Over recent years, there has been considerable progress in recognition of the scope and complexity of health status disparity among ethnic and racial minorities, and social determinants of health. Despite increased awareness, little progress has been made in translating the knowledge to sound community standards of practice. Meharry Medical College (MMC) has a need to enhance its capability, resources and the environment in which it addresses the health problems of the underserved and minority community. We propose the creation of an EXPORT Center that will link research and a community perspective to elucidate and mitigate the causal factors of disease among our target population in Nashville, Tennessee. We will partner with Vanderbilt University Health Center and the Metro Public Health Department to actualize a paradigm to address the problem of health disparities. The long- term objectives of our Center is to improve the health and well-being of ethnic and acial minorities by promoting research that enhances understanding of the effects of society, economics, culture, behavior and biology on their health. The focus will be on disparite health behaviors, risk factors and outcomes related to chronic and infectious diseases, specifically hormone-related cancers, respiratory disease, diabetes and HIV/AIDS. Our short-term objectives are to create: 1) a mentoring program that aims to enable junior faculty to become independent, researchers in areas of health disparities and 2) a supportive academic research environment that promotes the health of racial and ethnic minorities. The Center will provide infrastructure building for MMC in the form of research faculty, administrative support services and a structured framework to integrate research, prevention, health education, health maintenance and treatment. Backed by the Meharry-Vanderbilt Alliance and Metro Public Health Department, MMC provides a unique environment for creating an EXPORT Center. The Center will measure its success by the establishment of mentoring programs that aim to enable junior faculty to become research scientists, an empowered community capable of supporting the academic research environment and community advancement in the understanding and mitigation of health disparities.
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