Welcome to the Inclusive Well-Being Translational Science Collaborative!
Congrats to Kalani Upshaw for being accepted into the PhD in Community Health Promotion Program!
MISSION:
To advance mental health and well-being through scholarly work and the application of findings for people with and without disabilities through community-engaged social and behavioral translational sciences using qualitative and mixed methods.
WHO WE ARE:
The Inclusive Well-Being Translational Science Collaborative was established in 2023 by Dr. Robin Lanzi as an official portal for her research, teaching, and service and as a mechanism to engage with students, faculty, community members, partners, and others who are interested in mental well-being, disabilities, social and behavioral sciences, qualitative and mixed methods, community engagement, and translational sciences.
Committed to advancing partnerships, community engaged science, and knowledge translation to bridge the gap from research to practice and policy.
COLLABORATIVE OPPORTUNITIES:
Dr. Lanzi is engaged with multiple collaborative scholarly efforts including spearheading the launching of the UAB Disability Health Coalition; serving as National Director of Community Engagement and Translational Sciences with the National Center on Health, Physical Activity and Disability (NCHPAD); leading the development and implementation of the NCHPAD mental wellness program – GROWTH (Growing Resilience Out of Wellness and Thoughtful Habits) with an amazing team including Kalani Upshaw, Emma Taylor, and Consuelo Click; serving as Community Engagement Core Director for the Center for Engagement in Disability Health and Rehabilitation Sciences (CEDHARS); founding director of the UAB Mental Health Ambassadors Program; serving as MPI of the UAB CFAR Implementation Science Consultation Hub with Dr. Michael Mugavero and Dr. Larry Herald. A very special collaboration begun in 2023 is serving as faculty advisor for UAB Best Buddies (Joshua Domingue, President and UAB Honors student). Please see separate tabs for more in-depth information on each of these.
Dr. Lanzi teaches multiple courses (undergraduate, master’s, doctoral) and offers numerous directed research opportunities on disability health and wellbeing promotion, mental health and wellbeing promotion, community engagement, and translational sciences—all from a social and behavioral sciences perspective.
Current Health Behavior doctoral students include Consuelo Click, Kimberly Kirklin, and Herbert Wilkerson, who focus on various aspects of mental health promotion using community-based participatory research as research goes through different phases of the translational science spectrum. Please see each of their pages for more information on their research and scholarship.
We are grateful for the AmeriCorps VISTAs over the years who are dedicated to advancing community-engaged translational research and service that is by stakeholders, with stakeholders, for stakeholders. Our amazing, passionate, and dedicated VISTAs have included: Brook Araya (currently in medical school at the University of Minnesota), Joshua Domingue (currently UAB Honors Public Health Student and President of UAB Best Buddies), Elise Druhot (currently UAB graduate student), Alex Hayes (recent UAB Honors graduate), Emma Taylor (currently MPH Health Behavior student and Mental Health Coach with the National Center on Health, Physical Activity, and Disability), and Kalani Upshaw (currently UAB doctoral student and Community Health Educator with the National Center on Health, Physical Activity, and Disability).
A special thanks to the UAB AmeriCorps VISTA program for their ongoing commitment and support for our Collaborative!
