The Great Cities Institute at the University of Illinois Chicago is launching a Latino Research Initiative, which will build off longstanding work studying how to best tackle some of the biggest challenges facing urban areas, from economic development to gentrification to crime. “This will give our Latino-focused research an identity and an impetus to build on our knowledge base,” said Teresa Córdova, director of the Great Cities Institute. She hopes it will spur collaborations among faculty who study issues of relevance to the Latino community but who may not know what their peers are doing. “We want it to be a hub for other researchers at UIC to come together.”  Great Cities has produced a number of reports in the past year that connect to the initiative’s mission. For example, the institute was asked to partner with Mujeres Latinas en Acción in compiling the organization’s first position paper, ¡Actívate!, a community-data driven guide to help Latinas and their families thrive. Through surveys, focus groups and a community assessment, Great Cities helped Mujeres study community needs in areas such as health care, immigration and gender-based violence. For more information, visit www.uic.edu