SoLaHmo

1. Deinfibulation Decision-Making Aids Preclinical Development Study (UMN ODAT Grant)

• Goals:
  • 1. Gather feedback about acceptability and clarity on existing decision-making aids;
  • 2. Evaluate community preference for a (a) digital storyboard video, (b) mobile app, or (c) interactive website, as a delivery system.
• Team: Dr. Jennifer Connor (Institute for Sexual and Gender Health, UMN), Shannon Pergament (SoLaHmo/CUHCC), Kalthum Abdikeir (SoLaHmo/ISGH), Dr. Nicole Chaison (Smiley’s Clinic)

2. Prevention Research Center & NET-Works Study

• Goals:
  • Develop and disseminate actionable knowledge, enhance community and cross-sector collaboration, build infrastructure, and expand training for healthy weight promotion in youth and their families;
  • Adapt the evidence-based NET-Works intervention in partnership with six participating organizations and refine recruitment processes and evaluation plans for the Hybrid Type 2 Effectiveness Implementation Trial;
  • Examine the effectiveness of the adapted, evidence-based NET-Works intervention.
  • Assess the implementation of NET-Works across clinical versus community settings and develop an implementation science-informed and setting-specific strategy for enhancing future implementation processes; Integrate study results into an intervention toolkit to be disseminated through numerous channels to facilitate implementation of the evidence-based NET-Works intervention into public health practice.
• Primary Hypothesis: Children in the immediate intervention condition will have lower BMIs at the six-month follow-up relative to children in the delayed intervention condition;
• Team:
  • SoLaHmo: Walter Novillo, JD PhD MBA; Shannon Pergament, MPH MSW; Munira Salad, MPH;
  • UMN: Melissa Laska, PhD RD; Nancy Sherwood, Phd; Mary Hearst, PhD; Stacey Moe, MPH; Renee Sieving, PhD; Rebekah Pratt, PhD; Rachel Widome, PhD; Jaime Stang, PhD MPH RD; Jenna Baumgartner, MS

1. Our Body, Our Health – Jirkeena, Caafimaadkeena (NIH R01)

• Goals: Collect empirical data that:
  • (1) informs the conceptualization of sexual pain and other outcomes among Somali women living in Minnesota who have experienced female genital cutting (FGC);
  • (2) promotes healthcare practices that minimize sexual pain based upon this understanding of pain response among Somali women.
• Team:
  • SoLaHmo: Foos Afey, BSW; Intisar Husein, LICSW; Shannon Pergament, MPH MSW;
  • UMN: Bean Robinson, PhD; Jennifer Connor, PhD, LMFT; Amy Ash, MPH; Muzi Chen, PhD; Munira Salad; Zahra Sheikh; Amy Ash, MPH
• Publications
  1. Dini, Zamzam & Abdi, Cawo Mohamed & Robinson, Beatrice & Connor, Jennifer. (2024). Cultural Norm Transmission/Disruption amongst Somali Refugee Women: The Beauty and Privilege of Intergenerational Relationships. Social Sciences. 13. 432.
  2. Connor, Jennifer & Abdikeir, Kalthum & Chaisson, Nicole & Brady, Sonya & Chen, Muzi & Abdi, Cawo Mohamed & Salad, Munira & Johnson-Agbakwu, Crista & Hussein, Intisar & Afey, Foos & Pergament, Shannon & Robinson, Beatrice. (2024). Discerning Deinfibulation: Impact of Personal, Professional, and Familial Influences on Decision-Making. Qualitative health research.
  3. Connor, Jennifer & Abdi, Cawo Mohamed & Chen, Muzi & Salad, Munira & Pergament, Shannon & Afey, Foos & Hussein, Intisar & Robinson, Beatrice. (2023). Our Body Our Health (Jirkeena, Caafimaadkeena): Somali Women's Narratives on Sexual Health. Journal of sex research. 1-15.
  4. JenniferJo Connor, Cawo Abdi, Muzi Chen, Munira Salad, Shannon Pergament, Foos Afey, Intisar Hussein & Beatrice “Bean” E. Robinson (2023) Our Body Our Health (Jirkeena, Caafimaadkeena): Somali Women’s Narratives on Sexual Health, The Journal of Sex Research, JSR Editors’ Choice Award)
  5. Crista E Johnson-Agbakwu, Muzi Chen, Munira Salad, Nicole Chaisson, Jennifer Jo Connor, Beatrice Bean E Robinson, Female genital cutting (FGC) type: proposing a multifaceted, interactive method for FGC self-assessment, The Journal of Sexual Medicine, Volume 20, Issue 11, November 2023, Pages 1292–1300
  6. Nicole Chaisson, Crista E Johnson-Agbakwu, Ashley Finch, Munira Salad, Jennifer Jo Connor, Muzi Chen, Beatrice Bean E Robinson, Beautiful vulvas: expanding illustrative visual imagery of female genital cutting types, The Journal of Sexual Medicine, Volume 20, Issue 11, November 2023, Pages 1301–1311

2. HMANGO-C (Hmong Microbiome ANd Gout, Obesity, vitamin C) (NIH R01)

• Goals:
  • Quantify the impact of vitamin C on patient outcomes, including serum urate level, gout-related symptoms, and obesity (measured by BMI) in both healthy Hmong adults and in Hmong patients with hyperuricemia (HU) and/or gout;
  • Identify associations between individuals' taxonomic and functional patterns of gut microbiota and its impact on the serum urate-lowering effect of vitamin C;
  • Compare taxonomic and functional patterns of gut microbiota between people with HU and/or gout and people without HU and gout;
  • Identify associations between individuals' taxonomic and functional patterns of gut microbiota and self-reported acute gout trigger foods.
• Team:
  • SoLaHmo: Kathleen Culhane-Pera, MD, MA; Bai Vue, MEd; Yeng Moua, MS; Toua Yang, MS; Shannon Pergament, MPH, MSW; Michelle Lo, Colton Vue, PaJee Vang;
  • UMN: Dan Knights, PhD; Robert Straka, PharmD; Ya-Feng Wen, PharmD; Buoguong Sun, PharmD.
• Publications:
  1. Wen YF, Brundage RC, Roman YM, Culhane-Pera KA, Straka RJ. Population Pharmacokinetics, Pharmacodynamics, and Pharmacogenetics Modeling of Oxypurinol in Hmong Adults with Gout and/or Hyperuricemia. British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology. 2023.
  2. Wen Y-F, Culhane-Pera KA, Pergament SL, Moua Y, Vue B, Yang T, Lo M, Sun B, Knights D, Straka RJ. Hmong Microbiome ANd Gout, Obesity, Vitamin C (HMANGO-C): A phase II clinical study protocol. PLoS One. 2023;18(2): e0279830.
  3. Sun B, Wen Y-F, Culhane-Pera KA, Lo M, Straka RJ. Pharmacogenomic Variabilities in Geo-ancestral Subpopulations and Their Clinical Implications: Results of Collaborations with Hmong in the United States. Frontiers in Genetics. 2023

