Loma Linda University Center for Health Disparities Res*

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): For a century, Loma Linda University (LLU) has played a major role in health care access and education in the Inland Empire (IE), California. For all these years LLU has supported the only medical and public health schools servicing a highly diverse community of more than three million people. The present application proposes a plan to establish the first Center for Health Disparities Research (CHDR) in the region. The five-year project proposes an innovative plan to integrate translational biomedical and community-based interdisciplinary research on health disparities with community based participatory research, partnerships for community outreach and education, and training and development of underrepresented scientists. The long-term goal of this application is to hasten the elimination of health disparities by the establishment of the LLUCHDR. The Administrative Core will provide leadership, cohesiveness and vision for the establishment of the required infrastructure to develop and strengthen LLU's capacity to focus on health disparity research. It will provide the required rules of understanding to integrate researchers from the School of Medicine, Graduate School, and the School of Public Health who share the common goal to eliminate health disparities through research, training, and outreach. The Research Core (RC) will support basic translational research with the final goal to develop interventions to modulate the "augmented state of cellular oxidative stress" (ASCOS) triggered by dietary fat, a risk factor that is seriously affecting minority populations. Studies on breast, prostate, and pancreatic cancer, diabetes, and stroke will be focused on elucidating how the development of these diseases is mediated through ASCOS-associated signaling pathways. The RC will also support research projects to understand elements of cultural competence and health care access associated with these conditions. The Research Training and Educational Core (RTEC) will integrate current health disparity training programs with the CHDR's initiative to widen the pipeline to high school & undergraduate students in health disparities research. The Community Outreach and Community Partnerships Core (COCPC) will expand existing programs with key community and government entities in the Inland Empire. The LLUCHDR will serve as a major resource for the whole region that will help researchers work with community stakeholders to reduce or eliminate health disparities in the IE and the country.