In this session, pairs of researchers and community leaders share their journeys and experiences as co-investigators, offering an unfiltered look at what it takes to implement community-informed research. Moderated by a research funder, these dyads will explore where authentic partnership creates new research opportunities, as well as the barriers, power differentials, and structural considerations that funders are uniquely positioned to address. The conversation offers funders a candid window into the realities of community-engaged research and the strategic role philanthropic investment plays in making equitable collaboration the standard.

Speakers:

Bradley Peterson, MD – Chief of the Division of Psychiatry and Co-Director of the Behavioral Health Institute, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles
Bradley Peterson, MD is the chief of the Division of Psychiatry and co-director of the Behavioral Health Institute at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, joined CHLA in July 2014. He also was the inaugural director of the hospital’s Institute for the Developing Mind. Previously, he served for 13 years at Columbia University, where he was director of the Center for Developmental Neuropsychiatry. Before that, he spent 12 years at Yale University, where he served as Director of Neuroimaging at the Yale Child Study Center. Dr. Peterson’s vast experience as a scientist, physician, teacher and mentor provides the Institute with the transformative leadership necessary to establish a comprehensive program of interdisciplinary research, education, training and clinical services for childhood neurodevelopmental problems at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. His research has used brain-imaging technologies to understand the origins of neurodevelopmental disorders, and to map the complex pathways between the genetic and environmental influences that can trigger their onset or progression. A physician in the Division of Research on Children, Youth and Families within the Department of Pediatrics at CHLA, Peterson also holds a secondary appointment in the Department of Psychiatry at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC), where he is director of the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

Marisa Perez-Martin, MS, LMFT – Chief Program Officer, Sycamores
Marisa Perez, M.S., LMFT is Chief Program Officer at Sycamores, a community-based mental health treatment network in LA county and adjacent counties.

Moderator:

Kevin Sia, PhD – Senior Program Officer for Medical Research, Doris Duke Foundation
As senior program officer for medical research at the Doris Duke Foundation, Kevin Sia manages and evaluates grant programs and actively contributes scientific expertise and knowledge to build relationships with existing grantees. Prior to joining the foundation in 2021, Sia was a postdoctoral research fellow at the Sloan Kettering Institute of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. He has a research background in immunology and microbiology, particularly focused on vaccine immunity and antibiotic resistant pathogens. Sia earned a Doctor of Philosophy in immunology and molecular pathogenesis from Emory University, where he trained at the Emory Vaccine Center.