The NC TraCS Community and Patient Advisory Board (CPAB) is a dynamic group of patient and community leaders from across North Carolina who are convened to create and strengthen bidirectional, trustworthy connections between researchers at UNC-Chapel Hill and communities across the state. Established in fall 2021, the CPAB's primary role is to ensure that NC TraCS centers community and patient perspectives in its programming and translational science efforts.

Through its work, the CPAB aims to:

• Provide guidance on NC TraCS programming, operations, and initiatives related to community/patient engagement, inclusive science, and research recruitment
• Advocate for UNC-wide infrastructure that supports equitable engagement and participation in research
• Inform principles and practices around UNC-Chapel Hill's relationships with communities, highlighting the importance of trustworthiness, partnership, transparency, and respect
• On a limited basis, provide project-specific input to the researchers served by NC TraCS, with a specific focus on health equity, engagement strategies, and inclusive recruitment and retention

CPAB Members

	Layla Bonilla Layla Bonilla is a trans nonbinary person who was born and raised in North Carolina. They are a community organizer with a focus on food equity and education. They are Chief Operations Officer of Garner Grows Community Garden, and they spend their time teaching programs and working to create more accessibility to fresh foods. Layla lives with chronic fatigue and inflammation and works closely with individuals with a variety of chronic illnesses. They look forward to bringing this perspective with them to their work with NC TraCS.
	Brayan Corona-Macedo Brayan Corona-Macedo was born in Albemarle, a rural town in North Carolina. As a first-generation medical student from a Mexican-American family, Brayan has navigated and overcome numerous social barriers to redefine what is possible for himself and his community. His passion for Neurology-Oncology blossomed during his first year of medical school, where he collaborated with a UNC neurosurgeon and engaged in neurology research. Brayan is committed to advancing affordable and equitable healthcare, particularly for underserved populations in North Carolina. As a member of the NC TraCS CPAB, he is eager to contribute to initiatives that empower marginalized communities and improve health outcomes. His journey reflects resilience, determination, and a deep dedication to serving others.
	Tonya Harden Tonya Harden is a native of Charlotte, NC and a mother of three grown sons and one beautiful four-year-old granddaughter. She worked for the City of Charlotte for 11 years. Her tenure with the City was also a time of homelessness for her family. She is now an advocate for women and children, single fathers, LGBTQ teens and people with disabilities, because she too is functionally disabled, and she runs a local non-profit called Ma Dukes. Tonya believes that all people are entitled to have a warm and functional place to lay their head and to have good health and healthcare. She feels that black and brown people are underrepresented and misrepresented in studies and trials, which is her reason for being involved in this CPAB.
	Cheslie Johnson Cheslie Johnson is an experienced patient advocate/advisor who brings her patient experiences to numerous institutions and organizations. Her personal insight has allowed her the privilege to collaborate within the medical research community with the goal of giving researchers the human perspective and helping them understand the benefits of patient centered engagement within research. Cheslie also serves as the patient partner Co-Principal Investigator of a Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) award to establish the PCORnet Engagement and Public Awareness Services Coordinating Center.
	Rev. William (Bill) Kearney Rev. Kearney is a partner in several community-engaged research projects and consults with universities, organizations, and partnerships across the United States. He is the Director/Board Chair of the Warren County Environmental Action Team, Inc. and developer of the Warren County African American History Collective. Rev. Kearney serves as associate minister and faith & health ministry coordinator at Coley Springs Missionary Baptist Church and vice president of the United Shiloh Missionary Baptist Association Church Union. He is also a research associate and community outreach manager at the UNC Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention and managing partner of The PRIME Collective Consultants, LLC.
	Parvathy Krishnan Parvathy Krishnan is Executive Director and Founder at the Krishnan Family Foundation, with professional experience in clinical care as a nutrition support dietitian. She began her efforts in advocacy and awareness after both her children were diagnosed with multiple ultra and nano rare genetic conditions, and is passionate about empowering others through advocacy and patient-family engagement. Parvathy serves on numerous advisory councils and is a subject matter expert on patient and family centered care, surgical oncology family experiences, palliative/complex care, and nano rare clinical trial patient experiences. She is the recipient of the 2023 Caregiver Champions Award from the Health Union's Social Health Awards.
