Building on our successful efforts in the CERC Phase I, the Research Core will continue mostly intact with a new Research Core Director, Dr. LaVerne Ragster, from the USVI with Dr. Jacquelyn Campbell continuing as consultant and Co-Director along with a team of two USVI members (Dr. Eugene Tull and Dr. Aracelis Francis) and one additional consultant from another mainland university. Dr. Hossein Yarandi. This team has been working together throughout the CERC Phase I with the considerable progress in taking a minority serving institution (MSI) with relatively little ongoing research and almost no external funding to an MSI with a beginning research infrastructure with several pilot projects and strategies forming a foundation for continued infrastructure development and exciting new projects suitable for external funding. Thus far, the CERC Phase I Research Core has primarily focused on research in the first block. Detection of health disparities specific to the USVI with some activities moving into Understanding. We now propose to move to further Understanding and importantly into the activities of Reducing health inequities in the US Virgin Islands. We are adding to the Understanding block by conducting additional analysis and combining qualitative and quantitative data as well as knowledge from our other cores to understand the Complex intersection of community attitudes, resources and agencies &best strategies to tailor interventions to USVI culture to make reductions in health disparities. During Phase II the Research Core will contribute to the integrated functioning of thel other three Cores: Administrative, ResearchTraining/Education and Community Engagement and Outreach by achieving the 3rd Specific Aim of CERC Phase II: 3. Continue original, innovative, and translational research based on the three stage research framework of detecting, understanding and reducing health disparities leading to improving minority health and ultimately eliminating health inequities and disparities in the US Virgin Islands and other Caribbean Islands.
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