The location of the new centers and the first year's funding levels are: Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee, $667,134; Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science in Los Angeles, California, $715,993; and the Puerto Rico consortium, $724,517. (The consortium consists of the three accredited medical schools in Puerto Rico: the University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine, the Universidad Central del Caribe School of Medicine, and the Ponce School of Medicine.)

"Our goal is to encourage innovative and effective research strategies that will ultimately reduce the burden of diseases that disproportionately affects minority populations," said Dr. Judith L. Vaitukaitis, M.D., director of NCRR. "Equally important will be the development of sustainable, effective and culturally appropriate prevention and intervention strategies for diseases that disproportionately affect the targeted minority populations."

The grants were awarded by the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) and the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), components of NIH. The grants will strengthen and augment the clinical research capabilities that are needed to define the causes of health disparities in the racial and ethnic populations served by the grantee institutions.

The objective of the CCHD initiative is to systematically address one or more of the health disparities that negatively impact racial and ethnic minority populations. The health disparities include a variety of cancers (breast, prostate and colorectal); diabetes mellitus; renal disease; infant mortality; AIDS; and cerebrovascular and cardiovascular diseases. NIMH research support focuses on the psychological impact of HIV
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Contact: Joyce McDonald
info@ncrr.nih.gov
301-435-0888
NIH/National Center for Research Resources
31-Oct-2003