3. HmongHPV Website Dissemination Project (UMN CTSI Funds)

• Goal: Conduct a dissemination and implementation (D&I) pilot project that will: 1) use the Program in Health Disparities Research community-centered dissemination toolkit to develop a D&I plan; 2) employ CBPR to engage community, provider, and school-based stakeholders to develop the D&I plan, revise the HmongHPV website, and test the plan; and 3) evaluate this process guided by the CONSORT-EHEALTH statement.
• Team:
  • SoLaHmo: Bai Vue, MEd; Serena Xiong, PhD; Tounhia Kang, MPH; Shannon Pergament, MPH, MSW;  Kathleen Culhane-Pera, MD MA;
  • UMN: April Wilhelm, MD; Health Partners – Jay Desai, PhD (Health Partners); University of AL – Hee Lee, PhD
     
• Publications:
  1. Xiong S, Culhane-Pera KA, Desai J, Khang T, Torres MB, Vue B, and Wilhelm AK. Hmong Promoting Vaccines eHealth website: A community-based participatory research pilot to evaluate dissemination and implementation strategies for primary care and educational contexts. Under review at Implementation Science Communications.
  2. Xiong S, Torres MB, Wilhelm A, Khang T, Vue B, Culhane-Pera KA, Desai S, Pergament S, Lee, H. Using community-based-participatory action research to develop, implement and disseminate a targeted eHealth communication intervention for Hmong-American parents and adolescents. In: Qian Y and Ahmed R, eds. Theory and Application of Health Acculturation: A Communication Perspective. Lanham, MD: The Rowman & Little Publishing Group Inc. In press 2024:201-219
  3. Xiong, S., Torres, M.B., Wilhelm, A., Khang, T., Vue, B., Culhane-Pera, K., Desai, S., Pergament, S. & Lee, H. (In Press). Using community-based participatory action research to develop, implement, and disseminate a targeted eHealth communication intervention for Hmong-American parents and adolescents. In Y. Qian & R. Ahmed (Eds.); Theory and Application of Health Acculturation: A Communication  Perspective (pp. 201-219). The Rowman & Little Publishing Group Inc.: MD.

4. Optimizing communication strategies for reaching at risk Somali, Latino/a/x, and Hmong elders with timely COVID-19 information (UMN Rapid Response Grant)

• Goal: Develop, disseminate, and evaluate methods and formats of communicating timely COVID-19 updates that are meaningful to elders in Somali, Latino/a/x, and Hmong communities.
• Team:
  • SoLaHmo: Bai Vue, MEd; Serena Xiong, MPH; Tounhia Kang, MPH; Shannon Pergament, MPH, MSW;
  • UMN: Maiyia Kasouaher, PhD; Michele Allen, MD MS

5. Multi-Level Communication Strategies for HPV Vaccination in Hmong Adolescents (NIH R21)

• Goal: Advance interventions for adolescents in order to reduce HPV-related disease and death. Our primary objective is to evaluate the effectiveness of the HPVapp intervention in Hmong Americans. Based on a social ecology model, the proposed HPVapp intervention study will employ three-level communication strategies targeting young adolescents, parents, and healthcare providers to promote HPV vaccination. Three health behavior theories will be adopted to guide the development of tailored key psycho-socio-cultural motivating messages and timely reminders to enhance HPV vaccine completion.
• Team:
  • SoLaHmo: Bai Vue, MEd; Serena Xiong, MPH; Shannon Pergament, MPH, MSW; Culhane-Pera, MD MA;
  • UMN: Hee Yun Lee, PhD; Health Partners – Jay Desai, PhD
• Publications:
  • Lee HY, Xiong S, Sur A, Khang T, Vue B, Culhane-Pera KA, Pergament S, Torres MB, Koopmeiners JS, Desai J. Evaluating Human Papillomavirus eHealth in Hmong Adolescents to Promote Vaccinations: Pilot Feasibility Study. JMIR Form Res, 2023;7:e38388
  • Xiong S, Kasouaher MY, Vue B, Culhane-Pera KA, Pergament SL, Desai J, Torres MB, Lee HY. "We will do whatever it takes": Understanding Socioecological Level Influences on Hmong-American Adolescents and Parents' Perceptions of the Human Papillomavirus Vaccine. J Cancer Educ. 2021 Jun 23:1–9. PMID: 34164765; PMCID: PMC8221556.
• Product: Interactive Website

6. Family Matters (NIH R01)

• Goal: Identify how key familial and cultural factors in the home environment and interpersonal relationships between family members of low-income and minority children act as risk factors or protective factors for childhood obesity. Phase I (years 1-2): Qualitative and quantitative assessment of the home environments of minority families to identify novel home environment and interpersonal factors related to childhood obesity. Phase II (years 3-5): Create and administer a culturally sensitive quantitative survey to a large socio-economically and racially/ethnically diverse sample of parents.
• Team:
  • SoLaHmo: Amran Ahmed, MN; Awo Ahmed, BA; Rodolfo Batres MD, Sulekha Ibrahim, BSN, RN; Walter Novillo, JD, MBA, PhD candidate; Luis M. Ortega, medical student; Shannon Pergament, MPH, MSW; Mai See Thao, PhD candidate; Bai Vue, MEd.  and Kathleen A. Culhane-Pera, MD, MA;
  • UMN: Jerica Berge, PhD, MPH
• Publications:
  1. Berge J, Trofholz A, Tate A, Beebe M, Fertig A, Miner M, Crow S, Culhane-Pera K, Pergament S, Neuwmark-Sztainer. Examining unanswered questions about the home environment and childhood obesity disparities using an incremental, mixed-methods, longitudinal study design: The Family Matters study. Contemporary Clinical Trials. August 2017:62.

7. mGlide RCT: A multi-level mHealth intervention to improve hypertension management (NIH R01)

• Goal: Improve the effectiveness of HTN management for stroke survivors and other high-risk patients with uncontrolled HTN. This study will be a randomized controlled trial in 334 participants with HTN who are at high risk for cardiovascular events and stroke. Participants are randomized to a mhealth based self-management intervention vs. usual clinical care comparison. Our primary outcome is BP control into guideline specified range at 6 months and 1 year after randomization. We will also measure patient activation, quality of life, and medication compliance. We hypothesize that the mhealth technology will facilitate patient engagement and expect providers to express greater satisfaction with the level of patient engagement and quality of care delivered.
• Team:
  • SoLaHmo: Cecilia Martinez; Pilar de la Parra, RN MPH, Chaoching Vang, BS, Txia Vue, PharmD, MLS(ASCP); Shannon Pergament, MPH;
  • MSWCo-Principal Investigators: Kathie Culhane-Pera, MD MA; Kamakshi Lakshminarayan, MD; Emily Voltbreight, MPH.
• Publications:
  1. Kathleen A. Culhane-Pera, Ka Bao Vang, Luis Martin Ortega, Txia Xiong, Carin A. Northuis, Pilar de la Parra & Kamakshi Lakshminarayan (2022) Mobile health technology for hypertension management with Hmong and Latino adults: mixed-methods community-based participatory research, Ethnicity & Health
  2. Kathleen A. Culhane-Pera, Ka Bao Vang, Luis Martin Ortega, Txia Xiong, Carin A. Northuis, Pilar de la Parra & Kamakshi Lakshminarayan (2022): Mobile health technology for hypertension management with Hmong and Latino adults: mixed-methods community-based participatory research, Ethnicity & Health

8. Feasibility assessment of mHealth in empowering chronic disease self-management in minority communities (Hawley Award)

• Goals:
  • Assess the feasibility of mGlide in Hmong and Latino adults with hypertension.
    • Create culturally and linguistically appropriate evaluative material/survey instruments.
    • Create culturally and linguistically appropriate educational material.
  • Assess feasibility of mGlide with clinical pharmacists and primary care providers at West Side.
• Team: 
  SoLaHmo: Luis Martin Ortega (MS3), Ka Bao Vang (MS2); Carin A. Northius; Pilar de la Parra (RN); Txia Xiong (PharmD candidate), Kathleen Culhane-Pera, MD MA; Shannon Pergament, MPH MSW; UMN – Kamakshi Lakshmanarayan, MD.
• Publications:

1. Kathleen A. Culhane-Pera, Ka Bao Vang, Luis Martin Ortega, Txia Xiong, Carin A. Northuis, Pilar de la Parra & Kamakshi Lakshminarayan (2022): Mobile health technology for hypertension management with Hmong and Latino adults: mixed-methods community-based participatory research, Ethnicity & Health

9. Very Important Pharmacogenes in the Hmong Community (VIP-Hmong) (UMN Grand Challenge Grant)

• Goal: Identify known Very Important Pharmacogenes (VIPs) genetic variations in 150 Hmong adults, assess people’s reactions to the results, and relay the results to the community at large.
• Team:
  • SoLaHmo: Donna Lee, Koobmeej Lee BS, May Xia Lo Pharm D, Der Moua RN, Steve Mouacheupao MD, Kerui Peng PharmD student, Youssef Roman PharmD, Txia Xiong PharmD student, Ka Her Vang, Kauchee Vang PharmD; Kathleen A. Culhane-Pera, MD, MA;
  • UMN: Robert J. Straka, PharmD; Jeffrey Bishop, Bharat Thyagarajan, Heather Zierhut

10. A Path to Identifying Effective Treatments for Hmong Adults Suffering from Gout and Gout Related Co-morbidities (PCORI)

• Goal: Create a community-engaged comparative-effectiveness research project (CE-CER) that would identify effective processes to reduce suffering in Hmong people with gouty arthritis and gout-related co-morbidities.
• Team:
  • SoLaHmo Hmong Gout Coalition: Paul Abraham MD, Jay Desai PhD, Cha Ger Lee, May Xia Lo Pharm D, May See Moua MD, Kong Pha, Chianeng Thao, Noel Kee Thao, Chameng Vang MD, Khue Vang, Shary Vang MD, Tzianeng Vang, Carolyn XIong Pharm D,Ya-Feng Wen Pharm D, Song Xiong RD, Long Yang, Maiyia Yang PhD, Shoua Yang BS, Toua Yang MIS; Kathleen A. Culhane-Pera, MD MA;
  • UMN: Robert J. Straka, PharmD
• Publications:
  1. Culhane-Pera KA, Straka RJ, Moua MK, Roman Y, Vue P, Xiaaj K, Lo MX, Lor M. Engaging Hmong adults in genomic and pharmacogenomic research: Toward reducing health disparities in genomics knowledge using community-based participatory research. Journal of Community Genomics. 2017.
  2. Culhane-Pera KA, Moua MK, Vue P, Xiaaj K, Lo MX, Straka RJ. Leaves Imitate Trees: Minnesota Hmong concepts of heredity and applications to genomics research. Journal of Community Genomics.
  3. Roman Y, Culhane-Pera KA, Menke J, Straka RJ. Assessment of genetic polymorphisms associated with hyperuricemia and gout in the Hmong. Personalized Medicine. 2016; 13(5):429-440

11. Immigrant Microbiome Project: Characterization of the Obesogenic Gut Microbiome Among Immigrants (UMN CTSI Grant)

• Goal: Test the hypotheses that immigration from developing countries to the US induces the loss of important microbial members in the native gut microbiome, predisposing the host to obesity.
• Team:
  • SoLaHmo: Kathleen A. Culhane Pera, MD MA; Rodolfo Batres MD, Bwei Paw, Shannon Pergament, MPH MSW, Pimpanitta Saeyankul RN PhD, Mary Xiong BA, Nancy Yang MSII.;
  • UMN: Pajau Vangay, PhD candidate, Dan Knights, PhD
• Publications:
  1. Pajau Vangay, Abigail J. Johnson, Tonya L. Ward, Gabriel A. Al-Ghalith, Robin R. Shields-Cutler, Benjamin M. Hillmann, Sarah K. Lucas, Lalit K. Beura, Emily A. Thompson, Lisa M. Till, Rodolfo Batres, Bwei Paw, Shannon L. Pergament, Pimpanitta Saenyakul, Mary Xiong, Austin D. Kim, Grant Kim, David Masopust, Eric C. Martens, Chaisiri Angkurawaranon, Rose McGready, Purna C. Kashyap, Kathleen A. Culhane-Pera, Dan Knights. US Immigration Westernizes the Human Gut Microbiome. Cell, 2018; 175 (4): 962
     
  2. Vangay, P., Yang, N., Pergament, S., Xiong, M., Paw, B., Batres, R., Knights, D., & Culhane-Pera, K. A. (2021). Participatory Microbiome Research With Hmong and Karen Communities: Lessons Learned. Journal of Participatory Research Methods, 2(3).
• Press:
  • Cell: US Immigration Westernizes the Human Gut Microbiome
  • The Atlantic: Just Months of American Life Change the Microbiome
  • Science Friday: Wherever My Microbiome May Roam
  • The Washington Post: Immigrants arrive with flourishing gut microbes. Then America’s diet trashes them.
  • The New York Times: The Ecosystem in Immigrants’ Guts Is Shaped by the Place They Call Home
  • RNZ: Why the western diet is bad for your microbiome
  • Science Direct: A Microbiota Assimilation
  • Nature: Life in a distant land triggers upheaval in immigrants’ microbiomes
  • Scientific American: U.S. Immigrants Leave Country—and Microbes—Behind
     

• Products: Educational Videos about Immigrant Microbiome Project

  1. Immigrant Microbiome Project Research Results - Hmong
  2. Immigrant Microbiome Project Research Results - English
  3. Immigrant Microbiome Project Research Results - Karen

12. Minnesota Family Environmental Exposure Tracking (MN FEET) (MDH Funds)

• Goal: Measure mercury, lead, and cadmium levels in cord blood of Hmong, Latino, and Somali women. This is part of a larger program to track exposures to chemicals in vulnerable Minnesota populations with a focus on pregnant women, children, and disadvantaged communities.
• Team:
  • SoLaHmo: Khalid Adam, BA; Amran Ahmed, MN; Kathleen A. Culhane-Pera, MD, MA; Sulekha Ibrahim, BSN, RN; Shannon Pergament, MPH, MSW; Maira Rosas-Lee, MS; Sandra Sedeno; Mai See Thao, PhD candidate; Alyssa Moua, BS;
  • MN Department of Health

13. Genetics of Hyper-Uricemia Therapy in Hmong (GOUT-H) (UMN CTSI grant)

• Goal: Measure how allopurinol works in Hmong people with gout (pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic measurements) as well genetic variations (pharmacogenomic measurements), evaluating if one variation, which is more common in Hmong than in Caucasians, is connected with high uric acid levels and effectiveness of allopurinol.
• Team:
  • SoLaHmo Hmong Gout Research Board: Nhia Pao Kue, PharmD; May Xia Lo,  PharmD; Muaj Lo, MD; Youssef Roman, PharmD; Ka Thao, RN; Shoua Yang BA; John Yang MPH; Kathleen A. Culhane-Pera, MD, MA;
  • UMN: Robert J. Straka, PharmD.
• Publications:

1. Culhane-Pera, K.A., Straka, R.J., Moua, M. et al. Engaging Hmong adults in genomic and pharmacogenomic research: Toward reducing health disparities in genomic knowledge using a community-based participatory research approach. J Community Genet 8, 117–125 (2017) 

14. Effects of Media Exposure to Cancer Screening Controversy: A Mixed-Methods Study. (NIH BIRCWH)

• Goals: Examine the effects of exposure to conflicting messages about breast cancer screening for Somali, Latino, and Hmong women.
• Team:
  • SoLaHmo: Maria Arboleda; Xai Gao Sheng Chang; Mariam Egal, MPH; Niramattata Ly, JD; Shannon Pergament, MPH, MSW; Maira Rosas-Lee, MS; Laura Serrano, BA; Mai See Thao, PhD candidate;
  • UMN: Rebekah Nagler, PhD. SoLaHmo is a consulting partner.

15. Somali, Latino & Hmong Radio Stories about Children’s Healthy Eating and Exercise (UCare)

• Goals: Conduct a pilot study that examines program effectiveness and acceptability of radio stories, a health communication intervention that addresses family eating behaviors and physical activity among immigrant Somali, Latino, and Hmong families with 3 to 18-year-old children in St Paul, Minnesota. Three stories per ethnic community were developed and evaluated.
• Team:
  • SoLaHmo: Khalid Adam, BA; Xai Gao Sheng Chang; Kathleen A. Culhane-Pera, MD, MA; Naima Dhore; Hodan Dualeh, BA; Nira Ly, JD; Marty Navarrete; Lucky Omaar, BA; Luis E. Ortega, MEd; Shannon Pergament, MPH, MSW; Maria Rosas-Lee, BA; Laura Serrano; Mai See Thao, PhD candidate; Charles Vang, medical student;
  • UMN: Chrisa Arcan, PhD
• Products: Healthy Lifestyle Radio Stories 

16. Healthy Kids – Healthy Lives (UCare)

• Goal: Identify Somali, Latino, and Hmong cultural perceptions of healthy diet and exercise among families of children ages 3-12 years old,  and generate information that could lead to a future obesity prevention program.
• Team:
  • SoLaHmo: Amira Adawe; Kathleen A. Culhane-Pera, MD, MA; Warda Geele; Luis E. Ortega, MEd; Shannon Pergament, MPH, MSW; Maira-Rosas Lee, BA; Laura Serrano; Marty Navarrete; Mai See Thao, PhD candidate; Charles Vang, MS2; Mai Bao Xiong, BA;
  • UMN: Chrisa Arcan, PhD.
• Publications:
  1. Arcan C, Culhane-Pera K, Pergament S, Maira Rosas-Lee M, Xiong M. Somali, Latino and Hmong parents' perceptions and approaches about raising healthy-weight children: A community-based participatory research study. Public Health Nutrition 2017:1-15.

17. Partnership for Rolling Hills Community Assets for Health (Local Initiatives Support Corporation funds)

• Goal: Use the capacity-building asset-based community development (ABCD) framework, to identify community strengths in Rolling Hills Apartment residents in St Paul MN, which residents could use to improve their health and West Side could use to plan culturally appropriate health care services on site.
• Team:
  • SoLaHmo: Xai Gao Sheng Chang; Kathleen A. Culhnae-Pera, MD MA; Naima Dhore; Luis E. Ortega, MEd; Shannon Pergament MPH, MSW;
  • UMN: Liz Lightfoot, PhD; Lutheran Social Services of Minnesota

18. Healthy St. Paul Families: Utilizing Latino, Hmong and Somali Cultural Strengths to Connect Communities and Promote Healthy Eating and Physical Activity. (BCBS grant)

• Goal: Create opportunities for Somali, Latino, and Hmong families to connect with each other around healthy lifestyle-related cultural assets.
• Team:
  • SoLaHmo: Mikow Hang, BA; Luis E. Ortega, MEd; Lucky Omar, BA; Shannon Pergament, MPH, MSW;
  • East Side Area YMCA;
  • UMN Minnesota Future Doctors

19. Centering patients’ voices: Quality improvement to enhance value and patient-centered care in a community healthcare clinic

• Goal: Engage parents and patients in focus groups about pediatric, mental health, and substance use care at the Community University Health Care Center (CUHCC) to inform CUHCC’s strategic goals.
• Team:
  • SoLaHmo: Foos Afey, MSW; Belle Khou, PhD; Kathleen Culhane-Pera, MD MA; Walter Novillo, JD PhD MBA; Maria Orleny Arboleda, BA; Shannon Pergament, MPH MSW; Bai Vue, MEd; Pa Jee Vang, BA;
  • CUHCC: Sara Bolnick, MPH; Christina Cipolle, PharmD; Janeth Guerra de Patino, MD; Nome Thammavong.

