Endowment for Cardiometabolic Health Disparities Research

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Project Abstract The long-term objective of the Endowment for Cardiometabolic Health Disparities Research is to expand the capacity of Meharry Medical College (MMC) to enhance research and research training in minority health. The program will address health disparities in cardiometabolic health disproportionately prevalent in the African Americans in Nashville and Davidson County, the catchment areas of MMC. We will accomplish this objective by recruiting a well-established anchor faculty to build intellectual capacity, increasing the number of PhD students from underrepresented backgrounds in health disparity research, providing interdisciplinary research and leadership training to postdoctoral fellows and junior faculty from underrepresented backgrounds, and increasing the number of health professional faculty involved in cardiovascular health disparity research. To achieve our goal, there are 5 priority activities. Priority Activity 1 is to develop a bachelors to masters to PhD pathway program in partnership with nearby undergraduate HBCU institutions. We will develop graduate curriculum and establish a new PhD training graduate concentration in cardiometabolic health disparities research. Priority Activity 2 is to hire a Senior Magnet Cardiovascular Scientist and Junior Scientist to build a corpus of researchers. Priority Activity 3 is to develop a research leadership program for postdoctoral fellows to early-stage tenure-track faculty underrepresented in medicine and science to allow them to successfully establish their independent research programs and transition to successful tenure status. Priority Activity 4 is to establish an annual Presidents Seminar to bring accomplished, nationally recognized prominent researchers on the Meharry campus to present and to engage with our PhD candidates and faculty for new networking/mentoring opportunities. Priority Activity 5 is to invest in research infrastructure to advance technological innovation on our campus for experimentation, data collection, and translational research focused on health disparities of cardiometabolic disease. With endowment funds secured through the S21 mechanism, we will provide robust training opportunities to encourage more participation in health disparities research focused on cardiometabolic diseases. The impact will be establishment of a sustainable program that includes health disparity curricula for graduate students, a postdoctoral fellow to tenure-track faculty development pathway, and a critical corpus of health disparity researchers with active research projects in the area focused on cardiometabolic health disparities. Leveraging our ongoing academic relationships with the neighboring undergraduate HBCUs, training pathways in partnership with Tennessee State University and Fisk University, located in the one-mile corridor of MMC, will create a scholarly environment for teaching and research to address the challenge of halting and reducing the widening gap of cardiovascular health disparities within the minority populations of the US.