Who are our community partners?

The CTSI partners with patient advocates, community groups, health systems, policy makers, individual community members and others to identify research priorities in Los Angeles County. Below are some of our community partners. Learn more about our hubs and how they connect to our partners.

To work with us, please contact the Community Engagement and Research Program at cerp@mednet.ucla.edu.

  • AltaMed Center for Health Equity
  • American Heart Association (AHA), Los Angeles
  • Avalon Carver Community Center
  • Bienestar Human Services, San Fernando Valley 
  • California Black Women's Health Project
  • California Policy Lab
  • Celebrate Life Cancer Ministry
  • City of Los Angeles Department of Aging
  • California State University Northridge, 3 Wins Fitness
  • Esperanza Community Housing Corporation
  • Filipino American Service Group, Inc. (FASGI)
  • Health Begins 
  • Healthy African American Families II (HAAFII)
  • Healthy San Gabriel Valley Initiative (HSGV)
  • Los Angeles County Department of Health Services
  • Los Angeles County Department of Public Health 
  • Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health 
  • Los Angeles Regional Food Bank
  • Los Angeles Unified School District
  • Magnolia Community Initiative
  • Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander Alliance (NHPI)
  • Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles (NLSLA)
  • Northeast Valley Health Corporation (NEVHC)
  • Office of Samoan Affairs
  • Robert F. Kennedy Institute Of Community & Family Medicine
  • South Central Prevention Coalition
  • Watts Labor Community Action Committee (WLCAC)
  • Worker Education and Resource Center (WERC)
  • Workforce Development, Aging and Community Services (WDACS) 
  • Watts Rising

Community Partner Spotlights

Watts Rising

Watts is a neighborhood of 40,000 in South Los Angeles with three large public housing projects, limited green space, and a high chronic disease burden. The Watts Rising Collaborative has received $70 million in state and federal money to implement 25 place-based projects toward common community improvement goals. The CTSI provides the research infrastructure to understand the impact of these projects on physical health, mental health and social outcomes.

HAAF II

Healthy African American Families II (HAAF) is a non‐profit, community‐serving agency whose mission is to improve the health outcomes of the African American, Latino, and other minority communities in Los Angeles County by enhancing the quality of care and advancing social progress through education, training, and collaborative partnering with community stakeholders, academia, researchers, and government. We service all of South Los Angeles and Service Planning Area 6 in particular. HAAF II is widely regarded in the community as an advocate voice and source of education and training around disparities and research for the local community. HAAF II regularly disseminates research to the community in its free major yearly events. Our partners include UCLA, Charles Drew University, RAND, and over 150 community-based organizations. 

Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander Alliance (NHPI)

NHPI Alliance was an instrumental organization in the classification of NHPIs. The “Other” (O) has been removed from this identifier based on discussions with major NHPI organizations and community leaders who prefer this reference not to be associated with their populations. In past and some current research publications, Asian, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders were not mentioned and often lumped into the “Other” category outside of White and Black. The evolution of referring to Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders as NHPI is a cultural construct and reflects the preference of the NHPI community. See contributions by Hardy Spoehr, Papa Olo Lokahi, for the “Threads in the Human Tapestry."