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Sarah Chilenski

Associate Research Professor of Health and Human Development

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Sarah Chilenski

Associate Research Professor of Health and Human Development

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Sarah Chilenski has worked in prevention research and evaluation for more than 20 years. She became interested in the field after working with children led her to question the role that communities play in youth development and how community programs can be a source of support for those in need.

As Associate Research Professor, Dr. Chilenski focuses on how communities, schools, and universities can collaborate in the pursuit of quality youth prevention programming. Her current applied community research projects focus on:

  • community collaboration
  • technical assistance for community coalition models supporting public health
  • dissemination of evidence-based programs and sustainability, and
  • community context-related youth outcomes.

Dr. Chilenski has played major research roles in projects such as PROSPER and Communities That Care, and leads the process evaluation for the Evidence2Success® framework. The recently-funded Coalition Check-Up project will further her work by testing the feasibility of proactive, regular, relationship-based, data-informed, and coalition-driven technical assistance system for community prevention and health promotion coalitions. She aims to examine youth outcomes of community prevention activities while using data to help empower participating communities.

Dr. Chilenski has authored 25 peer-reviewed journal articles that have appeared in American Journal of Community Psychology, Prevention Science, Evaluation and Program Planning, and Journal of Research in Rural and Community Development, among others.

I am passionate about promoting strong community collaboration to promote healthy youth development.

- Sarah Chilenski

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