Butsch Kovacic, Melinda

Melinda Butsch Kovacic

Polarity Certifications: Mastery
Union, KY USA

Authorship in And: Volume Two – Applications:
Chapter 27: ”Polarity Thinking to Alleviate Tensions in Community-Engaged Health Research”

Dr. Melinda Butsch Kovacic is a Professor and Associate Dean of Research for University of Cincinnati (UC)'s College of Allied Health Sciences. She is also an Associate Professor at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center (CCHMC) and in the Department of Pediatrics at UC's College of Medicine.

Her “We Engage 4 Health” (WE4H) program is funded by a National Institute of General Medical Sciences Science Education Program Award (SEPA) and features community co-designed, comic-style stories and engaging learning experiences focused on health science, research, and citizen science for 5th graders to adults. Programming is structured around the RAP concept (Recognize, Ask, Promote) and includes Health is Happenin' RAP sessions, Citizen Science RAP sessions, the Eyewitness Community Survey, and community partnered RAP for Community Health Days.

Cross-trained as both a biochemist and community-partnered epidemiologist working with under-resourced communities, she thrives on engaging interdisciplinary teams particularly in projects affecting public health. She is passionate about increasing people's productive capacities via mutually beneficial partnerships.

As a Polarity Mastery V graduate, she enjoys teaching others how to best identify and leverage common tensions and has used polarity thinking to enhance both her own research and the academic systems with which she interacts. Her chapter reflects her learnings from her years as a community-engaged researcher.