Center for Health Equity in Rural Montana

描述（由申请人提供）：蒙大拿州的美洲原住民和其他农村社区遭受严重的健康差距。蒙大拿州土著美国人的这种差异导致全因死亡率比白色人高出58%。这项提案的长期目标是减少蒙大拿州农村社区的健康差距。为了实现这一目标，在蒙大拿州的研究型大学的健康差距研究基础设施必须首先开发，使适当的专业知识和组织存在，以发展类似的能力，在农村社区。拟建中心将通过实现四个具体目标来满足这一需求。1.发展有效和可持续的健康中心的基础设施 蒙大拿州农村公平（CHERM）。2.通过培训年轻的健康差距研究人员和雇用在这一领域具有专业知识的研究人员，在蒙大拿州培养足够数量的健康差距研究人员。这一目标将首先通过支持和指导MSU当前的健康差距研究人员来实现，使他们在R01资金方面具有竞争力，其次通过赞助在MSU雇用一名额外的终身职位助理教授，从事美洲原住民或农村健康差距研究，以及在MSU聘请一名高级教授从事教授级的健康差距研究（Julie Baldwin博士）。3.调查并随后了解导致健康差异的疾病的病因，合理制定既有效又符合和尊重文化信仰的干预措施。这一目标将部分通过支持研究项目来实现，这些项目涉及蒙大拿州土著和拉丁裔社区的健康差异。4.发展CHERM调查人员的能力，采取跨学科的方法来减轻蒙大拿州农村地区的健康差距。CHERM试点项目将与社会学家，心理学家和替补科学家合作，如免疫学家， 生理学家和微生物学家了解社会，文化和行为因素以及生理因素如何相互作用，导致健康差异。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Native American and other rural communities in Montana suffer from severe health disparities. Such disparities in Montana's Native Americans result in an all-cause death rate that is 58% higher than the white rate. The long term goal of this proposal is to reduce health disparities in Montana's rural communities. In order to achieve this goal, the health disparities research infrastructure at Montana's research universities must first be developed so that the appropriate expertise and organization exist to develop similar capabilities in rural communities. The proposed Center will address this need by accomplishing four specific aims. 1. Develop the infrastructure of an effective and sustainable Center for Health Equity in Rural Montana (CHERM). 2. Develop a critical mass of health disparities researchers in Montana by training young investigators in health disparities research and hiring investigators with expertise in this area. This aim will be accomplished first by supporting and mentoring current health disparities researchers at MSU to make them competitive for R01 funding and secondly by sponsoring the hire of one additional tenure track assistant professor at MSU in Native American or rural health disparities research as well as one senior hire at MSU in health disparities research at the professor level (Dr. Julie Baldwin). 3. Investigate and subsequently understand the etiology of diseases that cause health disparities and rationally develop interventions that are both efficacious and consistent with and respectful of cultural beliefs. Thi aim will be accomplished in part by supporting research projects that deal with health disparities in Montana's Native and Latino communities. 4. Develop the ability of CHERM investigators to take interdisciplinary approaches in mitigating health disparities in rural Montana. The CHERM pilot project will partner sociologists, psychologists, and bench scientists such as immunologists, physiologists and microbiologists to understand how social, cultural, and behavioral factors, as well as physiological factors, interact to cause health disparities.