The past few months have brought unprecedented changes in our way of life, with COVID-19 upending the basics of our society’s functioning. For 4 months now, out of an abundance of caution, we have joined so many others in teleworking to the maximum possible extent. With the pandemic having infected more than 16 million people worldwide and having taken almost 150,000 lives in the United States, we still have a long road ahead of us.

The prevailing pandemic, along with the economic downturn it has brought, has cast a harsh light on the disproportionate burden impacting racial and ethnic minority populations in the United States. NIMHD Deputy Director Monica Webb Hooper, Ph.D., NIMHD Scientific Director Anna M. Nápoles, Ph.D., M.P.H., and I co-authored a Viewpoint in JAMA on May 11 to provide our readers a perspective on and understanding of the situation in marginalized and vulnerable communities. All the concerns and trends observed at that point have persisted and been magnified. I also had an opportunity to write a blog post and to discuss this issue with NIH Director Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., on his Home Edition Video, Episode 9.

In late May, after the shocking death of George Floyd made a national and global impact, many in the country took to the streets to protest and directly address the racism embedded deep into our societal and institutional structures that generate injustice and inequality. The ensuing events have prompted wider conversations on racism, and recently several U.S. counties, including Montgomery County in Maryland, have declared racism a public health crisis. In June, I shared a blog post explaining my thoughts on how racism is intricately entangled with the health and wellbeing of every American. Within NIH, staff and leaders have also engaged in open conversations about a topic we were taught to avoid because it may be controversial or impolite. It is time that we reflected on the reality we experience and address the issue internally as well as externally.

NIH recently launched the Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) initiative — a national funding program for scientists and organizations to advance ideas for innovative testing approaches and strategies to tackle COVID-19. NIMHD is co-leading the RADx Underserved Populations (RADx-UP) initiative, which will establish a consortium of community-engaged projects to improve access to and acceptance of COVID-19 testing for underserved and vulnerable populations. Our goal is to better understand the factors that have led to the disproportionate burden of COVID-19 infection and disease severity among underserved populations and to develop ways to reduce these disparities. We have also launched a new COVID-19 webpage, where you will find information and resources on COVID-19, including research initiatives funded by NIMHD.

On May 12, we held the 54th meeting of the National Advisory Council on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NACMHD) virtually. Thank you to our advisory council members, guest speaker, participants, and technical support staff for making this a productive meeting. We presented and cleared a concept on health services research and one to establish a Resource Center to support the Tribal Epidemiology Centers. Bruce J. Tromberg, Ph.D., gave a presentation on the activities of the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB), including the RADx-Tech initiative to support new technologies for COVID-19 testing. Our next council meeting is on September 4 and will again be fully virtual.

Finally, I want to congratulate Kelvin Choi, Ph.D., M.P.H., on his successful promotion to tenure at NIH as a senior investigator at the NIMHD Division of Intramural Research (DIR)! I am also pleased to welcome Allana Forde, Ph.D., M.P.H., and Leonardo Mariño-Ramírez, Ph.D., to our DIR as Stadtman Investigators! Both have received funding from the NIH Distinguished Scholars Program for their tenure-track appointments.

July is National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month. I will sign off by encouraging all of you to take care of your mental health during this difficult time. As always, we continue to keep our audiences connected through blogs, virtual events, and social media. Please connect with NIMHD

NIMHD is celebrating its 10-year anniversary as an Institute at the National Institutes of Health (NIH)! As part of our celebration, we plan to host a competition for artwork that represents NIMHD’s vision: an America in which all populations will have an equal opportunity to live long, healthy, and productive lives.

Original artwork will reflect an America where health disparities based on race and ethnicity, geography, socioeconomic status, and sexual and gender identity are a thing of the past. Your submission can be of mixed media but must be in a printable format (photos, paintings, drawings and/or other graphics). There will be several winners selected from two age categories: 16-18 years and 19+ years. Multiple cash prizes will be awarded, and submissions may be used with credit on the NIMHD website, social media channels, and publications.

