disparities, and build fundamentally healthier communities.

As part of the program, Dr. Aratani will work with her team members Sabrina Kelley, MPH, Fresno Housing Authority, and Irán Barrera, PhD, associate professor in the department of social work education at Fresno State University.  The team will investigate the prevalence of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) among parents with young children living in public housing communities in Fresno, California, and examine the impact of an evidence-based parenting program and preventive early intervention mental health support on young children. The team will also examine how the intervention’s impact varies by the severity of parental ACEs.  Children in the City of Fresno have significant health risks that stem from living in communities with some of the highest concentrations of poverty in the nation, high crime rates, low high school graduation rates, and linguistic isolation.

During the three-year program, team members will be developing high-level leadership skills through professional coaching, mentoring, networking, and an advanced leadership curriculum.

Project Staff
  • Yumiko Aratani, PhD, Principal Investigator
  • Sophie (Uyen) Nguyen, MA, Research Associate
Contact

For more information about the Interdisciplinary Research Leaders Program Fresno Team, please contact:

Yumiko Aratani, PhD
215 West 125th St, 3rd floor
New York, NY 10027
(646) 284-9642
aratani@nccp.org

Funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation