If you are a community-based organization (rather than a university or research institution), you can utilize a variety of technical assistance resources and supports available through the S4A Systems Alignment Innovation Hub. This Hub may be able to provide assistance and guidance for identifying a suitable research partner for your organization. Additionally, Johns Hopkins University maintains the Accelerating Collaborations for Evaluation Matching Service which may be able to assist with finding research partners. The S4A program also can discuss general strategies related to finding a research partner during our weekly CFP Office Hour sessions or via email. As a general strategy, we encourage you to reach out to the universities and research institutions that operate in your region, including institutions that are part of the NIH Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) program which focuses on community engagement in health research. Please reach out early because available assistance opportunities may be limited in the days leading up to the proposal submission deadline.

Additionally, as stated in the funding opportunity brochure, it is important to note that active collaboration between the CBO applicant organizations and their research partners must occur prior to submitting an application to this CFP. Active collaboration is required to define and refine the proposed SA intervention, to develop appropriate research strategies for pilot testing, and to develop the written research proposal narrative, budget, and budget narrative for submission to this CFP. The CBO-research partnership should ensure an equitable division of responsibilities, effort, and resources among the CBO applicant organization, the research partner, and other project collaborators in carrying out the proposed pilot study.