title: Community-responsive research priorities: health research infrastructure.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  A disconnect exists between research resources and the health and health care needs of people those resources are designed to serve. While a great deal of research is being produced at academic institutions across the country, the topics investigated are often driven by researchers' interests or by funding announcements focused on specific research areas of interest to the funder. PURPOSE OF THE ARTICLE: The purpose of this article is to describe a process that connects community identified health priorities with research funds as well as capacity building efforts.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The North Carolina Translational and Clinical Sciences Institute (NC TraCS) developed a process to identify the health priorities of North Carolina communities through a partnership with the network of county Healthy Carolinians partnerships. The priorities identified were obesity, youth issues, healthcare delivery/access, mental health/ substance abuse, specific chronic diseases, cancer/tobacco, and injury/ violence. NC TraCS then used these research priorities to guide pilot funding and facilitate research capacity building.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Tapping into an established community-based network and linking researchers to community-identified priorities ensures that NC TraCS addresses the most pressing health needs of North Carolina's residents.
authors.affiliation: North Carolina Translational and Clinical Sciences Institute, USA.
authors.forename: Bonnie
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: Alexandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lightfoot
authors.forename: Molly
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: De Marco
authors.forename: Malika Roman
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Isler
authors.forename: Alice
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ammerman
authors.forename: Debi
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Nelson
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Harrison
authors.forename: Brenda
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Motsinger
authors.forename: Cathy
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Melvin
authors.forename: Giselle
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Corbie-Smith
mesh_terms: D057191:Capacity Building; D019058:Community Networks; D055812:Community-Based Participatory Research / Q000458:organization & administration*; D003159:Community-Institutional Relations; D006292:Health Priorities / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006302:Health Services Research / Q000458:organization & administration; D006801:Humans; D057170:Translational Research, Biomedical / Q000458:organization & administration*