CAB FAQ Video
Have you thought about joining a Community Advisory Board (CAB)? This video describes what it is like. As a CAB member, you will help shape projects, research, and initiatives that matter to your community. You will have the opportunity to bring your experiences and ideas to the table, speak up for community needs, and build new skills along the way. Learn more about whether CAB membership might be right for you.
Whether you or your organization is already partnering with UCSF researchers, faculty or learners, or you are considering a partnership, this page has information to help you ensure that a partnership will meet your needs.
Is a community-engaged partnership right for my organization?
To get you started, consider the following questions:
- “Are your goals aligned with the goals of your potential UCSF partner?”
- “Is the proposed project a good fit with my organization’s mission of service delivery?”
- "What health promotion activities and/or advocacy is my organization seeking support with?"
- “Is the compensation being offered enough to support the resources needed to execute the project?”
- The Association of Medical Colleges' Principles of Trustworthiness are a great resource to help organizations have conversations about what partnerships should look like.
What are the steps for community-academic projects?
Community-academic collaborations revolve around processes of co-development of an activity. Here are some guiding actions to start your project:
- Identify the health promotion and advocacy needs of your organization
- Ensure that the project is mutually beneficial
- Clarity on roles and responsibilities - identify each other's strengths
- Support best forms of communication and implement check-in points
Why are there so many acronyms?
Academic medical professionals and universities often use acronyms as shorthand to avoid repeating long phrases. It's confusing, though, when you're just entering this playground.
Here's a helpful list of the acronyms you'll encounter most at UCSF.
Where can I find resources about Community Advisory Boards (CAB)?
The toolkit also includes ready-to-use templates, sample agendas, and evaluation tools.
Scroll down for the full list of resources for community partners.
Featured Resource: AAMC's Principles of Trustworthiness
The Principles of Trustworthiness Toolkit is designed to help institutions earn their community's trust by demonstrating they are worthy of it. Published by the AAMC Center for Health Justice, the toolkit offers a structured, yet flexible approach to building genuine partnerships rooted in humility, accountability, and long-term commitment.
Guide: Community-Engaged Research with Community Based Organizations
This Quick-Start Guide is intended for community-based organizations that may be interested in partnering with academic researchers at UCSF to conduct community-based research. This is a shortened version of the "A Resource Manual for Community-Based Organizations" document.
The Spectrum of Community Engagement to Ownership
This Spectrum of Community Engagement charts a pathway to strengthen and transform partnerships. The spectrum can be used to describe and deepen community-academic collaborations.
Resource Manual for Community-Based Organizations
The aim of this document is to orient community-based organizations seeking to do research built on research partnerships with UCSF investigators. This manual is designed to inform, facilitate, and support such partnerships so research can meet the needs of agencies, collaborative partners, and participants.
Case Study: HERE with Community: Healthcare Access for Farmworkers (English)
This video is an example of researchers working with the community to advocate for policy change. The HERE with Community project explored barriers between research institutions, community health centers, and, by extension, their patient populations in the Central Valley.
Case Study: HERE with Community: Healthcare Access for Farmworkers (Spanish)
Este video es un ejemplo de investigadores que trabajan con la comunidad para abogar por cambios de polices. El proyecto HERE con Community exploró las barreras existentes entre las instituciones de investigación, los centros de salud comunitarios y, por extensión, sus poblaciones de pacientes en el Valle Central.
Este video es un ejemplo de investigadores que trabajan con la comunidad para abogar por cambios de polices.
This video is an example of researchers working with the community to advocate for policy change. The HERE with Community project explored barriers between research institutions, community health centers, and, by extension, their patient populations in the Central Valley.
Linguistica Interpreting and Translation, LLC, is a translation firm based in California that offers a range of interpretation and translation services. They are a registered vendor in BearBuy, but are not endorsed by CTSI or UCSF.
The Language Bank offers comprehensive language interpretation and translation services for UCSF research and clinical services. They are registered as a vendor in BearBuy and have been utilized by many research project teams and by CTSI. Click on the link to view their rate sheet.
In 2025, the CTSI Research Action Group for Equity (RAGE) partnered with the UCSF Institutional Review Board (IRB) to solicit community feedback on the Informed Consent Form (ICF) Template.
This document provides a sample invoice template for UCSF researchers to use when compensating Community Advisory Board (CAB) members.
This document is provided as an example of a survey that research and project teams can use when recruiting potential Community Advisory Board (CAB) members.
This document is provided as an example survey for research and project teams to use when recruiting potential Community Advisory Board (CAB) members. It is intended to serve as a template and reference.
If you’re evaluating a single Community Advisory Board (CAB) meeting and not the overall experience, the goal is to capture immediate feedback on clarity, engagement, respect, and usefulness. You want questions that are quick, repeatable, and actionable.
This survey is provided as an example to help teams reflect on Community Advisory Board (CAB) members’ overall experiences at the end of your CAB. It is intended as a reference, and you are encouraged to adapt the questions to fit your goals.
This is the "After" section of the CTSI CAB Toolkit. This section describes how to close a Community Advisory Board (CAB). This includes sample evaluation questions.
This is the "During" Section of the CTSI CAB Toolkit. This section explains how to facilitate Community Advisory Board (CAB) Meetings.
Hero Artwork: Nothing About Us by Twin Cities artist activist Ricardo Levins Morales