Before we move forward with this plan, we would like to give our stakeholders an opportunity to submit comments or suggestions. Responses are voluntary and NIMHD will consider the information submitted for planning purposes. Please share your comments or suggestions by emailing to NIMHD2020@mail.nih.gov by September 4, 2020.

Participate in social media conversations using #NIMHD2020 and #Innovate4HealthEquity. Stay tuned here for upcoming anniversary-related events.

In a paper in the New England Journal of Medicine, scientific leaders from the NIH set forth a framework to increase significantly the number, quality and type of daily tests for detecting SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, and help reduce inequities for underserved populations that have been disproportionally affected by the disease. The authors describe the current testing landscape and explain the urgent need for nationwide deployment of low-complexity, point-of-care molecular diagnostics with rapid results. To fill this urgent need, the Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) program was established in just five days following the announcement of $1.5 billion in federal stimulus funding in April 2020 …. Read the media advisory. 

Findings from a new study funded in part by NIMHD and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) suggest that better sleep habits may lead to better blood glucose control and could prove beneficial for type 2 diabetes prevention and diabetes management in African Americans, who are at higher risk for type 2 diabetes than other minority groups. For the study, the researchers evaluated sleep patterns while concurrently measuring blood glucose markers among 789 African American men and women who were enrolled in the Jackson Heart Study, the largest study of cardiovascular disease in African Americans …. Read the press release. 

Chanita Hughes-Halbert, Ph.D., professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and associate dean for assessment and evaluation in the College of Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), has been named to the National Cancer Policy Forum by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Dr. Hughes-Halbert is an NIMHD grantee studying precision medicine through our Transdisciplinary Collaborative Centers for Precision Medicine. See MUSC's news update. 

Each year, the NIH Office of Intramural Training and Education (OITE) hosts a poster day for recent college graduates across the different NIH Institutes to present their research. This year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, OITE held the event virtually over 3 days, rather than hosting the event in person on the NIH campus. A total of 875 researchers-in-training shared a variety of studies conducted under the supervision of NIH faculty …. Read the feature story. 

“It’s hard to believe, but I’ve been the NIH director for almost 11 years,” said Dr. Francis Collins. “I’ve watched the way in which the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities enterprise has evolved from a Center to an Institute.” He was speaking at NIMHD’s 10th anniversary scientific symposium Innovations to Promote Health Equity, one of several events celebrating 10 years of NIMHD as an NIH Institute …. Read the story. 

The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is a way that federal and state governments help working people with lower incomes. Most analysis of how the EITC works looks at its economic effects. Researchers funded by NIMHD are exploring a different kind of effect: whether economic assistance improves health—specifically, whether it leads to healthier pregnancies. More money could mean better prenatal care, or healthier food. The researchers have found that what lawmakers do is reflected in the bodies of their tiniest constituents: A series of studies on economic policy and births has found that more generous policies result in fewer babies with low birthweights …. Read the feature story. 

The Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month article featured Sonali Bose, M.D., M.P.H., an assistant professor of medicine, pulmonary, critical care and sleep medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York City. A second-generation South Asian immigrant to the United States, Dr. Bose talks about the events in her growing-up years that have influenced her career path as a health disparities researcher. She investigates the roles of maternal and prenatal stress, environmental pollutants, and racial and ethnic factors that can lead to childhood sleep disparities and respiratory illnesses. Dr. Bose has received a K award from NIH, and subsequently the Loan Repayment Program (LRP) award and the R01 grant from NIMHD …. Read the article. 

Also in the AAPI Heritage Month feature article, Gilbert Gee, Ph.D., a professor in the Department of Community Health Sciences at the Fielding School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, talks about his ethnic heritage, his career path, the motivations for his research, and how the NIMHD LRP and R01 awards have helped him in his career. A primary line of Dr. Gee's work focuses on conceptualizing and measuring racial discrimination, and in understanding how discrimination may be related to illness …. Read the story. 

