MS CEAL
The Mississippi Community Engagement Alliance or MS CEAL is a research network designed to work with communities and community-based organizations across Mississippi and the nation.
Our goal is to identify promising engagement and outreach practices that communicate trustworthy, science-based information to communities experiencing health disparities.
MS CEAL is an NIH-wide effort, led by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI).
The Mississippi CEAL team includes researchers from University of Mississippi Medical Center, the Mississippi State Department of Health, Tougaloo College and the University of Southern Mississippi.
Our Goal
Foster Trust
in science and research
Ensure Inclusion
across the research continuum
Advance Community-Driven Solutions
addressing health equality
Strengthen Community Engagement
with research and solutions
Community Partnerships
Mississippi is one of 23 Regional CEAL Teams across the country. The MS CEAL Team engages in community partnerships to plan, implement, and evaluate innovated community-engaged research that:
- Advances the prevention and control of chronic diseases and reduces related disparities by addressing major risk factors and barriers including social and structural determinants of health.
- Conducts dissemination and implementation science to leverage the resilience and power within communities to spread and integrate evidence-based interventions.
Meet Our Leadership Team
Caroline Compretta, PhD
Dr. Compretta, a trained medical anthropologist, is an associate professor and Assistant Vice Chancellor for Research at UMMC.
Cassandra Mobley
is the Interim CEO at the Mississippi Food Network (MFN), where she’s spent over two decades helping build and strengthen programs that serve communities across the state.
Victor Sutton, PhD
Dr. Sutton directs the Mississippi State Department of Health’s Office of Preventive Health and Health Equity and is nationally recognized for his work in chronic disease prevention and health promotion, and health equity.
"Building on the strength of local organizations, as well as our long-standing community-engaged research efforts, will help us communicate effectively to address disparities and support the proven resilience within communities"
- Dr. Eliseo Pérez-Stable
Director of the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities
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Our Community is Our Mission