20. Federally Qualified Urban Health Network (FUHN) – Health Literacy Child & Teen Checkups 

• Goal: To create culturally and linguistically tailored Child & Teen Checkup materials for families who seek care at FUHN clinics.
• Team:
  • SoLaHmo: Amran Ahmed, MN; Kathleen Culhane-Pera, MD MA; Sey Lee, BS; Walter Novillo, JD PhD MBA; Shannon Pergament, MPH MSW; Munira Salad, MPH; Beatriz Torres, PhD MPH;
  • FUHN: Mary Maertens, RN PHN MHA FACHE; Kristen Spargo, MBA
• Products: Child & Teen Checkups Materials (CUHCC) 

21. Federally Qualified Urban Health Network (FUHN) – Health Literacy Telehealth Videos 

• Goal: To create culturally and linguistically tailored radio stories about real MN families’ experiences with getting the COVID-19 vaccine.
• Team:
  • SoLaHmo: Amran Ahmed, MN; Kathleen Culhane-Pera, MD MA; Sey Lee, BS; Walter Novillo, JD PhD MBA; Shannon Pergament, MPH MSW; Munira Salad, MPH; Beatriz Torres, PhD MPH;
  • FUHN: Mary Maertens, RN PHN MHA FACHE; Kristen Spargo, MBA
• Products: Telehealth Access Videos - CUHCC

22. Federally Qualified Urban Health Network (FUHN) – COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy Radio Stories Project 

• Goal: To create culturally and linguistically tailored radio stories about real MN families’ experiences with getting the COVID-19 vaccine.
• Products: COVID-19 Vaccine Radio Stories (CUHCC) 

23. Creating a Culture for Community-Engaged Clinical Care (UCare Fund)

• Goal: Engage diverse community leaders in the Twin Cities Metro Area to inform the DFMCH community engagement framework with their perspectives about community health priorities and strategies for clinic-community-engagement.
• Team:
  • SoLaHmo: Maria Orleny Arboleda, BA; Kathleen Culhane-Pera, MD MA; LaTrese VanBuren, CHW, Anita Tamang, BS, CHW; Kazoua Vang, PhD; Munira Salad; BA; Walter Novillo, JD, PhD, MBA; Shannon Pergament, MPH MSW;
  • UMN: Roli Dwivedi, MD; Rebecca Shirley, MPH.
• Publications:
  1. Dwivedi R, Thompson L, Tamang A, Shirley R, Novillo W, Culhane-Pera K, Pergament S, Arboleda MO. Creating a Culture for Community-Engaged Clinical Care. Ann Fam Med. 2023 Nov;21(Suppl 3):5439. doi: 10.1370/afm.22.s1.5439. PMCID: PMC10983195.
  2. M. Beatriz Torres, Shannon Pergament, Rebecca Shirley, Kathleen A. Culhane-Pera, Kristen Spargo, Walter Novillo, Amran Ahmed, Maria Arboleda, Anita Tamang, Munira Salad, Sey Lee, Roli Dwivedi, and Maiyia Y. Kasouaher; Using Community Based-Participatory Action Research to Improve Health Acculturation and Equity of Immigrant/Minoritized Communities; In Y. Qian & R. Ahmed (Eds.), Theory and Application of Health Acculturation: A Communication  Perspective (Chapter 8). The Rowman & Little Publishing Group Inc.: MD.

1. Wilder Mental Health:  Community Behavioral Health Clinic Improvement and Advancement (SAMHSA)

• Goal: To engage key community leaders, partner agencies, consumers, and family members from the key client communities Amherst H. Wilder Foundation – Community Mental Health & Wellness (CMHW) program serves in Ramsey County in a needs assessment about mental health, substance use disorder, and co-occurring MH/SUD in the context of other Social Determinants of Health in Ramsey County and the greater East Metro.
• Team:
  • Wilder Mental Health: Pahoua Yang, MSWW PhD LICSW, LP; Amy Ward;
  • Wilder Research: Miamoua Vang; Naw-Amelia Kacher; Christina Muñoz;
  • SoLaHmo: Luis E. Ortega, MEd; Kathie Culhane-Pera, MD MA; Shannon Pergament, MPH MSW

2. Promoting a culture of health: exploring mental health stigma and protective factors in the Somali American Community (UMN OVPR Grant)

• Goal: To challenge the unspoken assumption that the current model of access to mental health services can meet the growing needs of Somali Americans living with mental illness. We seek to answer the question: How do stigma and protective factors influence perceptions of mental health and health-seeking behavior in the Somali American Community?
• Team:
  • SoLaHmo: Shannon Pergament, MPH MSW, Amran Ahmed, MN; Bilan Arab, MSW;
  • UMN – Sophia Vinogradov, MD; Jonas Atilus, MD; Christian Morfaw, MD, Clara Godoy-Henderson; Brittney Mengistu, BS; Aleksandra Gokuvskaia; Ariel Currie

1. Bridging Divides Between the Hmong Community and Mental Health Services in the Telehealth Age through Cultural Brokers (UMN CTSI Grant)

• Goal: To identify benefits and challenges for Hmong adults receiving mental health telehealth services by conducting key informant interviews with Hmong community leaders and focus groups with Hmong cultural brokers. Our ultimate aim is to identify strategies that, when implemented, minimize the social injustice of inequities for mental health telehealth services as highlighted during COVID-19 about digital divides between healthcare institutions and marginalized communities.
• Team:
  • SoLaHmo: Kazoua Yang, PhD; Kathleen Culhane-Pera, MD, MA; Yeng Moua, MS; Shannon Pergament, MPH, MSW;
  • UMN – Jennifer Connor, PhD; Taymy Caso, PhD

2. Cultural Brokers as Bridging the Telehealth Divide Between Somali and Latino/a/x Communities and Health Institutions: Improving Mental Health Disparities and Access During COVID-19 (UMN OVPR Grant)

• Goal: To examine facilitators and barriers to mental health services offered through telehealth in the Somali and Latino/a/x communities. Results will inform community members, providers and healthcare administrators about the telehealth needs of these populations, support community-mental health partnerships, and provide information to improve telehealth mental health services.
• Team:
  • SoLaHmo: Shannon Pergament, MPH, MSW; Fathi Ahmed, BA; Yeng Moua, MS; Pilar de la Parra, MPH;
  • UMN: G. Nic Rider, PhD; Taymy Caso, PhD

3. A Qualitative Study of Families of Children with Autism in the Somali Community: Comparing the Experiences of Immigrant Groups (MDH funds)

• Goal: Understand the cultural - and resource-based aspects of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) that are unique to the Somali community, and compare their experiences with Latino and Hmong families in Minnesota. 

• Team:
  • SoLaHmo: Maria Arboleda; Kathleen Thiede Call, PhD; Xai Gao Sheng Chang; Mariam Egal, MPH; Walter Novillo, JD, MBA, PhD candidate; Shannon Pergament, MPH, MSW; Mai Khou Yang, LICSW;
  • UMN: Donna McAlpine, PhD and Shannon Pergament, MPH, MSW;
  • Confederation of Somali Community in MN: Mariam Egal, MPH.
• Publications:
  • McAlpine DD, Egal M, Pergament S, Novillo W, Yang MK. Barriers to early identification and access to services for children with autism: experiences of Somali, Hmong, and Latino families in Minnesota. LEND Brief: ASD and Culture. Spring 2015: 21-25.
  • Report to the MN State Legislature

1. Women’s Empowerment through Health Education for Adolescent Leaders (WE-HEAL) (UMN Center for Global Health funds)

• Goal: In order to address urgent calls for reducing disparities in the US between white populations, people of color, and American Indians in women’s health outcomes, this study seeks to understand specific barriers to women’s health in MN Somali, Latina, and Ethiopian communities and to identify community assets. Participatory identification of assets, such as the role of youth as cultural brokers in women’s health care, will lead to health equity by building community resilience through youth empowerment with health literacy, leadership, and advocacy skills.
• Team:
  • SoLaHmo: Shannon Pergament, MPH, MSW; Safiyo Aden, BS, Safa Abdulkadir (UMN MS3), Isabela Gonzalez, Pilar de la Parra, MPH, Geberelwa Animut, Hannah Kinzer (PhD candidate);
  • UMN: Rahel Nardos, MD; Sophie Watson, MPH

1. Project TRUST 2 -Training for Resiliency in Urban Students and Teachers (NIH R01)

• Goal: This project focuses on school connectedness, engagement, and achievement as key social determinants of health through supporting teacher relationship building with students, and prioritizing student and parent voices in building an inclusive school environment.   The program includes all youth, but focuses on 9^th grade Somali, Latino, Hmong, and African American/African heritage youth in particular. Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) and Parent Participatory Action Research (PPAR) are key components of the study.
• Team:
  • SoLaHmo: Luis E. Ortega, MEd; Mikow Hang, BA; Shannon Pergament, MPH, MSW;
  • UMN: Michele Allen, MD MS; Martha Bigelow, PhD; Jenna Cushing-Leubner, PhD; Lindsay Grude, MPH; SPPS – Nicole Bates, PhD.
• Publications:
  1. Wilhelm, April K., Bigelow, Martha, Hang, Mikow, Ortega, Luis E., Pergament, Shannon and Allen, Michele L. Somali, Latino, and Hmong Youth Perceptions of School Connectedness. Health Equity. Jul 2022.508-515.
  2. Wilhelm AK, Pergament S, Cavin A, Bates N, Hang M, Ortega LE, Bigelow M, Allen ML. Lessons Learned in Implementing Youth and Parent Participatory Action Research in a School-Based Intervention. Prog Community Health Partnersh. 2021;15(1):15-36. doi: 10.1353/cpr.2021.0002. PMID: 33775958; PMCID: PMC9014976.
  3. Allen, M., Wilhelm, A., Ortega, L.E., Pergament, S., Bates, N., Cunningham, B. Applying a Race(ism)-Conscious Adaptation of the CFIR Framework to Understand Implementation of a School-Based Equity-Oriented Intervention. Ethn Dis. 2021;31(Suppl 1):375-388; doi:10.18865/ed.31.S1.375
  4. Wilhelm, A.K., Schwedhelm, M., Bigelow, M., Bates, N., Ortega, L.E., Pergament, S., Allen, M. Evaluation of a school-based participatory intervention to improve school environments using the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research. BMC Public Health 21, 1615 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-11644-5
  5. Bigelow, M., Cushing-Leubner, J., Adam, K., Hang, M., Ortega, L. E., Pergament, S., & Allen, M. (2019). 13 Perspectives on Power and Equity in Community-Based Participatory Action Research Projects. Critical Reflections on Research Methods: Power and Equity in Complex Multilingual Contexts, 184.
  6. Wilhelm A, Bigelow M, Ortega L, Pergament S, Hang M, Allen M. What Drives an Intervention's Success? Contextual Barriers and Facilitators to Youth and Parent Participatory Action Research Projects in Schools. Journal of Adolescent Health February 2018;62(2):S113-S114.
  7. Allen ML, Ortega LE, Cushing-Leubner J, Bigelow M, Pergament S, Hang M, Okuyemi K. Feasibility Results of a Participatory Teacher Professional Development Intervention to Promote Positive Youth Development for Somali, Latino, and Hmong Youth. Journal of Adolescent Health, 2016:58(2):S45.
  8. Allen ML, Rosas-Lee M, Ortega L, Hang M, Pergament S, Pratt R. They just respect you for who you are: contributors to educator positive youth development promotion for Somali, Latino, and Hmong students. J Prim Prev. 2016;37(1):71-86.
  9. Cushing-Leubner, J., Adam, K., Bigelow, M., Hang, M., Ortega, L., Pergament, S., Prifrel, R., Susens, S., & Allen, M. Promoting resilience in diverse classrooms: The answers are not in the back of the book. MinneTESOL Journal, spring issue.
• Product: Web-Based Training – Parent Participatory Action Research (PPAR) 

2. Somali, Latino, and Hmong Hospice Stories (F.R. Bigelow Foundation & St. Paul Foundation)

• Goal: Create and broadcast stories about Somali, Latino, and Hmong families’ positive interactions with hospice and palliative care services to increase communities’ understanding and access to these services, as well as provider’s understandings of what matters to Somali, Latino, and Hmong families at the end of life.
• Team:
  • SoLaHmo: Amran Ahmed, MN; Rodolfo Batres, MD; Kathleen A. Culhane-Pera, MD, MA; Sulekha Ibrahim, BSN, RN Walter Novillo, JD, MBA, PhD candidate; Shannon Pergament, MPH, MSW; Mai Bao Xiong, LAMFT; Song Xiong, RD;
• MN Hospice and Palliative Care Network: Susan Marschaulk, Renee Mungas;
  ECHO Minnesota: Lillian McDonald
• Products: Hospice Radio Stories and Digital Video Shorts

