Community Engagement and Outreach Core
The Community Engagement and Outreach Core (CEOC) engages populations affected by health disparities with the goal of developing community-based research priorities to translate into improved health outcomes.
Main Objectives
- Engage community advisory boards to identify and prioritize the health issues and concerns of TRANSCEND’s communities and populations
- Assist investigators in developing culturally appropriate, community-engaged research projects and facilitate the recruitment and retention of research participants
- Utilize effective communication strategies to engage and connect communities, community
clinics, investigators, and TRANSCEND leadership and staff for their mutual benefit
Loretta Heuer, Director of the CEOC
Dr. Loretta Heuer is a Professor and previous Associate Dean at the NDSU School of Nursing. As a Robert Wood Johnson Fellow, Dr. Heuer developed and directed the Red River Valley Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers (MHSF) Diabetes Health program for 15 years. She also established the Diabetes Lay Educator Program (DLEP), which served Hispanic Migrant Farmworkers in Minnesota, North Dakota, and Texas. Through the National Diabetes Health Disparities Collaborative, the MHSI DLEP received the Outstanding Rural Health Program Award from the National Rural Conference for its excellent outcomes in improving diabetes care in Community Health Centers. Dr. Heuer has collaborated with the Spirit Lake Nation over the past 12 years as PI of the Sustaining Career Pathways for American Indian Health Professionals in North Dakota. This grant had multiple outcomes in collaboration with Cankdeska Cikana Community College, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, and the Columbia University Medical School to teach public health courses and develop workforce and health activities for American Indian youth. Through her funded research, she is examining the effectiveness of the Spirit Lake Nation Enhanced Training and Services Program to “End Abuse in Later Life” grant, the Spirit Lake Dementia Caregiver Project, and the Alzheimer’s Disease Programs Initiative in Indian Country.
Dawn Denny, Co-Director of the CEOC
Dr. Dawn Denny is an Associate Professor at the University of North Dakota’s College of Nursing & Professional Disciplines and has been at UND since 2015 when she came from Montana after earning her PhD in Nursing. Dr. Denny brings a strong background of over 25 years of clinical nursing experience in hospital, long-term care, and community settings. Dr. Denny has a passion for translating research to clinical practice to improve patient outcomes. She has extensive experience caring for geriatric populations and specializes in orthopaedics and is Orthopedic Nurse Certified. Dr. Denny’s research has focused on learning more about the contributing factors to subsyndromal delirium following surgery, including pain, opioid intake, nutrition, and fall history. In addition, Dr. Denny served as Co-PI for research comparing three surgical surfaces for risk of pressure injuries that occur during surgery through measures of oxygenation, perfusion, temperature, and pain in healthy participants. Dr. Denny’s ongoing research in collaboration with biomedical engineering and industry examines the use of innovative surfaces to prevent pressure injuries in various clinical settings. Dr. Denny teaches health quantitative research and ethics courses in the graduate nursing department at UND. In addition, she served as PI of the U-RISE at UND program (2024), and currently serves as the PI/Program Director of the HRSA-funded NEPQR-WEP program – Gero-STARR at the UND College of Nursing & Professional Disciplines.
David Schmitz, MD, Community Physician At-Large
Dr. Schmitz is Chair of Family and Community Medicine at UND and has extensive expertise in training and retaining physicians in rural and underserved areas including focusing on improvement in Critical Access Hospitals and Community Health Centers. Dr. Schmitz will serve as the Community Physician At-Large (CoPAL) to provide information on concerns and opportunities for COEC engagement with ND rural hospitals to the CEOC Directors and the Admin Core.