E-cigarettes, which contain nicotine and other toxic substances, are harmful to the developing brain and respiratory health of young people. In this study, researchers from the NIMHD Intramural Research Program investigated a possible cause of the rise in e-cigarette use in this population: encountering e-cigarette advertisements …. Read the Research Spotlight. 

Child abuse and neglect are nationwide concerns. However, these problems happen more in some areas than others. A study was conducted to identify county-level socioeconomic and crime factors associated with disparities in substantiated abuse and neglect in Tennessee. The researchers found that both socioeconomic hardship and drug-related offenses increased the risk of child maltreatment …. Read the Research Spotlight. 

Cystic fibrosis (CF), a disease caused by a mutation in the CFTR gene, is known to primarily affect non-Hispanic White populations, but recent studies show CF incidence among other racial and ethnic groups. A test for CF that measures the level of chloride in sweat is currently the most reliable test for the disease. Another test, which detects CF gene variants, is used in newborn screenings to help guide early treatment. However, most known CF gene variants were identified in studies of White people; these gene variants are not necessarily relevant for racial and ethnic minority patients, who may experience delayed diagnosis and treatment of CF …. Read the Research Spotlight. 

In the United States, infant mortality among non-Hispanic Blacks is twice the rate among non-Hispanic Whites. This disparity may be linked to income inequality. People living in poverty are less likely than their high-income counterparts to have access to adequate health resources and nutrition and are more likely to have infants with low birthweight. A recent NIMHD-supported study showed that states with higher minimum wages had lower infant mortality rates among non-Hispanic Blacks, suggesting that increasing the minimum wage could have a protective effect that helps reduce the disparity …. Read the Research Spotlight. 

On May 27, NIMHD Director Eliseo J. Pérez-Stable, M.D., participated in an interview for "America with an Accent," hosted by Enkela Vehbiu, M.A., journalist and founder of New Americans Media. They discussed the underlying health problems of individuals from racial and ethnic minority communities, and the higher likelihood of this population being exposed to the novel coronavirus due to their living and working conditions. Watch the video. 

On April 22, in an interview along with other medical experts, Dr. Pérez-Stable talked with Voice of America about why some minority communities are disproportionately burdened with COVID-19. Watch the video.  

CDR Nadra Tyus, Dr.P.H., M.P.H., health scientist administrator in NIMHD's Division of Integrative Biological and Behavioral Sciences, was featured in the NIH Record on her deployment in response to COVID-19. “They quickly wanted to stand up community-based testing sites—what we call the CBTSs—to bring initial testing capabilities to critical locations across the country.” Her CBTS in Dallas operated 7 days a week, generally from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., and her assignment lasted 23 days. Read the article. 

On July 10, NIMHD Deputy Director Monica Webb Hooper, Ph.D., was a panelist on a webinar, "COVID-19 Mental Health Impacts on At-Risk Populations." The discussion was hosted by Physicians for Human Rights and had experts from around the nation to share their views on the lack of access to critical mental health care and behavioral health treatment in communities of color. View the recording. 

NIH's 120th Meeting of the Advisory Committee to the Director (ACD) was held virtually on June 11 and 12. Dr. Pérez-Stable presented the Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics for Underserved Populations (RADx-UP) initiative in the ACD meeting on June 11. RADx-UP will establish a network of community-engaged projects to improve access to and acceptance of COVID-19 testing in underserved and vulnerable populations. Watch the June 11 VideoCast and read the blog post by National Library of Medicine Director Patricia F. Brennan, R.N., Ph.D., and others. 

In this podcast interview from June 10, the editors of the New England Journal of Medicine were joined by NIMHD DIR Adjunct Investigator Michele K. Evans, M.D., to discuss a new study examining the disproportionate effect of COVID-19 on minority communities. Dr. Evans is the deputy scientific director, senior investigator, and chief of the Disparities Research Section at the Laboratory of Epidemiology and Population Science at the National Institute on Aging. Listen to the audio interview. 

