Bettina Drake, PhD, professor of surgery in public health sciences at the School of Medicine, will be the inaugural faculty director of the St. Louis Confluence Collaborative for Community-Engaged Research, Teaching and Practice, Washington University in St. Louis Provost Beverly Wendland announced May 31. The new role takes effect July 1.
The collaborative, identified as a key component of the university’s strategic plan “Here and Next,” will serve as an organizing platform and convening unit for community-engaged research, teaching and practice across WashU, focused on St. Louis needs and partnerships.
A committee of key community partners, WashU faculty and staff worked for six months to identify the collaborative’s inaugural director, ultimately selecting Drake.
Vetta Sanders-Thompson, PhD, the E. Desmond Lee Professor of Racial and Ethnic Diversity and associate dean for equity, diversity and inclusion at the Brown School, and Cynthia Rogers, MD, the Blanche F. Ittleson Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics and director of the Division of Child Psychiatry at the School of Medicine, served as implementation chairs.
“Here at WashU, we are committed to making a lasting and positive local impact,” Wendland said. “Through intentional, sustainable community partnerships, we believe WashU can help solve pressing issues that affect us all, and contribute to an equitable, vibrant future for our region.”
“The new Confluence Collaborative is a key piece of this vision. It will foster and convene our community-centered research. We are fortunate to have had such strong initial leadership for the effort, and we are thrilled Bettina Drake has accepted this important new role.”