The University of New Mexico’s Transdisciplinary Research, Equity & Engagement (TREE) Center of Excellence has published a special supplement issue in the journal Health Education & Behavior titled, “Participatory Team Science in Action: The Transdisciplinary Research, Equity and Engagement Center of Excellence at UNM.”
Together, we are redefining excellence in research by centering the lived experiences, cultural knowledge and leadership of the communities most affected.
-Lisa Cacari Stone, PhD, Founding Director, TREE Center & Emerita Professor, UNM College of Population Health
The issue, co-edited by multiple principal investigators Lisa Cacari Stone, PhD, (emerita professor, College of Population Health), Theresa Cruz, PhD, (professor, Department of Pediatrics) and Steven Verney, PhD, (professor, Department of Psychology), highlights the TREE Center’s innovative, community-driven approach to health equity research.
It features a guest editorial, as well as original research, conceptual frameworks and case studies from more than 40 contributing authors. Topics include:
- Community-based participatory research models that engage Black, Indigenous, Latino, immigrant, LGBTQ+ and urban and rural populations.
- Structural interventions and policy translation that address upstream determinants of health, including criminal legal system inequities, social isolation and access to culturally responsive mental health services.
- Capacity-building initiatives that have trained more than 45 graduate and postdoctoral scholars and mentored more than 30 underrepresented early-stage investigators through TREE’s Health Equity Scholars and Community Scientist programs.
- Reflections on power-sharing and epistemic justice in research practice and institutional change.
The issue also features commentary and reflections from national leaders in public health, reinforcing the TREE Center’s role in shaping the future of equitable and inclusive science.
“This supplement represents more than just academic knowledge – it is a call to action for universities, funders and communities to co-design solutions that address the root causes of health inequities,” said Cacari Stone, the TREE Center’s founding director and lead editor of the issue.
The TREE Center, supported by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, has become a national model for community-engaged scholarship, bringing together academic researchers, community leaders and policy stakeholders to address behavioral health and related health disparities in historically marginalized populations.
The Center is comprised of an interdisciplinary team of UNM scholars and community collaborators, exemplifying participatory team science – an approach that emphasizes co-learning, co-leadership and co-production of knowledge.
“Together, we are redefining excellence in research by centering the lived experiences, cultural knowledge and leadership of the communities most affected,” Cacari Stone said.
The TREE Center was established in 2017 as one of 12 National Institutes of Health Centers of Excellence on Minority Health and Health Disparities. The TREE Center has filled a gap in building critical research workforce capacity in New Mexico by working across disciplines and engaging with diverse partnerships that advance behavioral health equity through research, training and policy.
Statistics from the 2023 Impact Report tell the story:
- Across UNM and community partners, the Center encompasses more than 250 faculty, staff and student collaborators working on behavioral health in culturally diverse and rural communities.
- It has supported 19 pilot intervention projects, distributing more than $763,000 in funding.
- More than 20 early-stage investigators have been mentored – 80% of whom identify as female, as underrepresented minorities, or both.
- TREE’s reach now spans 10 counties across all four regions of New Mexico and continues to engage with a Communities of Practice network of more than 200 stakeholders statewide.
- More than 577 scholarly products have been produced, including articles, presentations and reports.