Project EXPORT - A Center of Excellence (PEACE)

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Over 100 years ago W.E.B. Dubois wrote "The Philadelphia Negro," a book detailing one of the first social-scientific studies of a community of African Americans - their collective history and individual families; their health, educational, occupational, economic and political status; their churches and businesses; their personal habits, biases and living conditions - revealing the potential of research as a means to correct social injustice and effect societal change. Today, the issue of what is now termed "health disparities" continues to plague not only African Americans, but also other people of color and the medically underserved, and society struggles with ways to improve the plight of minorities while remaining "culturally competent" and "sensitive." It is our opinion that the scientific approaches of the twentieth century, especially those involving underserved communities, will not work in the twenty-first century. We need a more comprehensive approach that will involve not scientific discovery alone, but scientific discovery coupled with real-world applications and community service. The Center for Research on Minority Health (CRMH), the first Congressionally mandated center on minority health and health disparities outside of the federal government, and Prairie View A & M University (PVAMU) and its College of Nursing, established with Project EXPORT a successful approach to bridging the gap between science and community. In the renewal of Project EXPORT, now referred to as "Project EXPORT - A Center of Excellence" (PEACE), we will continue to address health disparities using the same holistic approach, building on our educational and outreach programs to enhance and expand our research efforts, so as to: (a) integrate and centralize ongoing minority health and health disparities efforts of Project EXPORT into the CRMH as a research center of excellence, while developing new programs in research training, community engagement, and outreach (All Cores); (b) maintain and develop research programs that are "biopsychosocial" in design, recognizing that biological, environmental, behavioral and social factors, acting independently or dependently across multiple social contexts and multiple social levels, determine health outcomes (Research & Community Relations Cores); (c) enhance existing research training activities that prepare researchers from minority and underserved populations to conduct meritorious minority health and health disparities research; (Research Education & Training Core); and (d) build upon community and institutional partnerships, both locally and abroad, that will effect improvements in the health of minorities and the medically underserved (Research, Community Relations, and Research Education & Training Cores). We will continue to work with Cancer Information Services and the M. D. Anderson Office of Public Education to inform the public, health care providers, and potential clinical trial participants about cancer treatment and prevention trials, and will move forward with professional training efforts to: (1) enhance a curriculum promoting research in cancer health disparities; (2) provide experience to minority students seeking careers in health disparities research; and (3) develop, with the M. D. Anderson Biostatistics & Applied Sciences Department, a data management system with PVAMU, training Prairie View students to maintain and update the system for future research projects. These are but a few of the unique features of this application. We intend to make a difference.