The MISSION of the CDH EXPORT Center at the UW Medical School is to influence and redirect the enormous intellectual capacity that exists on the University of Wisconsin campus to: (a) Establish a receptive academic framework that will catalyze culturally sensitive, multidisciplinary biomedical, public health, behavioral and social science research and disciplines to examine how biology, environment, family, friends and communities affect the health of women of racial and ethnic minorities, and poor women, including the health of their infants, children and families, who disproportionately experience disparities in health status and health outcomes; (b) Introduce an integrative, culturally sensitive approach to the study of health disparities and institutionalize cultural competence into the education and training of medical students, residents and other health science students, which can be replicated and institutionalized system wide; (c) Establish meaningful relationships and collaborative partnerships, founded on mutual trust and equity with community-based organizations and individuals from health disparity groups, to participate in clinical studies and in the conduct of evidence based health promotion, disease prevention and early intervention strategies; and (d) Establish an innovative paradigm shift in primary health care to include community-level workers, called Family Health Agents, for effective dissemination of culturally sensitive, culturally competent health promotion, prevention and early intervention strategies selected and endorsed by community-based organizations and individuals from among racial and ethnic minorities and the urban and poor health disparity groups. The Mission is supported by interrelated and interconnected Goals, Objectives, and Action Plans proposed in the a) Research Component (Biomedical Research Core, Behavioral Research Core, Social Demography/Social Epidemiology Research Core and 1 Pilot Project); b) Community Outreach and Information Dissemination Component; and c) Training Component, undergirded by well thought-out allocation of resources and support from the Shared Resource Core and Administrative Core.
