April 2021 Health Behavior Health Education (HBHE) Faculty Spotlight: Dr. Chris Coombe

Chris M. Coombe is an Assistant Research Scientist in the Department of Health Behavior & Health Education and is affiliated with the Detroit Community-Academic Urban Research Center (Detroit URC), a longstanding community-based participatory research (CBPR) partnership. She received her PhD from the University of Michigan and her MPH from University of California, Berkeley.

Dr. Coombe has extensive experience designing, conducting, and evaluating collaborative research and interventions using a CBPR.  Her research focuses primarily on: the conceptualization, measurement, and advancement of CBPR; conducting mixed methods participatory evaluation; and enhancing capacity to translate and apply research findings to inform policy change. Dr. Coombe co-directs a multi-component, national training program for community-academic teams to use a CBPR approach to reduce inequities in their communities. She is co-investigator on an NIH-funded mixed methods study to conceptualize and develop a valid measurement tool to evaluate success in longstanding partnerships. Dr. Coombe leads the Detroit URC’s longstanding policy advocacy capacity building program, and conducted a health impact assessment on Detroit redevelopment strategies. Her overarching research interests are to understand urban social and physical environmental contributions to racial and socioeconomic inequities, and translate that knowledge to inform policy change to promote health and equity.

For more information about Dr. Coombe and her research, come to the HBHE Colloquium on April 19th @ 3:00pm via Zoom (meeting #985 8463 3177)