On May 8, Dr. Pérez-Stable appeared on Episode 9 of the Francis Collins: Home Edition video series to discuss the disproportionate burden of COVID-19 on minority populations. During the session, they talked about emerging data on higher coronavirus infections and deaths from COVID-19 in minority communities, the possible reasons behind it, and what NIH is doing to address these issues. Francis Collins: Home Edition videos are hosted by NIH Director Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., and serve as a new communications channel to relay COVID-19–related news to NIH staff. Videos are posted for public access as well. Watch the episode or read the transcript. 

On May 6, Dr. Pérez-Stable and Deborah Duran, Ph.D., NIMHD's senior advisor for data science, analytics, and systems, participated in a virtual classroom discussion with students of Banneker High School. They talked about the intersection of advancing health equity and statistics, how statistics illustrate the fact that African Americans are disproportionately affected by COVID-19, and how policymakers can use this data to inform decisions and underscore the dire need for health equity in the United States. Banneker High School is a Title I school, and all students at the school qualify for free or reduced price lunch. 

Co-hosted by NIMHD grantees at the Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health and the Indian Health Service, the two virtual town halls held on April 22 and 29 informed people engaged with tribal communities about the current state of COVID-19, community-based responses and available resources, with an opportunity for Q&A. To access the recording from April 22, click here. To access the recording from April 29, click here. 

On April 16, Sandro Galea, M.D., D.P.H., dean and Robert A. Knox Professor from Boston University School of Public Health and former NIMHD Advisory Council member, joined an online panel discussion on the Coronavirus Seminar Series, COVID-19: The Health Consequences of the Consequences. The seminar was hosted by the Boston University School of Public Health. The panel explored the long-tail health consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. The experts examined the social and economic changes that have emerged as a result of the pandemic and how these changes will shape population health in the coming years and decades. View event highlights.

The NIH Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences and its partner Institutes, including NIMHD, have awarded eight grants to create the Training in Advanced Data Analytics for Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (TADA-BSSR) program (RFA-OD-19-011). This new 5-year training program will incorporate computational and data science analytic approaches directly into behavioral and social sciences predoctoral degree programs to support the development of a cohort of specialized scholars pursuing careers in health-related research with competencies in data science analytics. See the list of awardees.

On July 1, the Office of Administrative Management announced that Kenneth Sonnenberg has been selected as NIMHD’s budget officer. Mr. Sonnenberg has served as a budget analyst for NIMHD since 2014. He joined NIH through the Administrative Fellows Program in the budget analyst track, and over the past 5 years he has served as the acting budget officer for NIMHD on two separate occasions. We are pleased to welcome him in his new role! 

The findings from recent research published by the team of NIMHD Adjunct Investigator Chandra L. Jackson, Ph.D., were discussed on the I Am Intramural blog, a blog platform for trainees, scientists and staff at the NIH Intramural Research Program (IRP). The blog post talks about effects of major and everyday racial discrimination on inducing stress and impacting normal sleep in women from various racial and ethnic backgrounds. Dr. Jackson is an Earl Stadtman Investigator at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). Read the blog post.  

The inaugural webinar of NIH's Sexual & Gender Minority Research Office (SGMRO) Scientific Webinar Series, held virtually on June 30, hosted Brian Mustanski, Ph.D., director of the Northwestern Institute for Sexual and Gender Minority Health and Wellbeing. Dr. Mustanski is an NIMHD-grantee, a member of the National Advisory Council on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NACMHD), and a member of the NIH Sexual & Gender Minority Research Working Group. He talked about what will it take to create health equity for SGM young people. The SGMRO Scientific Webinar Series is a platform to promote research being conducted by NIH-funded investigators in the field of SGM health. Watch the recording. 

