As we close out this year and look ahead to bright new beginnings in 2019, we remain unwavering in our commitment to improving minority health and reducing health disparities. This year, we have increased engagement with communities across the nation, as well as heightened collaboration with agencies and medical organizations addressing health disparities. We are setting our plans for the coming years, and we will release the NIH-Wide Strategic Plan focused on minority health and health disparities in a few months. 

NIMHD is proud to participate with other NIH Institutes and Centers in providing mentorship through the NIH Medical Research Scholars Program (MRSP). The MRSP provides a 1-year residential research experience at NIH for students selected to engage in a unique intellectual environment. Although a majority of the students elect basic science labs or clinical projects in the NIH Clinical Center, we have seen an increasing number of scholars in the past 2 years elect population science, community-based research, and social and behavior-oriented labs at NIMHD; the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI); the National Cancer Institute (NCI), and the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). The program is currently accepting applications for the 2019–2020 class. I encourage 2nd-, 3rd-, or 4th-year medical, dental, or veterinary students with an interest in studying minority health or health disparities to apply. Selected scholars will begin their fellowship in July/August 2019.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 1 in 3 adults does not get enough sleep or has lower-quality sleep. Lack of high-quality sleep can increase risks of developing type 2 diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and depression, in addition to daytime tiredness. NIMHD recently convened a workshop in collaboration with NHLBI and the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research to examine the role of sleep in minority health and health disparities. Additionally, our staff participated in the 2018 Research Conference on Sleep and the Health of Women. We should approach sleep as many of us have approached physical activity: Schedule regular times, focus on quantity and quality, and find a way to make it a sustainable daily practice.

The fiscal year 2019 budget increase has offered us an opportunity to build up existing programs, establish some new initiatives, and continue to work toward advancing the science of minority health and health disparities while promoting health equity and reducing health disparities. I look forward to the coming year and to sharing our exciting new updates!

NIMHD has selected the third annual awardees of the William G. Coleman Jr., Ph.D., Minority Health and Health Disparities Research Innovation Award. This competitive award program is designed to support 1-year innovative research projects contributed by postdoctoral fellows, staff scientists, and staff clinicians within the NIH Intramural Research Program .... Read more.

NIMHD highlights exceptional grantees who have achieved recognition in minority health and health disparities research. Visit our new webpage on NIMHD Celebrating Excellence.

Chief Geoffrey Standing Bear and Assistant Chief Raymond Red Corn had a vision for their Osage—or Wah-Zha-Zhi—tribe. Their vision was to achieve food sovereignty and sustainable agriculture for the Osage Nation, a Native American tribe living in rural northeastern Oklahoma …. Read more.

On May 25, 2018, LT Adelaida M. Rosario, Ph.D., NIMHD program officer in Community Health and Population Sciences in the Division of Scientific Programs, was inducted into the Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS), a team of more than 6,500 health professionals who support care to underserved and vulnerable populations across the nation …. Read more.

As the Affordable Care Act gave states incentives to expand their Medicaid programs, Oregon decided to go one step further. The state adjusted its Medicaid program with a new goal: reducing health disparities between White and minority enrollees. The most significant part of this plan was introducing coordinated care organizations (CCOs), which Oregon did in 2012 …. Read more.

The National Academy of Medicine recently elected 85 new members, including NIMHD's National Advisory Council member Giselle Corbie-Smith, M.D., M.Sc., Kenan Distinguished Professor of social medicine and medicine at the University of North Carolina (UNC) Center for Health Equity Research, UNC School of Medicine; and NIMHD grantee Ralph Sacco, M.D., M.S., Olemberg Family Professor, chairman of neurology, and senior associate dean for clinical and translational science at University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. Read more.

On October 4, the NIMHD Director’s Seminar Series featured a presentation by Amelie Ramirez, Dr.P.H., M.P.H., professor and interim chair of epidemiology and biostatistics and director of the Institute for Health Promotion Research at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. Dr. Ramirez spoke on “Engaging U.S. Latinos in Community Advocacy for Health Equity.” View the videocast.

The 2018 Interdisciplinary Association for Population Health Science (IAPHS) Conference occurred on October 3–5 at the National Academy of Science Building. NIMHD economist Nancy Breen, Ph.D., and health policy analyst Marcia Gómez, M.D., coauthored a poster, “Residential Segregation and Mortality From the Leading Causes of Death, Metropolitan Counties, 1999–2016,” presented by Ernest Moy, M.D., M.P.H., executive director of the Office of Health Equity at the Veterans Health Administration. NIMHD scientific program officer Rada Dagher presented a poster on racial/ethnic disparities in physical working conditions and discrimination experiences among U.S. workers; she also represented NIMHD at a roundtable session, “Funding Opportunities for Population Health Scientists.” 

NIMHD Director Dr. Eliseo J. Pérez-Stable participated in an interview highlighted in the U.S. News and World Report's “The Relationship of Race to Community Health,” published on September 25 as part of the Healthiest Communities series. Read more. 

On September 18, the Genomics and Health Disparities Lecture Series included a talk, “Making Precision Medicine Socially Precise,” presented by Esteban González Burchard, M.D., M.P.H., distinguished professor in pharmaceutical sciences and a professor in bioengineering and therapeutic sciences and medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. View the lecture.

On August 30, John D. Carpten, Ph.D., professor and chair, Department of Translational Genomics; and director, Institute of Translational Genomics, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, presented a talk entitled “Towards Understanding the Role of Population Diversity in Cancer Genome Science” at the NIH Main Campus. View the lecture.

NIMHD is establishing the 2018–2022 NIH-Wide Strategic Plan for Minority Health and Health Disparities, which will set the direction and goals for minority health and health disparities research across NIH for the coming years. Between March and May 2018, NIMHD held 7 community listening sessions with more than 400 individuals in 21 states, seeking input on the three primary thematic areas of the Strategic Plan: scientific research, research-sustaining activities; and outreach, collaboration, and dissemination. Read the listening sessions report.

Reducing health disparities and increasing diversity in the research workforce are key priorities for the National Institute on Aging (NIA). As Director of the Institute for the past 25 years, I have seen enormous growth in NIA’s health disparities and diversity programs …. Read more.

A basic principle of effective communication is to know the audience.This principle is especially important for patient-provider interactions that involve risk and diagnostic information, preventive measures, and instructions on medication regimens. But a message said is not necessarily a message understood .... Read more.

Recently, the Interdisciplinary Association for Population Health Science (IAPHS) published a blog post summarizing the inaugural NIMHD Director’s Seminar Series presentation by Ana Diez Roux, M.D., Ph.D., dean and distinguished university professor of epidemiology in the Dornsife School of Public Health at Drexel University. Read more about this talk, “Challenges and Opportunities in Health Disparities Research.”