Community Advisory Board

The Community Advisory Board oversees and guides core projects within the Prevention Research Center on Nutrition and Physical Activity (HPRC). This group provides important links to the broader Boston and Massachusetts community, other states, and the national PRC Community Committee of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s Prevention Research Center (PRC) program. Members participate in strategic planning and project activities and assist with developing community-appropriate dissemination strategies.

Responsibilities include: 

• Assisting in developing the structure and content of the Leaders in Health community training program. The goal of this program is to build the capacity of our community partners by providing staff with an introduction to the fundamentals of community-based participatory research, program planning, and evaluation. 
• Co-developing a community consultation service to foster reciprocity between the HPRC and our community partners. We currently offer one-on-one technical assistance and small group trainings to support planning, evaluation, communications, and grant writing activities focused on nutrition and physical activity topics. 
• Assisting in the development and dissemination of the Out of School Time Nutrition and Physical Activity (OSNAP). Members involved with out of school time programming, city and state agencies, and local youth serving organizations, provided input on study design, identification and recruitment of out of school time programs and other collaborators, intervention materials, interpretation of results, and strategies for dissemination. Several organizations who have participated in the community committee over the years (the Boston Public Health Commission and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health) have worked directly with the HPRC to disseminate OSNAP through Boston’s Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) initiative and the state’s Mass in Motion Kids program. 
• Contributing to the HPRC’s Community Partners Meeting. Specifically, members advise on the content of the meeting based on the interests and needs of various community members. Past meetings addressed screen time, sugar-sweetened beverages and water access in communities, schools, and work sites. 
• Engaging in strategic planning for the HPRC’s research agenda. This process has been guided by input received and ideas generated at the Community Partners Meeting. 

Initial appointments are for two years and appointments with an opportunity for renewal on a two-year basis. Full meetings occur quarterly each year. Between meetings, committee members have opportunities to get involved with specific PRC projects throughout the year. 

• Nineequa Blanding, MPH (Committee Co-Chair)
  Vice President, Health | Social Impact Exchange
• Mary Bovenzi, MPH (Committee Co-Chair)
  Director, Chronic Disease Prevention & Control Division | Boston Public Health Commission
• Elana Brochin, MS, MPH
  Program Director for Health Equity | Massachusetts Association of Community Development Corporations
• Fernanda Campbell, PhD
  Senior Manager of Research | Boston Opportunity Agenda
• Jill Carter, MA, EdM
  Senior Executive Director, Office of Social Emotional Learning and Wellness | Boston Public Schools
• Barry Keppard, AICP
  Director of the Public Health Department | Metropolitan Area Planning Council
• Kristen McKinnon
  Assistant Director, Student and Family Support | Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
• Tish McMullin, JD
  Executive Director | Conference of Boston Teaching Hospitals
• Ra’Shaun Nalls, MPA
  Director of Community Engagement | Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
• Shari Nethersole, MD
  Vice President for Community Health and Engagement | Boston Children’s Hospital
• Lea Susan Ojamaa, MPH
  Deputy Director, Bureau of Community Health and Prevention | Massachusetts Department of Public Health
• Carlene Pavlos, MTS
  Executive Director | Massachusetts Public Health Association
• Claire Santarelli, RD, CDE, LDN
  Director, Division of Health Protection & Promotion | Massachusetts Department of Public Health