Kelvin Choi, Ph.D., M.P.H., became a senior investigator at the NIMHD DIR on June 16. Dr. Choi, who joined NIMHD in 2013 as an Earl Stadtman Investigator, is the acting head of the Social and Behavioral Sciences Group at the DIR. His research aims to reduce tobacco use disparities in the United States, and his research team studies the interrelationships between social determinants of health and tobacco use behaviors; investigates factors and mechanisms that explain and/or modify these relationships; and develops, forecasts, and evaluates interventions to reduce tobacco use disparities. Dr. Choi is the first tenure-track investigator from NIMHD to receive a tenured position at NIH. 

Allana Forde, Ph.D., M.P.H., (L), and Leonardo Mariño-Ramírez, Ph.D., (R), began their appointments as Stadtman investigators with the NIMHD DIR on May 26 and July 6, respectively. Their appointments and research are funded by the NIH Distinguished Scholars Program (DSP). Before joining NIH, Dr. Forde was a  post-doctoral research fellow with the Urban Health Collaborative at Drexel University's Dornsife School of Public Health. She will work in the NIMHD DIR's Population and Community Health Sciences Group. Dr. Mariño-Ramírez, who was a staff scientist with the Computational Biology Branch of the National Center for Biotechnology Information at the National Library of Medicine at NIH, will work in the Epidemiology and Genetics Group. The DSP aims to build a more inclusive community within the NIH IRP by reducing the barriers to the recruitment and success of principal investigators from groups underrepresented in biomedical research. We are pleased to welcome Drs. Forde and Mariño-Ramírez to the DIR!

On May 12, the 54th meeting of the NACMHD was held from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. EDT on NIH VideoCast. Dr. Pérez-Stable presented the Director's Report. Dr. Tromberg, director of NIBIB, spoke about "Engineering the Future of Health." Joyce A. Hunter, Ph.D., senior advisor in the Office of the Director, NIMHD, and designated federal official of NACMHD; Nathan Stinson Jr., Ph.D., M.D., M.P.H., director, Division of Community Health and Population Sciences at NIMHD; and Rada K. Dagher, Ph.D., M.P.H., scientific program director, Division of Clinical and Health Services Research at NIMHD, presented the research concepts. Dr. Pérez-Stable made the closing remarks. Watch the VideoCast. 

The NIH Medical Research Scholars Program (MRSP) research symposium was held virtually on May 11. Jeremy Huckleby, a fourth-year medical student at the University of Illinois College of Medicine Peoria, presented "Effectiveness of Physician Exercise Recommendations Among U.S. Adults With Arthritis: Influence of Race and Ethnicity". Mr. Huckleby was awarded a 1-year residential research fellowship through the 2019–2020 MRSP. He is working under the mentorship of Anna M. Nápoles, Ph.D., M.P.H., scientific director of the NIMHD DIR, to investigate musculoskeletal health disparities focusing on racial/ethnic differences in physical activity among adults with arthritis in the United States.

NIH's 2020 Postbac Poster Day at NIH was held virtually on April 28 and 30. Posters were judged by teams of postdoctoral and clinical fellows, graduate students, and staff. From NIMHD, postbacs Aniruddh Ajith (L) and Toluwa Omole (R) received the Postbac Poster Day 2020 Awards, which went to individuals whose posters scored in the top 20%. Both awardees worked under the mentorship of Dr. Choi at the NIMHD DIR. Read about their research in a recent feature story. 

Nicole M. Farmer, M.D., a staff scientist at the NIH Clinical Center and a 2020 recipient of the NIMHD William G. Coleman Jr., Ph.D., Minority Health and Health Disparities Research Innovation Award, spoke on “The Mental Health Benefits of Cooking” for the "Speaking of Science" podcast on the NIH IRP website. The podcast appeared online on April 15, where Dr. Farmer shared many facets of how diet affects human biology and behavior, including the effects of cooking interventions on mental well-being. Listen to the podcast. 

