The UT Health School of Public Health in San Antonio works closely with Translational Advisory Boards (TABs) and other community agencies by providing technical and research support.  Together, they develop, implement, and disseminate research and assessment projects that are focused on community-identified priorities.  Together the CERC and TABs develop feasible and relevant solutions that engage community members and practitioners, people who historically have not been an integral part of the scientific discovery process.

The South Central Area Health Education Center (SC-AHEC) develops the capacity and leadership of communities via Translational Advisory Boards (TABs). Currently there are TABs located in Atascosa, Bexar, Comal, Frio, Gillespie, Guadalupe, and Karnes Counties.  TABs are composed of local community members who are committed to improving the health of their community by serving as a bridge between their communities and UTHSCSA to build research partnerships and disseminate findings from “bench to bedside to community”.  The TABs work closely with the CERC and other UTHSCSA researchers on community health initiatives such as education/training, research/assessment, and dissemination and communication.

The Practice Based Research Network Center (PBRN) led by Polly Nöel, PhD facilitates opportunities for collaboration between community health providers and UTHSCSA.  PBRNs are used as real world laboratories that allow providers to engage in research from their very own practices. The PBRN Resource Center is comprised of several PBRNs including the Residency Research Network of Texas (RRNeT), South Texas Oral Health Network (STOHN), South Texas Psychiatric Network, and the South Texas Ambulatory Research Network (STARNet). In addition it works closely with the National Dental PBRN.

The Center for Research to Advance Community Health (ReACH), works to promote the health of South Texas residents, especially its majority Hispanic population, through health disparities and health services research. ReACH brings together researchers from diverse disciplines and community partners to evaluate quality of care and implement culturally appropriate models of health care to improve health outcomes.  On its community outreach initiatives, ReACH partners with the SC-AHEC, academic health care providers from UT Medicine, UTSA, and University Health System as well as its community advisory board, the Alliance.

In 2009, the Improvement Science Research Network (ISRN) became the country’s first national research network on care delivery improvement. ISRN aims to accelerate the development and dissemination of interprofessional improvement science in a systems context across multiple hospital sites. It comprises over 200 hospital partners with a mission to advance implementation science applied to health care quality and safety.  The work of the ISRN can be categorized as:  Coordination and transitions of care, high-performing clinical microsystem approaches to improvement, evidence-based quality improvement and best practices, and learning organizations and cultures of quality and safety.