We are off to a great start in 2019! There are many exciting updates to report as we expand our commitment to advancing health equity across all populations.

On January 31, the American Journal of Public Health released the special issue, New Perspectives to Advance Minority Health and Health Disparities Research. This issue includes 30 research strategies that chart a new course to improve minority health and reduce health disparities, along with an Editor’s Choice editorial that I co-authored with NIH Director Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D.

February brings national attention to the history and health of African Americans as we celebrate Black History Month. NIMHD reflected on this time with a focus on NIMHD researchers who are making history in minority health and health disparities research.   

On February 5, we held the 50th meeting of the National Advisory Council on Health Disparities. The Council bid farewell to those who honorably served their tenure after welcoming new members in September 2018. Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), presented on the course and progress of HIV research supporting the HHS plan for ending the HIV epidemic, which was highlighted in the State of the Union address later that day. The proposal to end new HIV infections in the United States must focus on the 48 counties where the majority of these infections occur and target the African American and Latino men who have sex with men, accounting for over 70% of new infections.

Finally, I want to congratulate a longtime colleague, Raúl Mejia, M.D., on his recent recognition by the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco (SRNT). His work focuses on studying tobacco industry strategies to induce young people to smoke. Our own Intramural Investigator Kelvin Choi, Ph.D., made a plenary presentation on his research at the annual meeting of SRNT. This research is critical, especially now that the U.S. Surgeon General has declared youth vaping an epidemic. 

We will continue to share updates via our subscription email, but I also encourage you to engage with us online via our newest platform, LinkedIn.

NIMHD led an NIH-wide 2-year science visioning process to chart a new research course to improve minority health and reduce health disparities. The American Journal of Public Health (AJPH) special issue New Perspectives to Advance Minority Health and Health Disparities Research is the culmination of this process with articles discussing the course needed to advance the science of minority health and health disparities. Thirty specific research strategies were identified across the 3 pillars that guided the science visioning process: methods and measurement, etiology, and interventions. Read more.

African Americans who smoke appear to be at greater risk for peripheral artery disease (PAD), new research has found. Additionally, the findings suggest that smoking intensity—how many cigarettes a day and for how many years—also affects the likelihood of getting the disease. The current study looked at the relationship between smoking and PAD in participants in the Jackson Heart Study, the largest single site cohort study investigating cardiovascular disease in African Americans .... Read more.

Tuskegee University in Tuskegee, Alabama, is a historically Black university with a long tradition of educating African American scholars. Clayton Yates, Ph.D., is continuing that tradition as co-director of the Research Centers in Minority Institutions (RCMI) program at Tuskegee. Temesgen Samuel, D.V.M., Ph.D., is his co-director. The Tuskegee RCMI program has a particular focus on prostate cancer, with ongoing projects exploring how genetic differences contribute to how aggressive tumors are, especially between people of African and European ancestry .... Read more.

Many scholars believe our culture and experiences shape who we are. Considering that to be true, Faustine Williams, Ph.D., M.P.H., M.S., has masterfully harnessed her life’s perspectives into capabilities and reform. Born and raised in Ghana, Dr. Williams recalls being engrossed in science since childhood. Now as a Stadtman tenure-track investigator within NIMHD's Division of Intramural Research, Dr. Williams contributes to the Intramural Research Program’s high-risk/high-impact health disparities research in the area of community and population health. Read more.

More than 20 years ago, Anna María Nápoles, Ph.D., M.P.H., was working in the San Francisco area on a program to promote breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer screening in Hispanic/Latino communities. The program helped Hispanics/Latinos get cancer screenings, but Dr. Nápoles realized that there was little to support people after they were diagnosed with cancer, through treatment, and beyond. Through her work, she found that Latinas with breast cancer are less likely to survive than White women with breast cancer and suffer more depression, emotional distress, anxiety, and pain after surgery …. Read more.

As an adjunct investigator within the NIMHD Division of Intramural Research, Chandra L. Jackson, Ph.D., M.S., contributes to the Intramural Research Program’s high-risk/high-impact health disparities research. These new research areas are social and behavioral sciences, community and population health, and molecular and epidemiology and genomic sciences. Dr. Jackson’s focus is on the latter …. Read more.

