In 1991 the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR) funded eleven Medical Treatment Effectiveness Programs (MEDTEP) Research Centers on Minority Populations. While information on specific projects generated by the MEDTEP Centers has been presented in multiple forums, there has been only a brief overview of the collective work of the Centers presented previously. The full-day conference described in this application will allow for wider dissemination of Centers' findings. The conference will allow multiple research projects across disease areas to be understood in a broader context with a special focus on understanding differences in health status and barriers to care in vulnerable populations. The Conference will: 1) Inform AHCPR, Congress, other federal agencies such as the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), other minority-focused research centers, and the public and scientific community about progress and research findings from the MEDTEP Centers. Included will be information on (1) the use of a Center structure in developing a minority health agenda, (2) Center experiences in developing minority investigators, and (3) methodological advancements including advancements in measurement of health status and health outcomes and (4) results of studies to improve health outcomes. 2) Communicate future directions for research and health policy related to minority health outcomes to based on the MEDTEP Centers' perspective.
