Enrique Neblett appointed director of the Detroit URC
U-M Social Work and Public Health professor Katrina Ellis appointed associate director
Enrique Neblett, a professor of Health Behavior & Health Equity at the University of Michigan School of Public Health, has been appointed director of the Detroit Community-Academic Urban Research Center, also known as the Detroit URC. Neblett previously served as the center’s associate director and assumed the role of director on September 1.
“I am honored to serve as the next director of the Detroit URC and extend my gratitude to founding member and outgoing director Barbara Israel,” he said. “Together with the Detroit URC Board and affiliated partnerships, we will continue our firm commitment to fostering and supporting partnerships, building capacity for community-based participatory research (CBPR), and promoting policy change, with a focus on improving the health of Detroit’s residents. At a time when residents of the city continue not to share equally in social resources, opportunities, and health status, our mission of promoting health equity in Detroit, through CBPR, is critical.”
Neblett is a leading scholar in the area of racism and health, studying the impact of racism on the mental and physical health of African American youth. His work has been funded by leading research organizations and foundations, including the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the William T. Grant Foundation, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Established in 1995, the Detroit URC’s mission is to enhance understanding of the relationship between the social and physical environmental determinants of health, and translate that knowledge into public health interventions, programs, and policies aimed at promoting health equity in Detroit.
Neblett succeeds Barbara Israel, professor emerita of Health Behavior & Health Equity at the School of Public Health, as director. Israel is a prominent expert in community-based participatory research (CBPR) and one of the founding members of the center. She was director from 1995 to 2024, until her retirement earlier this year.
In addition to Neblett’s appointment, Katrina Ellis, associate professor of Social Work and Health Behavior & Health Equity at the University of Michigan, was appointed as the center’s associate director.
Learn more about the Detroit URC.
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