The Chez Veterans Center is successful due to our collaborations, bringing together researchers, students, community members, clinicians, and industry partners to solve the most pressing societal issues surrounding veteran health. Our interactions with broader communities, as well as with those we serve, are a source of motivation and inspiration.

Researcher engagement

If you are an Illinois-Urbana researcher looking for veteran health resources, please contact Michael Lotspeich-Yadao at mlots2@illinois.edu to be added to our Microsoft Teams portal.

Educational programming and workshops for researchers
We provide programming to ease discomfort around the perceived academic/military divide. We can also provide suggestions for recruitment that take military cultural competency into consideration.

Strategic relationship management
We have a reach across campus to connect you with other veteran health-focused researchers that have complementary skillsets. If you have an interest in working with community partners, we can help identify potential external partners as well as facilitate initial conversations.

Proposal development support
We can support your research in shaping the initial idea, providing military-friendly language, and reviewing research materials for competency. We can also help craft and review military benefit statements for federal agencies and defense proposals.

Small grants program
We sponsor a small grants program to foster the development of innovative research and generate sustainable partnerships between campus researchers and military veteran communities.

Funding searches
We’ll help connect you with funding opportunities that support veteran health, as well as fit your research interests and timeline.

Facilities
Whether you’re searching for study space, planning an event, or looking to meet research subjects in a safe space, the Chez Veterans Center has you covered! We offer Illinois-Urbana researchers academic conference space, small-group collaboration rooms, interview spaces, and video conferencing solutions.

Student engagement

Fellowship and internship opportunities
At this time, we provide engaged learning opportunities to students enrolled in the Master of Public Health, Master of Healthcare Administration, and Bachelor of Science in Community Health programs. If you are not in any of these AHS degree programs, we may still be interested in partnering with your internship program! Please contact us to learn more.

Graduate student opportunities
Graduate students can engage in cutting-edge activities that drive the Center’s research portfolio and support programming and services through disruptive translational research.

Undergraduate student opportunities
Undergraduate students are actively involved in research operations and the logistical aspects of research operations at the Chez Veterans Center.

Community engagement

By engaging with our broader community through events, publications, and other community-focused efforts, we ensure that our initiatives in veteran health continue to be relevant and impactful. The Chez Veterans Center exposes community members to transformative research and makes public how interdisciplinary research can be used to help solve the preeminent challenges faced by student veterans in higher education. These interactions remind faculty, staff, and students about research motivations, all while helping the broader community understand the work underlying disruptive efforts and the results that come out of it.

Driving our community engagement efforts are three objectives:

1. Help military-connected communities understand how interdisciplinary health research can impact their daily lives, benefit military veterans, and influence scientific discovery.
2. Share with our funding agencies the innovative ways we are translating and disseminating research findings in veteran health to our communities.
3. Build a network of informed, friendly, and supportive individuals and organizations that are interested in addressing health challenges in military-connected communities.

We maintain a directory of researchers at Urbana that work on issues concerning veteran health. If you work for an organization that would benefit from a research presentation, please email Michael Lotspeich-Yadao at mlots2@illinois.edu to inquire.