? Diabetes disproportionately affects certain ethnic groups such as African-Americans, Latinos, and Native Americans. The reasons for these inequalities and strategies for reducing the disparities are incompletely understood. Evidence suggests that the causes are multifactorial and that solutions will require multi-level interventions that target individuals, communities, health systems, and public policy at the local, state, and national level. The objective of the proposed conference (""""""""Diabetes Health Disparities: Determinants, Prevention, Treatment, and Policy"""""""") is to bring together experts with different perspectives in an effort to better understand disparities in diabetes and to guide future research activities. Support is requested to partially underwrite the costs of the conference to be held November 12-13, 2007, in Nashville, TN. The goals of this conference are: 1) assemble leading researchers from across the nation as speakers to stimulate an exchange of ideas leading to new research partnerships and insights into the observed problems; b) encourage students in the clinical, basic, and social sciences to attend, submit posters, take part in the discussions, and make research plans for the future; and 3) attract underrepresented minority program participants and registrants to take part in this important scientific endeavor. This meeting will be a unique blend of informality and interactive ? discussion characteristic of Gordon conferences. A concerted effort will be made to attract junior investigators and those considered underrepresented in biomedical fields, such as women and ethnic minorities. Travel awards will be provided to aid in this effort. The conference is being organized by Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Meharry Medical College, the Meharry-Vanderbilt Alliance, and the Vanderbilt Diabetes Research and Training Center (DRTC). The Vanderbilt DRTC is one of five NIH-funded DRTCs that each has a Prevention and Control Core. For the proposed conference, investigators in the Vanderbilt Prevention/Control Core will work collaboratively with investigators at the other four NIH-funded DRTCs in the country (University of Chicago, University of Michigan, Washington University, Albert Einstein), and the Meharry-Vanderbilt Alliance to organize and plan the proposed conference. In addition, the planning committee for the conference will consist of other local and ? national scientists with expertise in social and behavioral science, health services research, and clinical ? diabetes research, and includes considerable experience in both the subject of the planned conference and in planning national meetings. The conference will be publicized in scientific journals, on the Internet, and announcements will be emailed to members known to be active in the field. Electronic publicity will be accomplished by a Meharry and Vanderbilt-linked conference website. ? ? ?