Where people live can affect their health more than they realize. Air pollution is often worse in low-income areas compared with wealthy neighborhoods. Residents of Robeson County in North Carolina have lower household incomes, poorer air quality, and worse health than average for the state. American Indians, mostly of the Lumbee Nation, comprise more than 40% of the county’s population, and Lumbee women have the highest death rate related to heart disease in the county. Jada Brooks, Ph.D., M.S.P.H., RN, a former NIMHD Health Disparities Research Institute Scholar, is investigating this health disparity from an environmental, social, and individual standpoint …. Read more. 

In December 2017, NIMHD and other NIH Institutes, along with the Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS), co-hosted a workshop entitled “The Vitamin D Paradox in Black Americans: A Systems-Based Approach to Investigating Clinical Practice, Research, and Public Health.” The workshop stemmed from discussions among NIH staff from ODS, the National Institute on Aging (NIA), the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), and NIMHD .… Read more.

NIMHD grantee Suzanne Held, Ph.D., and her team have been recognized nationally by Community-Campus Partnerships for Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) for their study, “Improving Chronic Illness Management with the Apsáalooke Nation: The Baaniilaa Project.” As part of the Messengers for Health partnership between members of the Apsáalooke (Crow) Nation and faculty and students from Montana State University in Bozeman, Dr. Held’s team uses community-based participatory research and indigenous research methodologies to improve health among Apsáalooke people. Read more.

NIMHD has a LinkedIn account! We encourage you to follow our page through your professional profile and share/like the content with your professional network to build an engaging community. The posting process will promote our website, blogs, features, news, funding opportunities, and various stakeholders’ engagement information. Our goal is to amplify our Institute’s mission by sharing the latest developments in minority health and health disparities research as scientific research leaders.

NIMHD-supported researchers and affiliates have attained significant professional honors over the last several years. The National Academy of Medicine (NAM) is 1 of 3 private, nonprofit institutions in the National Academies, providing expert advice to the U.S. government on health issues since 1970. Membership in the Academies is considered one of the highest honors bestowed on a U.S. scientist in the fields of health and medicine and signifies outstanding professional achievement and commitment to service. See NAM members with current or past affiliation with NIMHD, including grantees and advisory council members.

On February 4–5, 2019, NIMHD held its 50th Advisory Council meeting. Following the Director’s Report by Dr. Eliseo J. Pérez-Stable, the meeting proceeded with findings from the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos presented by NIMHD Councilmember Dr. Gregory Talavera, an impactful presentation on the course and progress toward ending the HIV/AIDS pandemic by NIAID Director Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, and NIH Tribal Health Research Office (THRO) updates by THRO Director Dr. David Wilson. Dr. Joyce Hunter, senior advisor to the NIMHD director, presented the Inclusion of Women and Minorities Triennial Report. View the NIH VideoCast.

On January 22, 2019, Sandro Galea, M.D., M.P.H., Dr.P.H., presented at the NIMHD Director’s Seminar Series: “Health, Not Healthcare: What We Need to Talk About When We Talk About Health.” Dr. Galea, a physician, epidemiologist, and author, is the dean and Robert A. Knox Professor at Boston University School of Public Health. View the NIH VideoCast.

Heart disease is the number one cause of death in the United States for both men and women. Sadly, 1 in 4 people die of it each year. Yet, despite progress in reducing these rates overall, the disease continues to impact communities of color in a disproportionate and troubling way .... Read more.

Many people make New Year’s resolutions to live a healthier lifestyle. If you use commercial tobacco products, such as cigarettes, cigars, and chewing tobacco, quitting tobacco (or helping someone quit tobacco) may be on your list of New Year’s resolutions …. Read more.

Earlier this year, NIMHD Director Dr. Eliseo J. Pérez-Stable wrote a post for NIH’s “About Science, Health, and Public Trust” blog. This website aims to share strategies and best practices to help improve public understanding of how biomedical research impacts personal health. In his post, Dr. Pérez-Stable raises awareness about the vital role that race and ethnicity play in clinical research …. Read more