Expansion of the Community-based Research Education in Eastern Kentucky (CREEK) Program

The purpose ofthe Community-based Research Education in Eastern Kentucky (CREEK) program is to reduce health disparities in eastern Kentucky by increasing the capacity of rural communities to address the behavioral causes of chronic illnesses, including diabetes, obesity, cancer, and heart disease. CREEK will accomplish this goal by developing a career pathways educational program in Behavioral Health Research that is readily available to residents of eastern Kentucky and by developing a CREEK Research Institute to facilitate the ability of communities in Appalachian Kentucky to carry out health research which can lead to effective programs to increase healthful behaviors. A secondary benefit of the creation of the CREEK Research Institute will be development of infrastructure needed to facilitate participation in the knowledge-based economy by residents of Kentucky's Appalachian counties. The CREEK Research Institute is intended to be a vehicle for generating needed knowledge, to serve as an educational laboratory for first-hand research experience for the expanded group of CREEK students, and to become a new employer of rural-based research personnel.