PBS's television series about diabetes in America, "Blood Sugar Rising: America's Hidden Diabetes Epidemic," which premiered on April 15 at 9:00 p.m. EDT, featured NIMHD grantee, Valarie Blue Bird Jernigan, Dr.P.H., M.P.H. Her research on diabetes prevention looks at a community gardening program’s impact on vegetable and fruit intake, body mass index, and blood pressure management in Osage families. Dr. Jernigan is a scientist and a member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. Visit the PBS page. 

For National Minority Health Month (NMHM) this year, NIMHD invited everyone to celebrate by sharing and completing the Active & Healthy Bingo Challenge! The challenge focused on healthy activities that individuals can complete every day in and around the home to keep our minds and bodies active, consistent with the social distancing guidelines to help slow the spread of COVID-19. See completed bingo boards shared on Facebook or Twitter with the hashtags #ActiveandHealthyBingo and #NMHM2020! 

"My grandma’s words to work on behalf of our people always stuck with me. As a first-generation college student and undergraduate psychology major, I quickly realized I wanted to focus my career path on mental health research with and for Native people. The urgency I felt in this decision was due to a few reasons. First, there was hardly any representation of Indigenous people or content in my education from kindergarten through my undergraduate training. Invisibility of American Indians/Alaska Natives (AI/ANs) from public discourse is a modern form of discrimination and impacts numerous areas of Native life, including mental health." Victoria M. O’Keefe, Ph.D. (Cherokee/Seminole Nations of Oklahoma), associate director of the Center for American Indian Health at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, talks about her career path on mental health research with and for Native people. Read the blog post. 

"There has been tremendous attention brought to mental health as part of the coronavirus pandemic. The good news is that there is now almost universal recognition that when our mental health is precarious, costs are immeasurable. What has become more apparent is how this cost is much higher for people of color. But why is their burden of mental illness so much greater? What can help shed light on how mental illness impacts racial and ethnic minorities so adversely and profoundly, even when they have lower or similar prevalence rates of mental health disorders when compared to White people?" Margarita Alegría, Ph.D., professor at Harvard Medical School's Departments of Medicine and Psychiatry, offers some food for thought. Read the blog post. 

"Maternal mortality rates in the United States have reached an all-time high. While these rates have dropped globally in the last few decades, in the United States, they have more than doubled between 1987 and 2015. The picture is even grimmer for racial and ethnic minority communities, where African American and American Indian/Alaska Native women have the highest maternal mortality rates of all racial/ethnic groups." In this blog post, Dr. Dagher discusses how paid maternity leave is associated with better maternal mental health. Read the blog post.

On June 12, Dr. Pérez-Stable penned a blog post addressing the nation-wide unrest following the death of George Floyd and with recognition of countless other African Americans who have lost their lives to police violence. In his message, Dr. Pérez-Stable speaks about the relentless and terrible history of injustice in America that has targeted and impacted many racial and ethnic minority communities. Ending with optimism, he calls for real action to address systemic racism and move us toward a future in which all populations will have an equal opportunity to live long, healthy, and productive lives. Read the blog post. 

In this blog post, Dr. Pérez-Stable writes about COVID-19's disproportionate burden on individuals from racial and ethnic minority communities in the United States. He discusses possible reasons for this disparity and shares his thoughts on what the biomedical community can do and is doing to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on vulnerable populations. Read the blog post. 

In this blog post, Nancy Jones, Ph.D., M.A., scientific program officer in the Community Health and Population Sciences division at NIMHD, discusses the findings of a report co-authored by NIMHD program officials and other NIH staff members from NHLBI and NIEHS, and published in the journal Sleep. Disparities in sleep health may drive overall health disparities in minority populations. Dr. Jones walks the readers through research ideas to study sleep health disparities and the intervention strategies to address them. Read the blog post.