The University of Hawaii (UH) John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM) is submitting this application to establish an endowment focused on cardiovascular research, because cardiovascular disease is the primary cause of excess morbidity and mortality in our minority and medically-underserved citizens. We will accomplish this objective by supplemental or beginning support for projects in the new Center for Cardiovascular Research (CCR) at JABSOM that are: 1. pertinent to health disparities and, 2. most likely to lead to fundable projects that can leverage the initial investment of the endowment funds. It is clear that cardiovascular disease is a vital area of research emphasis for the foreseeable future for reducing health disparities in our state. Moreover, JABSOM has recently recruited a new leader to develop cardiovascular research at the school and his program has been progressing rapidly. The endowment program will enhance efforts to encourage health disparities research in the CCR, and provide promising junior investigators the opportunity to develop studies that will ultimately improve health outcomes in Hawaii's people. It is our overall objective to establish an endowment to support the development of a perpetual research program focused on cardiovascular research, especially as it relates to areas of emphasis relevant to Native Hawaiian, Asian and Pacific Islander and other underserved populations in Hawaii. We have designed the following specific aims to accomplish our objective: 1. we will establish a senior-level Cardiovascular Endowment Committee to design and implement the proposed endowment program. This committee will prioritize cardiovascular research projects deserving of endowment support within the newly established Center for Cardiovascular Research. 2. We will support junior and minority faculty in conducting cardiovascular research. We anticipate that this will primarily include salary and project support to develop early-stage projects to a fundable level. We will focus on funding projects that contribute to the understanding or relief of cardiovascular diseases that are particularly common or severe among underserved populations in Hawaii. 3. Finally we will increase the endowment corpus through reinvestment of earnings and new funding initiatives that will complement the endowment support.
