Who We Are
We are the Community Outreach, Research and Engagement (CORE) team. We support community–academic partnerships, gather community input for academic research, and increase research in community settings that is responsive to the pressing health concerns of residents in Oregon.
Our team is made up of OHSU staff from the OCTRI Community Research Hub, the Knight Cancer Institute Community Outreach and Engagement programs, the ORPRN Research program, and community stakeholders and volunteers.
Our Team
Knight COE
Community Outreach & Engagement
The Knight Cancer Institute Community Outreach & Engagement team works to reduce cancer burden in Oregon communities through development of programs and partnerships to enhance cancer prevention, cancer screening and access to cancer care.
For general inquiries, email the Knight Community Outreach & Engagement team.
Specialists
Community Cancer Control Specialists
The Knight Cancer Institute Community Cancer Control Specialists are part of Knight Community Outreach and Engagement (COE) and serve four Oregon regions. The specialists facilitate partnerships between the Knight Cancer Institute and their communities and implement cancer prevention and control activities in alignment with the Oregon Comprehensive Cancer Control Plan. Aligned with the Knight Cancer Institute’s efforts to ensure reach to Oregon’s largest ethnic group (Hispanic and Latino individuals), two of the specialists are bilingual in English and Spanish.
Reach out to the Community Cancer Control Specialist Team Manager.
Liaisons
Community Research Liaisons
Community Research Liaisons live and work in five, mostly rural, regions in Oregon. They work alongside community leaders and health and wellness stakeholders in their region and have an established network. Guided by the principles of community engaged research, they support research best practices, provide training and education and have a key role in developing projects and community-academic collaborations in their regions.
Reach out to the Community Research Liaison Team Manager.
Our Programs
Knight Alliance
Knight Alliance for Patient-Centered Discovery
Knight Alliance for Patient-Centered Discovery members serve as vital partners in advancing patient-centered cancer research across Oregon. Drawing on lived experience, community knowledge, and professional insight, Alliance members advocate for research that reflects the real needs of patients and communities. They contribute meaningfully to study design, grant review, and strategic initiatives, ensuring that the patient and community voice informs every stage of the research process.
Connect with the Knight Alliance for Patient-Centered Discovery program manager.
HOP
Healthy Oregon Project
The Healthy Oregon Project (HOP) is a secure repository managed by OHSU that stores human specimens, such as blood, tissue, and body fluids like saliva, along with associated data for use in authorized future research studies. Access to this repository is carefully controlled to ensure it is only used by qualified scientists engaged in legitimate research. This study aims to build a cohort of individuals motivated to contribute to health research, serving as a trusted resource for scientists looking for participants for future research studies.
ROCRS
Research in Oregon Communities' Review System
The Research in Oregon Communities' Review System (ROCRS) aims to facilitate a locally-developed cancer research strategy to increase cancer prevention and control research, and build capacity of primary care or community teams to increase readiness to participate in cancer prevention or control research. This system convenes community advisory committees across Oregon to assess researchers' project design, responsiveness and success.
Learn more about ROCRS and other ways CORE can support your research.
Mobile Unit
Knight Mobile Outreach
The Knight Cancer Institute mobile outreach van is dedicated to ending the burden of cancer across Oregon — one mile at a time. We team up with local partners to provide resources to educate, prevent, detect and treat cancer, including administering HPV vaccines, providing skin cancer screenings, distributing FIT kits, and connecting people to clinical trials.
CPP
Community Partnership Program
The Knight Cancer Institute supports the development of sustainable collaborations with Oregon communities to address community-identified cancer needs. The Community Partnership Program is designed to grow and change with the evolving needs of Oregon communities.
Knight Scholars
Knight Scholars Program
The Knight Scholars Program provides 9th and 10th graders with up to a three-year introduction to careers in cancer. The program encourages youth whose communities are underrepresented in cancer research, healthcare and public health – including those of diverse races and ethnicities and those from rural areas – to consider making a career out of the fields of cancer research, treatment and prevention.