On December 4, 2025, C3EN held its fourth annual meeting from 1 to 6pm at Rush University. Attended by researchers and community partners, the event featured a poster session, presentations of C3EN studies, a panel discussion, and a happy hour reception.
“This year has been especially challenging,” said C3EN co-director Beth Lynch in an introduction that reflected upon the 2025 grant termination that temporarily disrupted C3EN activities. “But we learned that our work is not about the money. Through the loss of our funding, no one thought we were going to stop. It has validated our work and shown us that our work comes from the heart. We love Chicago and we want our community to thrive.”
C3EN Investigator Development Core co-director Brad Appelhans, Professor of Behavioral Sciences and Director of the Section of Clinical Preventive Medicine at Rush University, gave an update on the Activity and Recreation in Communites for Health (ARCH) study in partnership with Equal Hope that targets depression and cardiometabolic risks of inactivity and excess weight. The ARCH intervention combines behavioral therapy with financial support for recreation, in partnership with the Chicago Park District, YMCA, Kroc Centers, and New Life Centers. “These are also social centers,” noted Appelhans. “Social activity can be a gateway to better health.”
Brittni Bryant and Brandon Foster of the University of Chicago next spoke on EngAGE: Voice-Activated Technology to Improve Mobility & Social EngAGEment: EngAGEing Homebound, Multimorbid Older Adult-Care Partner Dyads, a project that uses voice-activated technology to help frail, homebound elders improve their mobility. Bryant, EngAGE senior project manager, noted that many such older adults do not receive adequate care for their conditions–they may receive a limited amount of physical therapy but typically have no home intervention or long term plan to retain or continue to improve their mobility.
Isolation is a major issue for these older adults, exacerbated by unfamiliarity with technology and physical limitations. “These are abilities they just don’t have, and many have lost the will to even get that skill back. That’s one of the reasons research and results like this are important,” said Foster, EngAGE technology support, who works with the study participants and has witnessed their improvements. “I’ve seen people go from using walkers to walking on their own willpower. Some participants hated technology and Alexa, now they want to learn how to use their cell phones and get email. It starts the ball rolling.”
Working on EngAGE has not only helped some seniors get back on their feet, it has also had a profound effect on researchers. ”I was not aware of how common the issue with frailty was,” said Foster. “People who don’t have autonomy are really depressed. Many are lonely, even resentful about tech. They see it as a burden and a hurdle. But showing them that I understand and have been through it and can teach can help. When you help the least of us, you help all of us.”
“It was equity that drove this study, as well as everybody else’s study in this room,” said Steven Rothschild, Professor and Chair of the Rush University Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, during his update on Keep It Movin’, a physical activity intervention to improve lower extremity physical function. By delivering the intervention through partnering churches, peer support encourages participants to stay engaged. “Having family and friends participating means you’re more likely to do it,” he said. “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”
C3EN Pilot Awardees Mohan Zalake, assistant professor at UIC, Sarah Sobotka, associate professor at the University of Chicago, and Fabian Sierra-Morales, assistant professor at Rush University, gave brief presentations on their projects. Zalake spoke on the development in partnership with Latino Alzheimer’s Coalition For Advocacy, Research and Education (LA CARE) of AI Promotora, a culturally tailored AI character that delivers guidance on dementia for Latino families. Since Latino families tend to take care of their own family members and stigmatize dementia, they may need more guidance to recognize signs and access treatment. He noted that study subjects expressed a preference for communicating with an AI character over a real human being.
Sobotka shared information on a parent-to-parent coaching intervention for parents of children with invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV), which typically requires 24-hour expert care. Developed in partnership with the State of Illinois Division of Specialized Care for Children (DSCC), the program is intended to help parents develop self-advocacy and practical skills for the acquisition and management of home nursing teams.
Sierra-Morales is developing a patient navigation program for people with multiple sclerosis, a chronic condition affecting the central nervous system. The disease typically manifests in younger adults and, while there is no cure, treatment can slow the progression. While beginning treatment early is important, treatment can be extremely expensive, and patients on Medicaid often demonstrate worse outcomes, more relapses, and more progression to disability because of delays and problems beginning treatment.
Why community-based organizations partner with researchers and how organizations can mutually benefit from such partnerships were topics in a panel discussion with community partners Jiana Calixto, Chief Health Operations Officer of Equal Hope, Steve Epting, Pastor of Hope Community Church, Cy Fields, Pastor of New Landmark Missionary Baptist Church, and community health workers LaTreese Jackson and Brandon Ozobu followed, moderated by C3EN Community Engagement Core co-director Doriane Miller, Professor of Medicine and Director of the Center for Community Health and Vitality at the University of Chicago. Epting and Fields noted the importance of building long term relationships that are not transactional.
“Historically there has been distrust and hesitancy with African Americans participating in any kind of research, let alone health,” said Fields. However, the KIM study aligned with his interest in engaging the church community in all aspects of their lives, including their health. “In 2026, our church will celebrate 80 years,” he said. “We have many elders and seniors, as well as those with physical disabilities. I have seen many people aging over my 24 years of pastoring, just as I have seen them once alive and thriving. So I could see how KIM would benefit my members.”
Calixto echoed the importance of alignment with the organizational mission and vision. “We focus on cancer, but we know we need to look at patients holistically,” she said. “We need to connect individuals with people who look like them, speak like them, and are from those areas, so we loved the community health worker involvement in research.” She also stressed the need for adequate compensation and infrastructural support for organizations to add additional programs to their existing work: “ARCH provided the framework for the yes.”
Panelists emphasized that building trust by demonstrating care is critical to successful partnerships. “Let me know you care before you tell me your curriculum,” said Fields. “I need to know you care about the people. My congregation trusts me, so I need to make sure I don’t bring them junk.”
“I trust what my pastor is saying is true,” said Jackson, who works on the KIM study. “The seniors encourage me, so I have to encourage them. I need to invest in what they’re doing. I need to exercise with them.”
“Trust is also allowing study participants to share their stories,” said Ozobu. “The first half hour is allowing them to share–it changes our engagement from being about the study to trying to help them.”
A holistic perspective is the essence of how community-based organizations function and how health researchers should approach the same work. “We want to help people win at life, and health is a part of that,” said Fields. “The study gave the participants another level to connect on and share life together.”
Miller concluded the session with a quotation from the World Health Organization’s constitution: “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”
Poster awards, selected by community vote, were presented by LaDawne Jenkins to Willie Love (1st), Melissa Crane (2nd), and De’jiah Edwards (3rd).
C3EN co-director concluded the meeting by reflecting on the life of his father-in-law, Paul Louie, an immigrant from China who fled China during the 1949 civil war and began building a life in New Orleans through periods of segregation, social unrest, and global political upheaval. He shared three lessons learned from Louie’s life: “We are all simultaneously living our lives and contributing to historical changes. We are all part of living, breathing intertwined networks of people that we support and that support us. Taking action to improve the life of another person, no matter how seemingly small, is quietly courageous.”
Photos by LaMorris Hampton and Irene Hsiao