Hospice Audio Stories:

• Hmong
• English
• Somali

Latino Radio Stories:

• Spanish
• English

HOSPICE STORIES - VIDEO: Honoring Values in End of Life Care

• Spanish
• Hmong
• Somali
• English

3. Project TRUST 1 (Training for Resiliency in Urban Students and Teachers) (NIH R24)

• Goal: Identify how educators serving Latino, Somali, and Hmong youth in St. Paul can best promote educator-student connectedness and positive youth development.
• Team:
  • SoLaHmo: Khalid Adam, BA; Mikow Hang, BA; Luis E. Ortega, MEd; Shannon Pergament, MPH, MSW;
  • UMN: Michele Allen, MD MS; Kola Okuyemi, MD; Michael Resnick, PhD; Martha Bigelow, PhD; Cindy Davey, MS; SPPS – Bob Prifrel; Suzanne Susens; Jennifer Funk Hauser; Luke Leba
• Publications:
  1. L Allen, M., Schaleben-Boateng, D., Davey, C. S., Hang, M., & Pergament, S. (2015). Concept Mapping as an Approach to Facilitate Participatory Intervention Building. Progress in community health partnerships: research, education, and action, 9(4), 599–608.

4. Development of a Multicultural School-Based Approach to Substance Use Prevention and Resiliency Promotion for Somali, Latino, and Hmong Youth  (UMN CTSI & PHDR grants)

• Goal: Identify how teachers can promote youth resiliency in Somali, Latino, and Hmong middle school and high school students.
• Team:
  • SoLaHmo: Mikow Hang, BA; Lucky Omar, BA; Luis E. Ortega, MEd; Shannon Pergament, MPH, MSW; Maira Rosas-Lee, BA;
  • UMN: Michele Allen, MD
• Publications:

1. Allen ML, Ortega LE, Rosas-Lee M, Pergament S, Hang M, Omar L. 
   Promoting Positive Youth Development in High School for Somali, Latino, and Hmong Youth: Perspectives of Teachers, Youth-workers, and Students.  Journal of School Health. January 2014.

1. Reimagining Language Equity: Defining Best Practices in Partnering with Informal Interpreters of Somali Families in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (UMN Pediatrics Cross Departmental Grant)

• Goal: To develop data-driven practice guidance that will facilitate improved informed decision-making for Language Other than English (LOE) patients through triangulation of naturalistic recordings, interviews, and focus groups with Somali parents of infants in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, informal interpreters, and healthcare providers. This study has the potential to identify interventions and practices that reduce language inequities and mitigate factors that create pediatric health disparities.
• Team:
  • SoLaHmo:  Amran Ahmed, MN; Najma Dahir (MPH student); Shannon Pergament, MPH MSW;
  • UMN: Jennifer Needle, MD MPH; Elaine Hsieh, PhD; Rachel Witt, MD

1. Reducing Health Disparities in Pediatric Serious Illness Care: A CBPR approach to improving cross-cultural understanding between healthcare providers and Somali, Latino/a/x, Hmong and Native American communities in MN (UMN CTSI Grant)

• Goal: To improve the quality of palliative and end-of-life care we deliver to our community and to reduce the conflict and moral distress among pediatric health care providers in end-of-life care.
• Team:
  • SoLaHmo: Rodolfo Batres, MD; Fathi Ahmed, BA; Beverly Bushyhead, MA, MPA; Kathie Culhane-Pera, MD MA; See Lee, BS; Yeng Moua, MS; Pilar de la Parra, MPH; Shannon Pergament, MPH, MSW;
  • UMN: Jennifer Needle, MD
• Publications:

1. Jennifer Needle, Sey Lee, Amran Ahmed, Rodolfo Batres, Jinhee Cha, Pilar de la Parra, Shannon Pergament, Kathleen A. Culhane-Pera; “We Feel Alone and Not Listened To”: Parents’ Perspectives on Pediatric Serious Illness Care in Somali, Hmong, and Latin American Communities; The Annals of Family Medicine May 2024, 22 (3) 215-222;

2. Quality Measurement Enhancement Project (QMEP) (MDH funds)

• Goal: Identify healthcare providers’ and diverse community members’ perspectives about what quality health care and health care quality measures mean for diverse patients seeking health care services at community health centers in MN, both in terms of outcomes as well as processes, in order to inform the DHS process of building a framework for healthcare quality measures in Minnesota.
• Team:
  • SoLaHmo/West Side Community Health Services: Luis Martin Ortega, (MS1 UMN); Mai See Thao (PhD candidate); Lynn Ogawa, MD; Kathie Culhane-Pera, MD MA ; Naima Dhore; Maiyia Yang, PhD; Marsela Soto; Mo Mike; Misty Blue, MPH; Cindy Kaigama; Shannon Pergament, MPH MSW;
  • UMN: David Satin, MD;
  • MHNPC: Michael Scandrett, JD
• Publications:
  1. Culhane-Pera KA, Ortega LM, Thao MS, Pergament SL, Pattock AM, Ogawa LS, Scandrett M, Satin DJ. Primary care clinicians’ perspectives about quality measurements in safety-net clinics and non-safety-net clinics. International Journal for Equity in Health. (2018) 17: 161
  2. Culhane-Pera, K.A., Pergament, S.L., Kasouaher, M.Y. et al. Diverse community leaders’ perspectives about quality primary healthcare and healthcare measurement: Qualitative community-based participatory research. Int J Equity Health 20, 226 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-021-01558-4

3. Cultural Asset Assessment of Somali, Latino and Hmong Communities in St. Paul MN (BCBS-MN grant)

• Goal: Identify shared and unique cultural strengths across Somali, Latino and Hmong communities in MN that may be protective for health. Findings were adapted to create SoLaHmo’s Cultural Asset Framework.
• Team:
  • SoLaHmo: Sahro Abdullahi; Kathleen A. Culhane-Pera, MD, MA; Warda Geele; Mikow Hang; Luis E. Ortega, MEd; Shannon Pergament, MPH, MSW; Carmen Robles; Pa Chia Vue, MPH; Kadra Warsame;
  • UMN: Michele Allen, MD, MA
• Publications:
  1. Culhane-Pera KA, Pergament SL, Ortega LE, Thao MS, Dhore N. CBPAR Partnerships can address and redress health disparities: Voices from SoLaHmo. MetroDoctors 2014; 16(5):23-26.
  2. Culhane-Pera, K. A., Allen, M., Pergament, S. L., Call, K., Adawe, A., de la Torre, R., Hang, M., Jama, F., Navas, M., Ortega, L., Vue, P., & Yang, T. T. (2010). Improving Health through Community-Based Participatory Action Research. Minnesota Medicine, 93(4), 54–57. 

