Racial Disparity in the Utilization of Joint Replacement for Osteoarthritis

应聘者描述(由申请人提供)：应聘者A.易卜拉欣，医学博士，公共卫生硕士，匹兹堡大学普通内科医学副教授，匹兹堡大学保健研究中心核心教员。他也是宾夕法尼亚州匹兹堡退伍军人事务部国家健康公平研究和促进中心的核心教师。这份申请详细说明了K24职业生涯中期研究人员奖将如何使候选人能够推进他的创新和进步的研究计划，重点是解决膝关节/髋关节骨关节炎(OA)患者在使用膝关节/髋关节置换时的种族/民族差异。它还将确保候选人有足够的保护时间，用于指导下一代医学生、住院医生、临床和博士后研究员以及初级教员实习生，特别是那些来自代表性不足的少数族裔的学生，进行以患者为导向的健康差距研究。候选人和这项提议的研究和职业目标符合美国卫生与公众服务部的国家倡议，即到2010年减少或消除医疗保健中的种族和民族差距，以及国会授权的NIH解决医疗保健差距的任务。 候选人的研究将分两个阶段进行。在第一阶段(1-3年)，他将指导2名研究人员启动的关于了解和干预膝关节/髋关节骨关节炎关节置换应用中的种族差异的研究。在第二阶段(第4至第5年)，他将扩大他的研究，以在具有足够妇女和少数群体代表性的全国代表性样本中检查联合替代视差干预措施的有效性。由候选人指导的卫生保健研究实习生和初级教员将在整个获奖期内成为其研究活动的不可或缺的参与者。在获奖过程中，候选人将指导大约5名医学生和住院医生，6名临床和/或博士后研究员，以及5名初级教员的健康差距研究。研究培训和教育经验，根据被辅导者的水平量身定做，将包括指导健康差距研究项目，参加每周期刊俱乐部，定期研究研讨会，并视情况接受正式培训。 拟议的研究和指导计划将在匹兹堡大学进行，该大学对候选人的专业发展有着强有力的机构承诺，并肩负着支持其许多附属健康科学学校、系和中心进行医疗研究的使命。这些学校提供各种临床研究培训计划，包括NIH资助的医学奖学金计划、临床研究培训计划(K30)、多学科临床研究学者计划(K12)以及临床和翻译科学奖计划。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The candidate, Said A. Ibrahim, MD, MPH, is Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of General Internal Medicine and core faculty in the Center for Research on Health Care at the University of Pittsburgh. He is also core faculty in the VA national Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion in Pittsburgh, PA. This application details how the K24 Mid-Career Investigator Award in Patient-Oriented Research will enable the candidate to advance his innovative and progressive research program focused on addressing the racial/ethnic disparities in the utilization of knee/hip joint replacement in patients with knee/hip osteoarthritis (OA). It will also ensure that the candidate has adequate protected time to devote to mentoring the next generation of medical students, residents, clinical and post-doctoral fellows and junior faculty trainees, particularly those from under-represented minorities, in patient-oriented health disparities research. The research and career goals of the candidate and this proposal are consistent with the US Department of Health and Human Services' national initiative to reduce or eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in health and health care by 2010 and the NIH mandate from Congress to address health care disparities. The candidate's research will be conducted in 2 phases. In Phase I (Years 1-3), he will direct 2 investigator initiated studies on understanding and intervening on racial disparity in joint replacement utilization for knee/hip OA. In Phase II (Years 4-5), he will expand his research to examine the efficacy of joint replacement disparity interventions in a nationally representative sample with adequate representation of women and minorities. Health care research trainees and junior faculty mentored by the candidate will be integral participants in his research activities throughout the award period. Over the course of the award, the candidate will mentor approximately 5 medical students and residents, 6 clinical and/or post-doctoral fellows, and 5 junior faculty members in health disparities research. Research training and education experiences, tailored to the level of the mentee, will include mentored health disparities research projects, participation in a weekly journal club, regular research seminars, and formal training as appropriate. The proposed research and mentoring programs will be conducted at the University of Pittsburgh, which has a strong institutional commitment to the professional development of the candidate and a mission to support health care research throughout its many affiliated health sciences schools, departments, and centers. These schools provide a myriad of clinical research training programs, including NIH-funded fellowship programs in Medicine, a Clinical Research Training Program (K30), a Multidisciplinary Clinical Research Scholars Program (K12), and a Clinical and Translational Science Award Program.