Washington DC-Baltimore Research Center on Child Health Disparities

描述（由申请人提供）：华盛顿特区-巴尔的摩地区的有色人种儿童是美国最弱势的群体之一。华盛顿特区/巴尔的摩儿童健康差异研究中心成立于2001年，是少数民族健康中心资助的唯一一个专门研究儿童健康差异的中心。该中心是由霍华德大学儿科系、国家儿童医学中心和约翰霍普金斯大学儿科系合作建立的。该中心的主要目标是开展原创和创新研究，以改善有色人种社区的健康状况，并减少儿童在暴力相关伤害和暴露、物质使用以及儿童肥胖、糖尿病和哮喘等慢性疾病方面的健康差距。这一重点的依据是，有证据表明，成人健康差距源于儿童健康差距，社会因素是我国儿童和成人健康差距的重要决定因素。虽然我们在确定促进风险行为以及促进儿童和家庭的复原力和健康的社会因素方面取得了相当大的进展，但很明显，其他变量也可能导致儿童健康差距的发展，特别是在受贫困、暴力和社会分层等高水平环境压力因素困扰的社区。例如，有证据表明，遗传因素可能影响对暴力等环境压力源的反应，从而增加青少年发生吸毒等危险行为的可能性。人们也日益认识到遗传因素在儿童肥胖、糖尿病和哮喘等慢性疾病病因学中的重要性。与这些发现一致，最近的一份IOM报告建议，有必要研究基因与环境的相互作用，以充分解决健康差距问题。因此，在这份更新申请中，华盛顿特区/巴尔的摩儿童健康差异研究中心寻求五年的资金，通过与来自霍华德大学国家人类基因组中心、儿童医院遗传实验室、和约翰·霍普金斯大学的儿科学系进行研究，研究与暴力暴露、物质使用和慢性疾病（肥胖、糖尿病和哮喘）中儿童健康差异相关的基因-环境相互作用。该中心将由两个主要核心组成：研究核心和行政核心。行政核心将为该中心提供基础设施和援助，并将包括社区和科学咨询委员会。研究核心旨在加强和扩大与差距有关的现有研究基础，并将监督两项初级研究和三项试点研究。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Children of color in the Washington, D.C.-Baltimore area are among the most disadvantaged in the nation. The Washington DC/Baltimore Research Center on Child Health Disparities was formed in 2001 as the only center funded by the Center on Minority Health that is focused exclusively on child health disparities. The Center is a collaborative partnership between Howard University Department of Pediatrics, Children's National Medical Center, and the Johns Hopkins University Department of Pediatrics. The major goal of the Center is to conduct original and innovative research to improve health in communities of color and reduce child health disparities in violence-related injuries and exposure, substance use, and chronic diseases such as childhood obesity, diabetes, and asthma. This focus is based on evidence that adult health disparities have their origin in child health disparities and that social factors are important determinants of both child and adult health disparities in this country. While we have made considerable progress in identifying social factors that promote risk behaviors as well as facilitate resiliency and health in children and families, it is clear that other variables may also contribute to the development of child health disparities, especially in communities that are plagued by high levels of environmental stressors such as poverty, violence, and social stratification. For example, there is evidence that genetic factors may influence responses to environmental stressors such as violence exposure and subsequently increase the likelihood of youth risk behaviors such as drug use. There is also growing awareness of the importance of genetic factors in the etiology of chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes and asthma in children. Consistent with these findings, a recent IOM report recommends that research on gene-environment interactions is necessary to fully address health disparities. Therefore, in this renewal application, the Washington DC/Baltimore Research Center on Child Health Disparities seeks five years of funding to expand its research focus on child health disparities by partnering with researchers from the National Human Genome Center at Howard University, the Genetic Laboratory at Children's Hospital, and the Department of Pediatrics at Johns Hopkins University to conduct research on gene-environment interactions related to child health disparities in violence exposure, substance use, and chronic disease (obesity, diabetes, and asthma). The Center will consist of two primary cores: a Research Core and an Administrative Core. The Administrative Core will provide the infrastructure and assistance for the Center and will include the Community and Scientific Advisory Boards. The Research Core is designed to strengthen and extend the existing base of disparity-relevant research and will provide oversight for two primary studies and three pilot studies.