CTSI team member and School of Public Health Professor Kathleen Call, PhD, has received the University of Minnesota President's Community-Engaged Faculty Scholar Award.
The award annually recognizes one faculty or P&A individual for exemplary engaged scholarship in partnership with the community and for embodying the University's definition of public engagement. At an awards luncheon on April 3, Dr. Call was selected among 11 finalists to receive this year's honor.
Dr. Call serves as CTSI's Faculty Liaison for Community-Engaged Research, and helps to advance research that adds real value to the lives of Minnesotans. She's part of CTSI's Populations and Community Engagement function, which provides an infrastructure so University and community researchers can work together to address the health issues most important to Minnesota communities.
In a School of Public Health blog post, Dr. Call explained the importance of community-engaged research as well and the significance of the award:
"Working with partners in local communities and in state agencies guarantees that the information we gather will be relevant and used to make progress on issues. The award confirms for me that the University takes its charge as a land-grant institution seriously and values working with others around the state to improve quality of life for Minnesotans."
Dr. Call's own research focuses on measuring health insurance coverage, and the extent to which health insurance coverage translates into access to health care services among culturally diverse, immigrant, young, and low-income populations. In addition, she serves as co-director of the Community Engagement Core for the Center for Health Equity as well as the co-director of the School of Public Health's Health Disparities Working Group.
View Dr. Call's finalist video for the 2015 University of Minnesota President's Community-Engaged Scholar Award: