The Center for Aging in Diverse Communities (CADC) was established at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) in 1997. CADC was one of six Centers funded by the Resource Center for Minority Aging Research (RCMAR) program of the National Institute on Aging (NIA). We were renewed in 2002 and in 2007 for 14 years of continuous funding and mentoring activities, CADC has expanded a strong research foundation for scholarship on health disparities at UCSF and is housed within the Medical Effectiveness Research Center for Diverse Populations (MERC) established in 1993. CADC has become an integral component at UCSF under the MERC umbrella in supporting the development of minority investigators and in conducting research on minority aging to address health disparities. CADC supports minority aging research by expanding human resource capacity through funding and mentoring of diverse investigators to conduct social, behavioral, epidemiological, clinical, translational, and policy research. The proposed competitive renewal for CADC under the RCMAR program has its foundation in strong minority and scientific leadership with a background in disparities and aging research. CADC is a magnet center for investigators from multiple disciplines at UCSF and associated research groups that are conducting research in under-served minority populations. CADC has developed a network of UCSF affiliated investigators from multiple disciplines with 14 years of collaborative experience mentoring CADC Scholars in their minority aging research. We have an outstanding track record, mentoring 58 minority postdoctoral trainees and junior faculty as funded CADC Scholars and promoting their research careers during our history as a Center. Furthermore, we have sustained partnerships with ethnically diverse communities and organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area that are facilitating an active agenda of community-engaged research. Many of these stakeholders and end-users of the research being conducted by our CADC Scholars participate on our Advisory Board. CADC faculty possess extensive health disparities and minority aging research experience. Eliseo J. Perez- Stable, MD (PI) is an internationally recognized authority on health care disparities research. The research team has been working together for nearly 20 years;all of the CADC Core Leaders have been part of the Center's leadership from the start. Faculty expertise spans the breadth of quantitative measurement methods (Anita Stewart, PhD, Steven Gregorich, PhD, Anna Napoles, PhD, and Irene Yen, PhD), qualitative research methods (Anna Napoles, PhD), and the science of recruiting, maintaining, and assessing minority populations (Drs. Perez-Stable, Napoles, and Celia Kaplan, DrPH). The Administrative Core of the CADC is the central organizational unit that will coordinate and support the work of the Investigator Development, Analysis, and Community Liaison Cores. Thus, the Specific Aims of the Administrative Core reflect the overall goals of the Center as follows: 1. To expand the organizational structure and expertise of the UCSF CADC with three inter-related research themes: a) understanding multi-level determinants of disparities, b) evaluating through secondary data analysis the effects of policies that reduce public services among minority older adults, and c) translating evidence-based interventions to prevent/manage chronic conditions and mitigate the effects of stressful environments in minority communities; 2. To foster the development of ethnically diverse investigators who will conduct social, behavioral, clinical, and epidemiological research with older minority persons with pilot funding and continuing mentoring provided by the Center through the NIA/NIH grant application process; 3. To institutionalize mechanisms and procedures that ensure interaction between the Investigator Development, Analysis, and Community Liaison Cores and between CADC Faculty and Scholars with other UCSF disparities and aging investigators and NIA-sponsored Centers and programs; 4. To ensure the participation of at least three CADC representatives in the annual RCMAR meetings with and to contribute to the RCMAR Program Emphases and Outcomes Report every six months; 5. To coordinate and maintain an external Community-based Advisory Group that nmeets at least annually.
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