	Yvonne LaRoche-Pardo Yvonne LaRoche-Pardo was one of 11 students from North Carolina awarded the 2013-2014 University of North Carolina – Greensboro ACE (Academic Cultural Enrichment) Scholarship. As an ACE scholar, she completed a Master of Library and Information Studies (MLIS) degree program. Throughout the program, she focused on serving diverse populations—including immigrants and refugee families—learned about health literacy challenges, and obtained a post-bac certification to teach special education. Due to her intense interest in safety for all patients (especially those who are not treated equally and/or equitably), she enjoys her role as a Trauma Registrar in Trauma Services at Novant Health. She is also a member of the Novant Health Rebound Business Resource Group (BRG), which focuses on reducing stigma and offering support around mental health and substance abuse among work groups and in communities.
	Tony V. Locklear Tony V. Locklear is a member of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina and comes from Tuscarora descent. He serves as the Quality Improvement Coordinator for the Hoke County Health Department, an independent Community Researcher/Consultant and Capacity Building Specialist, and a doctoral student at UNC-Greensboro in the Department of Public Health Education. Tony has a breadth of experience working on race and social justice issues and has been involved in grassroots community organizing and community health education for over 20 years. He is excited to be part of the CPAB and looks forward to applying his community knowledge to support NC TraCS projects while representing the needs and concerns of the community.
	Norma Marti Norma Marti is dedicated to addressing health equity with a focus on access to health care for adults and children. She previously served in the Children & Youth Branch of the Women's and Children's Health Section within the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and traveled the state conducting workshops providing education and promoting North Carolina's two health insurance programs for children: Health Check and NC Health Choice. Prior to joining DHHS, Norma was a senior staff member of El Pueblo, Inc., a Raleigh-based non-profit statewide advocacy and public policy organization dedicated to strengthening the Latino Community. She currently serves as Community Co-Lead of the Latinx/Hispanic Community Response Team for the North Carolina Community Engagement Alliance Against COVID-19 Disparities (NC CEAL) and is a member of the Wellbeing subcommittee for the Governor's Hispanic/Latinx Affairs Advisory Council (2022-24).
	Prudencio Martinez-Mengel Prudencio Martinez-Mengel was born and raised in Puerto Rico, son to a Professor of Physics and an Academic Administrator. He holds a BS in Biology from the University of Puerto Rico-Mayagüez Campus and completed his graduate studies at ECU with an MA in International Studies and Certificate in Economic Development. He is a trained Spanish Interpreter and has been involved with the Hispanic/Latinx community in North Carolina for the past fifteen years. Prudencio currently serves as the Director of Latino Outreach and Recruitment at Lenoir Community College in Kinston, NC. He was also a member at large on NC Governor Roy Cooper's Advisory Council on Hispanic/Latinx Affairs, Stanley Frank Award winner of Leadership North Carolina Class 30, and a 2023 LatinxED Fellow. He believes research is a vital tool to understand social and environmental complexities and should be executed fairly with responsible, ethical, and inclusive principles leading to results that create equitable policies that benefit everyone.
	Dianne Shaw Dianne Shaw is a patient with a rare, chronic autoimmune disease (vasculitis) and has been an advocate for rare diseases at the national level as a Vasculitis Foundation Board member and past president, and most recently as co-PI of the Vasculitis Patient Powered Research Network. Before retiring in 2013, she was Director of Communications for the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center for almost 30 years, where she founded the Patient and Family Resource Center and one of the Center's first patient advisory boards. Through her work and personal experiences, she knows that health equity in access, in research, and in delivery is lifesaving and life changing. She looks forward to being part of the effort to achieve these goals by serving on the NC TraCS CPAB.
	Christopher Tunstall Christopher Tunstall lives in Western North Carolina and currently serves on UNC's Advancing Clinical Therapeutics Globally (ACTG) Network for HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases (formerly the AIDS Clinical Trials Group) as Chair of the Community Advisory Board (CAB). He also serves as the Co-Chair for the Global Community Advisory Board (GCAB) for the ACTG Network.
	Mysha Wynn Mysha Wynn is the founder and executive director of Project Momentum, Inc., a community-based organization located in Rocky Mount, NC. Mysha is a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Interdisciplinary Fellow and has served as consultant/Co-PI on multiple community-engaged projects. Mysha uses her 15+ years of expertise in community engagement, community based participatory research, and program coordination to leverage assets for communities through research. Mysha is a principal partner with the PRIME Collective, LLC, a group of community experts who provide consulting expertise to investigators on how to incorporate community engagement principals into all phases of research while providing avenues for addressing barriers that stifle community participation in academic research.