1. Patient Engagement: Enhancing Culturally Appropriate Research (ECAR) (PCORI)

• Goal:
  • To deepen the understanding of what culturally appropriate research means to individuals from diverse communities, particularly underserved communities. This broadened focus will help address factors that often impede engagement of communities of color in research. This includes but is not limited to the importance of 1) honoring cultural differences regarding what constitutes respect, beneficence, and justice, 2) accounting for individual and cultural differences in how trust is earned and sustained, 3) recognizing the existence and impact of institutional racism, 4) accounting for linguistic differences, and 5) addressing potential explicit and implicit biases perpetuated by researchers throughout the research process.
• Team:
  • SoLaHmo: Rodolfo Batres, MD; Maiyia Yang, PhD; Kathie Culhane-Pera, MD MA; Shannon Pergament, MPH MSW;
  • Community Campus Partnerships for Health: Al Richmond, MSW; Paige Castro-Reyes; Ahahui Malama I Ka Lokahi – Mei Ling Isaacs, MPH;
  • University of New England: Nancy Shore, MSW MPH PhD
• Publications:

1. Kasouaher, M., Shore, N., Culhane-Pera, K., Pergament, S., Batres, R., Reyes, P.C., ... Richmond, A. (2021). Strategies to Enhance Culturally Responsive Research: Community Research Recommendation Tool. Progress in Community Health Partnerships: Research, Education, and Action15(3), 413-418.

2. Partners in Research Project (NIH R03)

• Goal:
  • Develop and pilot test CBPR training curriculum for community scholars and 22 UMN academic health sciences faculty; match participants to create, support and evaluate community-academic research partnerships. community SoLaHmo members had their own research partnerships with the University of MN faculty on the following topics:
    1. Improving Nutrition and Physical Activity among Latino Children. Research Partners: Maria Navas, Rosaura de la Torre, and Jamie Stang, PhD
    2. Development of a Teacher-Focused Substance Use Prevention and Resiliency Promotion Intervention for Latino Youth. Research Partners: Luis E. Ortega, MEd and Michele Allen, MD
    3. Intimate Partner Violence in the Hmong Community. Research Partners: Mikow Hang and Tai Mendenhall, PhD
    4. Somali Women’s Initiative for Sexual Health. Research Partners: Fatima Jama, Amira Ahmed, and Bean Robinson, PhD
    5. Cervical Cancer Prevention among Somali Women. Research Partners: Amira Adawe and Rahel Ghebre, MD
    6. Somali Women’s Initiative for Sexual Health (SWISH)
• Team:
  • SoLaHmo: Kathleen Culhane-Pera, MD MA; Shannon Pergament, MPH MSW;
  • UMN: Michele Allen, MD MS; Kathleen Call, PhD
• Publications:
  1. Allen ML, Culhane-Pera KA, Pergament S, Call KT. A Capacity Building Program to Promote CBPR Partnerships Between Academic Researchers and Community Members.  Clinical and Translational Science. 2011 Dec;4(6):428-33
  2. Allen ML, Culhane-Pera KA, Pergament SL, Call KT. Facilitating research faculty participation in CBPR: development of a model based on key informant interviews. Clin Transl Sci. 2010 Oct;3(5):233-8.
  3. Allen ML, Culhane-Pera KA, Call KT, Pergament S. (2010) Partners in Research: Curricula to Prepare Community and Faculty for CBPR Partnerships. CES4Health.info, 2011

1. Center for Chronic Disease Promotion and Equity Promotion Across Minnesota (C2DREAM) (NIH)

Goal: Create and implement multi-session CBPR training for C2DREAM research communities of practice.

• Team:
  • SoLaHmo: Luis E. Ortega, MEd, Walter Novillo, JD, PhD, MBA; Hannah Kinzer (PhD candidate), Shannon Pergament, MPH MSW;
  • UMN: Rebekah Pratt; Yasamin Graff; Michele Allen, MD MA, Rachel Hardeman, PhD, Christi Patten, PhD

2. Community Health Authentic Talk (CHAT) Sessions 

• Goal:
  CHAT Sessions are forums that give researchers powerful community insights to enhance their study idea or protocol and that allow people who’ve been impacted by a health issue to share their experiences with researchers who are studying that topic.
• Team:
  • SoLaHmo: Walter Novillo, JD PhD MBA; Luis E. Ortega, MEd; Shannon Pergament, MPH MSW; Beatriz Torres, PhD MPH;
  • UMN: Angelica Koch, PhD; Michele Allen, MD MS
• Resource: Chat Sessions

3. Community Health Worker (CHW) Training – Community Engaged Research

• Goal: To create a community-engaged research training for CHWs in the state of MN
• Team:
  • SoLaHmo: Anita Tamang, BS, CHW; Danita Ngwo, CHW; Beatriz Torres, PhD MPH, Shannon Pergament, MPH MSW; LaTrese VanBuren, CHW;
  • UMN: Angelica Koch, PhD, Katherine Vickery, MD; Brenna Lanoue, MA

4. M-ASCEND CBPAR Training – annual Summer Intern Program

5. T32 Fellowship Program – annual community mentorship for fellows and Annual Seminar

“Training Module: Equity-Grounded Community Engaged Research” in collaboration with UMN CTSI CEARCH and Susan Gust. 

• Team:
  • SoLaHmo: Shannon Pergament MSW MPH; Beatriz Torres PhD, MPH; Bai Vue MEd;
  • UMN: Michele Allen, MD MS; Susan Gust, BA.

• University of Minnesota Program in Health Disparities Research, PHDR Resources for Community-based Research, PHDR Resources Co-developed with SoLaHmo Partnership for Health & Wellness.
• University of Minnesota CTSI Resources for Community-Engaged Research

Awards: 

• “Unsung Hero Award” – In recognition of dedicated service and outstanding accomplishments in the field of community-based public health. (2 Awards); National Community-Based Organization Network (NCBON); October 27, 2024.
• “Community Partner Organization Award”; University of Minnesota School of Public Health; 2014.

Media: 

• SoLaHmo co-facilitated the annual workshop “Ethical Conduct in Human Subjects Research for Community Partners” in partnership with the University of Minnesota Center for Bioethics as part of the University of MN Clinical and Translational Science Institute’s Community Research Institute. 2012-2014.
• SoLaHmo co-facilitated the first-ever Ethical Human Subjects Research Training for Community Partners at La Clinica, in collaboration with the Office of Community Engagement for Health in the Clinical and Translational Science Institute at the University of MN.      For the first time, the University of MN Institutional Review Board (IRB) recognized a certificate of completion for 25 community participants in this training as satisfying the ethics training requirement for researchers. 2011.