Tuskegee University (TU) requests an Endowment Grant (RFA MD-06-001) of $12,187,500 to continue building institutional infrastructure and advancing research capacity geared to address the health disparity challenges of the nation. By leveraging previously awarded Endowment income, a new Ph.D. program in Integrative Biosciences has been initiated. The objective now is to use this Ph.D. Program, in part, as a vehicle to address the health disparity challenge through a two-pronged approach, i.e. through interdisciplinary research that exploits technologies of the 21st Century, and the training of minority health professionals and scientists with advanced degrees in the biosciences. The interdisciplinary framework allows one not only to bring multiple disciplines together but it also promotes integrative learning and exploration. Such an approach will facilitate broad based interdisciplinary research from the molecular level to higher-level population dynamics involving epidemiologic, psychosocial and other determinants of disease burden. ? ? The specific aims are to: 1) Continue to build and expand research infrastructure: By the end of academic year 2008 - 2009, TU will have further strengthened its research infrastructure by acquiring state-of-the-art research and training laboratory instrumentation, and upgraded its center for laboratory animal based biomedical research to train African American and other underrepresented students and scientists. 2) Initiate active research in at least two of the health disparity disease problems: By academic year 2008-2009, the university's strategy is to focus on at least two of the four most critical health disparity diseases. The four major health disparity diseases are cancer, obesity and diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and HIV/AIDS; 3) Continue to build human capacity: By fall of 2007, recruit and retain three highly qualified underrepresented scientists (one each in biostatistics, bioinformatics or computational biology, and one in epidemiology), three technical experts (one recruiter, one technical writer and one laboratory technician), support at least ten students in the health professions with merit-based scholarships, seven M.S. level graduate science students, and provide competitive stipends annually for three Ph.D. level students. ? ? The Ph.D. program at TU will assist in supplying the nation with well-trained African American and underrepresented minority scientists and promote a diverse scientific and technological workforce for the twenty-first century. The strategy ensures increasing the number of scientists who will obtain the Ph.D. but also those who are inclined or committed to research or education to address the health disparity problem. ? ? ?
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