Florida International University-Health Disparities Initiative (FIU-HDI)

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PROJECT SUMMARY The long-term objective of the proposed Florida International University-Health Disparities Initiative (FIU-HDI) is to enhance and expand FIU’s capacity for health disparities research and training. These efforts will have a direct impact on reducing health disparities in communicable and noncommunicable health conditions in vulnerable, underserved communities in South Florida and the Caribbean region. The proposed FIU-HDI will advance foundational efforts of the original FIU-HDI (S21MD010683) and other health disparities programs and centers at the University, including: FIU’s P20 Center for Substance Use and HIV/AIDS Research on Latinos in the United States (C-SALUD; P20MD002288); FIU’s U54 Center for Latino Health Research Opportunities (CLaRO; #U54MD002266), which is a continuation of FIU’s P20 Center, and; FIU’s Emerging Preeminent Health Inequities and Disparities Program. The proposed FIU-HDI will utilize community-engaged multidisciplinary approaches to further strengthen the University’s capacity to train the next generation of public health, clinical, biomedical, and behavioral researchers at FIU’s Robert Stempel College of Public Health & Social Work (hereafter Stempel College) and Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine (hereafter HWCOM) to address health disparities in communicable and noncommunicable heath conditions—and advance health equity—among underserved populations in South Florida and the Caribbean. Thus, the three objectives of the proposed FIU-HDI are: Objective 1: Expand the breadth and scope of FIU’s existing Health Disparities Doctoral Concentration to include doctoral students across all departments/schools within Stempel College, and doctoral students in Biomedical Sciences at HWCOM, enabling them to earn doctoral degrees in their respective fields with a concentration in Health Disparities; Objective 2: Expand the FIU-HDI post-doctoral training program allowing early stage investigators to receive training, mentoring, and professional development opportunities in their chosen focus area with the goal of becoming independent health disparities researchers; Objective 3: Expand and strengthen the HWCOM Research Scholarship Course by continuing to train the next generation of physicians to understand the role of social and cultural determinants of health in the diagnosis, treatment, and care of patients in vulnerable and underserved communities. The proposed FIU- HDI will build on the expertise available across Stempel College, whose faculty (a) possess extensive experience in conducting NIH-funded community-engaged health disparities research with underserved communities in South Florida; and (b) have cultivated and sustained ongoing community-based collaborations with distinguished research institutions in the Caribbean. This application expands on the success of the current program to establish a permanent investment by the University in continuing to build research and training infrastructure leading to a reduction in health disparities in vulnerable, underserved communities in South Florida and the Caribbean region as well as a diversification of the health disparities scientific workforce.