The ultimate goal of prevention research is to prolong the health, well-being, and self-sufficiency of all people.
Prevention research draws from many disciplines. This multidisciplinary approach is necessary for researchers to adequately understand and address the complex nature of many of today’s health problems. The PRC- focuses on applied prevention research, with multiple projects designed specifically to develop and evaluate strategies to improve the health of communities.
In community-based prevention research, interventions are conducted with and within community settings. Interventions are often conceived, developed and carried out by people in communities where disease strikes, rather than by clinical researchers in controlled laboratory or clinic settings.
Prevention research also seeks answers to questions about behaviors, lifestyles, environment, and policies that lead either to disease or to vitality, and about what defines and promotes good health. Studies that examine the factors that put people at risk for or help them avoid major chronic diseases (heart disease, cancer and stroke) and infectious diseases (AIDS) are good examples of prevention research.
The PRC-STL is an exciting collaboration between Washington University in St. Louis (Brown School and School of Medicine) and numerous local communities.