DESCRIPTION FOR CENTER APPLICATION (provided by the investigator): Despite significant advances in medical treatment, prevention has faltered and few of the Healthy People 2010 objectives have been realized. For over 22 years, The University of North Carolina Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention (HPDP) has partnered with NC communities and public health agencies to better understand health disparities and design effective solutions. Proposed work for the next 5 years addresses five priorities: 1) increased partnerships with communities experiencing health disparities, 2) expanded focus on the social determinants of health, 3) increased focus on policy and environmental change, 4) enhanced capacity at UNC and in the state for CBPR, and 5) enhanced focus on translation and dissemination of effective interventions. These priorities are incorporated in the following specific aims: AIM 1: Strengthen HPDP infrastructure by further developing and institutionalizing a new community-based participatory research (CBPR) unit;expanding capacity in dissemination, training, and evaluation;and building a new research fellows program. AIM 2: Partner more extensively and effectively with community members, public health practitioners, and academia to improve health outcomes, eliminate health disparities, and promote high quality research using CBPR principles. AIM 3: Use a variety of communication and dissemination strategies to link HPDP research and training with academic, practitioner, and lay communities. AIM 4: Enhance training activities to meet the identified needs of students, faculty and staff, public health practitioners and community members, using a variety of modalities and technologies;and through a new partnership with NC Area Health Education Centers for statewide training in health promotion. AIM 5: Build and strengthen the capacity of the Evaluation Core to evaluate HPDP effectiveness and collaborate with community partners to build capacity around evaluation. AIM 6: Continue and expand a research focus on CBPR and health disparities through our core research application, "Seeds of HOPE," and multiple interdisciplinary efforts, contributing to new university, state and national efforts including UNC Tomorrow and UNC's Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) program.