Patient Research Advisory Board

The St. Louis Patient Research Advisory Board was founded by and consists of CRFT program alumni who have completed a 15-week training program on research methods and are certified to conduct research with human subjects by the Human Research Protections Office at the Washington University School of Medicine. The PRAB is designed to help investigators with community-engaged or community-based research proposals/projects by having community members review proposals and give feedback.

Goal and Objectives

The PRAB will build bridges between community and researchers through a mutually beneficial, collaborative framework that increases research knowledge, advocates for community health concerns, and addresses health disparities. To accomplish this, the PRAB will:Engage community health advocates, community-based organizations, academic researchers and clinicians to participate as equal partners in the research process.Serve in an advisory role to academic researchers on issues of community engagement, building trust and ethical considerations of research and study design. Provide a forum that allows for mutually beneficial communication between community stakeholders and academic researchers on meaningful, relevant clinical concerns.Inform, guide and review grant proposals.Foster academic community linkages and disseminate information about clinical research findings pertinent to the community.

Vision Statement

How the community will benefit from the PRAB: Community members who participate in research projects will feel certain that their engagement is valuable.The PRAB will ensure grant proposals and research activities are comprehensive, ethical, professional, authentic, accurate and reliable, and use measures that can be realistically implemented in identified community settings.

PRAB Planning Committee Members 

• Tori Fennoy
• Rosetta Keeton
• Carlette Lewis Rhone
• Vanessa Loyd (co-chair)
• Felice McClendon
• Travis Schmidt
• James Wallace
• Tanya Webb-Carr
• Jackie Wilkins (co-chair)
• Everday Wilkins
• Sylvia Burns

Current Projects

• St. Louis County Department of Public Health/SAMHSA—St. Louis ReCAST (Resiliency in Communities After Stress and Trauma) Grant, Evaluation of Participatory Budgeting Process
• St. Louis County Department of Public Health—Healthy Families America, Advisory Board
• Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute—Expert review panelists to provide input on development of community engagement in research measure