The Community-Based Research Institute (CBRI) is a multidisciplinary research center devoted to reducing risk behaviors and promoting health and wellness across the lifespan. CBRIs applied research approach brings together expert researchers and clinicians with over two decades of experience engaging in meaningful university-community partnerships and program evaluations. Our mission is to promote health equity for all.
CBRI conducts rigorous, innovative clinical research on the prevention and treatment of HIV and substance use and mental health problems. We also conduct state-of-the-art, community-partnered evaluation research focused on health promotion and positive youth development. CBRI emphasizes a biopsychosocial, mixed methods (i.e., both quantitative and qualitative) research approach. The CBRI team works in partnership with underserved communities in order to ensure the developmental, cultural, and linguistic appropriateness of our clinical and evaluation research.
CBRI is housed at Florida International University (FIU), a minority-serving institution (MSI) that is ranked as the 4th largest public university in the U.S. and the 2nd largest in Florida. The Carnegie Foundation has named FIU in two of their top tier classifications, (1) High Research and a Community Engaged University and (2) R1: Doctoral University – Highest Research Activity. FIU considers itself a solutions center for its community and has earned the title of AshokaU Changemaker Campus. The FIU 2015-2020 Strategic Plan notes, “FIU has been at the heart of bringing wellness to our community.”
The Ignite Fund for FIU-Collegiate Recovery Program
CBRI is proud to support the the FIU Collegiate Recovery Program (CRP). The FIU CRP is designed to support FIU students in or seeking recovery from alcohol or drug addiction. The program will provide an educational opportunity alongside recovery support to ensure that students do not have to sacrifice one for the other. For more information on Panthers for Recovery at FIU, please click here.
The single largest NIH grant ever won by FIU!
The National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) has awarded FIU-CBRI a $13.1 million grant to build a world-class research center focused on ending health disparities associated with substance use problems and HIV in South Florida. The grant, entitled “FIU Center for Reducing Health Disparities in Substance Abuse & HIV in South Florida,” is the single largest grant ever won by FIU, and is part of NIMHD’s Research Centers in Minority Institutions (RCMI) Program. Click here for more information.