NCCU NCMHD RESEARCH CENTER OF EXCELLENCE

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Funds are requested to develop an NCCU NCMHD Research Center at North Carolina Central University that focuses on minority health disparities. The Center will be housed in the Julius L. Chambers Biomedical/Biotechnology Research Institute and will comprise Administrative, Research, Research Education/Training, and Community Engagement/Outreach Cores. The Administrative Core will have oversight of all of the Center's programs, activities, and budgets. It will manage the selection of core faculty and research/pilot projects, and coordinate the development of all partnership arrangements. A common theme of projects that will be conducted by the research core is that minority health disparities may result from complex gene-environment interactions. The Research Core will support two full research projects and two pilot projects: the first research project is directed at investigating the interaction of psychosocial factors and susceptible genetic polymorphisms in contributing to the physiological blood pressure response to environmental stress and the subsequent development of hypertension in African Americans; and the second will seek to identify and characterize Genetic and Epigenetic Factors associated with Prostate Cancer Disparity. The pilot projects provide unique opportunities for research project expansion and faculty development. Three shared resources facilities will provide technical and logistical support for the research and pilot projects. The research education/training core will oversee laboratory and classroom training for high school, undergraduate, and graduate students, as well as post-doctoral associates and junior faculty. It will also assist the academic units with developing new curricula and degree programs. A Community Engagement/Outreach Core will continue its work on developing methods for effectively communicating health education messages to minority communities. It is anticipated that the NCCU NCMHD Research Center will become a valued, trusted, institution-wide resource for expanding NCCU's capacity to conduct minority health and health disparities research.