The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) proposes to develop a Comprehensive Minority and Health Disparities Research Center (MHDRC) to address one of our nation's most pressing needs. This new center will fully integrate UAB's existing Minority Health and Research Center and the current NCMHD funded UAB P60 Project EXPORT (RESPECT). Led by Mona Fouad, MD, MPH (Director) and Edward Partridge, MD (Co-Director), the MHDRC will focus upon the interdisciplinary research efforts needed to understand and eliminate problems related to cancer screening and diabetes/obesity in the Deep South. The MHDRC will include four cores: Administrative, Research, Research Training, and Community Engagement. Through these cores, the center will develop new minority and health disparities research while integrating the many projects and partnerships that have intersected so successfully at UAB in the past. The Administrative Core will provide oversight and coordination, with assistance from a Steering Committee and four advisory groups. The Research Core will support and oversee innovative interdisciplinary research, including three full research projects and a Pilot Project Program. The Research Core will advance our understanding of the complex interactions between biological, social, and clinical factors that cause health disparities in cancer screening and diabetes/obesity;as well as, based on this improved understanding, develop and rigorously test interventions to eliminate health disparities. The Research Training Core will increase the number of competent and well trained minority health care professionals and researchers by training undergraduate minority students in partnership with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in Alabama. The Community Engagement Core will strive to eliminate health disparities and address the issues of dissemination and sustainability in community-based health disparities research. Based on a strong organizational structure and tangible support from the highest levels of UAB administration, and a remarkably productive history of research partnerships and collaborations, the MHDRC will make significant contributions to improving minority health and eliminating health disparities in Alabama and the Deep South.
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