The goal of the Center for Collaborative Research in Minority Health and Health Disparities (CCRMHD) at the University of Puerto Rico Medical Sciences Campus (UPR-MSC) for the next five years is to contribute to the national infrastructure and the capacity for research in the health sciences by supporting translational studies in health disparities affecting the Puerto Rican population. Toward this end, the CCRMHD proposes the following specific aims: (1) target specific minority health and health disparities areas for development and provide initial funding for research activities to support them; (2) promote the professional development of new faculty and early-stage investigators working on these areas (3) develop an efficient and agile research structure to provide services that will facilitate the conduct of collaborative research in minority health and health disparities and develop long-lasting partnerships with commumity- based organizations. We will leverage current research infrastructure and relationships with community- based organizations and stimulate new collaborations utilizing the resources provided by the RCMI Network (RTRN) and other NIH-supported research and mentoring networks such as the CTSA and NRMN. The CCRMHD will integrate its five components into a cohesive structure to address the proposed specific aims and ensure that research activities focus on minority health and health disparities. The Administrative Core, directed by the PI, will oversee and support all core activities and provide direction at a program level. Special attention will be given to the development of career enhancement activities that will promote minority health and health disparities research. With the assistant of an external evaluator progress of the cores toward achieving goals and outcomes will be monitored and evaluated. Preservation of on-going collaborations and partnerships as well as the development of new ones will also be a priority.The Research Infrastructure Core will provide specialized research services in the areas of informatics, genomics, proteomics, tropical and emerging infectious diseases, and neurogenomics- bioimaging to the research projects supported by the CCRMHD as well as other research projects addressing minority health and health disparities. The Investigator Development Core, by supporting pilot projects, will serve as a focal point for promoting professional development of new faculty and early- stage investigators working on diseases that disproportionately affect the Puerto Rican population. The Community Engagement Core, will target the development of long-term partnerships with commumity organizations and facilitate the dissemination of CCRMHD services and research achievements. Finally, we will support three translational Research Projects conducted covering the areas of basic biomedical, behavioral and clinical research. All research projects address mechanisms and/or develop and evaluate interventions to reduce health disparities relevant to the Puerto Rican population.

Public Health Relevance

The proposed Centre for Collaborative Research in Minority Health and Health Disparities (CCRMHD) at the University of Puerto Rico Medical Sciences Campus builds upon research resources developed under a G12 RCMI grant and an extensive academic/community partnership to address health disparities affecting the Puerto Rican population. Translational research projects in the areas of basic biomedical, behavioral and clinical research, if successful, will provide different and innovative approaches to promote minority health and health disparities research among early career investigators and students, enhance participation of Hispanic patients in genomics studies and provide novel interventions to reduce childhood obesity within and outside Puerto Rico.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD)
Type
Specialized Center--Cooperative Agreements (U54)
Project #
2U54MD007600-31
Application #
9449998
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZMD1)
Program Officer
Zhang, Xinzhi
Project Start
1997-09-01
Project End
2022-06-30
Budget Start
2017-09-20
Budget End
2018-06-30
Support Year
31
Fiscal Year
2017
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Puerto Rico Med Sciences
Department
Internal Medicine/Medicine
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
948108063
City
San Juan
State
PR
Country
United States
Zip Code
00936
Rosario-Rodríguez, Lester J; Colón, Krystal; Borges-Vélez, Gabriel et al. (2018) Dimethyl Fumarate Prevents HIV-Induced Lysosomal Dysfunction and Cathepsin B Release from Macrophages. J Neuroimmune Pharmacol :
Sierra-Mercado, Demetrio; Lázaro-Muñoz, Gabriel (2018) Enhance Diversity Among Researchers to Promote Participant Trust in Precision Medicine Research. Am J Bioeth 18:44-46
Marqués-Lespier, Juan M; Soto-Salgado, Marievelisse; González-Pons, María et al. (2018) Prevalence of Synchronous Oligopolyposis in Incident Colorectal Cancer: A Population-Based Study. P R Health Sci J 37:39-45
Rodríguez-Díaz, Carlos E (2018) Maria in Puerto Rico: Natural Disaster in a Colonial Archipelago. Am J Public Health 108:30-32
Lozada-Delgado, Eunice L; Grafals-Ruiz, Nilmary; Miranda-Román, Miguel A et al. (2018) Targeting MicroRNA-143 Leads to Inhibition of Glioblastoma Tumor Progression. Cancers (Basel) 10:
Montes-Rodríguez, Ingrid M; Rodríguez-Pou, Yesenia; González-Méndez, Ricardo R et al. (2018) Characterization of Histone Genes from the Bivalve Lucina Pectinata. Int J Environ Res Public Health 15:
Rosas-Vidal, Luis E; Lozada-Miranda, Valeria; Cantres-Rosario, Yisel et al. (2018) Alteration of BDNF in the medial prefrontal cortex and the ventral hippocampus impairs extinction of avoidance. Neuropsychopharmacology 43:2636-2644
Ramírez, Maite; Santos, Saritza; Martínez, Osmarie et al. (2018) Characterization of the immune response elicited by the vaccinia virus L3 protein delivered as naked DNA. Vaccine 36:2049-2055
Manfredi, Barbara; Morales-Ortíz, Jessica; Díaz-Díaz, Lymarie M et al. (2018) The Characterization of Monoclonal Antibodies to Mouse TLT-1 Suggests That TLT-1 Plays a Role in Wound Healing. Monoclon Antib Immunodiagn Immunother 37:78-86
Hernandez-Suarez, Dagmar F; Tomassini-Fernandini, Jonnalie C; Cuevas, Angelica et al. (2018) Clinical Relevant Polymorphisms Affecting Clopidogrel Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics: Insights from the Puerto Rico Newborn Screening Program. Int J Environ Res Public Health 15:

Showing the most recent 10 out of 48 publications