Eastern Caribbean Health Outcomes Research Network (ECHORN

描述（由申请人提供）：东加勒比卫生成果研究网络（ECHORN）有两个目标：(1)在波多黎各、美属维尔京群岛、巴巴多斯和特立尼达和多巴哥等东加勒比岛屿开展研究合作，招募并跟踪社区居住的成人队列，以估计与心脏病、癌症和糖尿病发展相关的已知和潜在风险因素的患病率；(2)通过一系列本地和国外的专门活动，增强该地区健康成果研究的领导能力。ECHORN将在目前受到非传染性慢性疾病流行威胁的全球过渡地区扩大针对少数种族/族裔人群的临床研究。ECHORN的研究结果将对美国大陆的健康差异研究和政策议程产生直接影响。从长远来看，ECHORN将促进与地方卫生政策代表团和全球战略组织伙伴的联系，将促进研究成果的转化，以改善整个区域的卫生成果。生物标本的收集和储存也将有助于国家生物监测项目，并有可能查明非传染性疾病发展过程中的独特风险和保护因素。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The Eastern Caribbean Health Outcomes Research Network (ECHORN) has two aims: (1) To form a research collaborative across the Eastern Caribbean islands of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Barbados, and Trinidad & Tobago to recruit and follow a community-dwelling adult cohort to estimate the prevalence of known and potential risk factors associated with the development of heart disease, cancer, and diabetes and (2) To enhance health outcomes research leadership capacity in the region through a series of dedicated activities locally and abroad. ECHORN will expand clinical research with racial/ethnic minority populations in a transitioning part of the globe now threatened with an epidemic of noncommunicable chronic diseases (NCD). ECHORN's findings will have direct implications for the health disparities research and policy agenda in the mainland United States. In the long term, the links ECHORN will facilitate with local health policy delegations and global strategic organizational partners will promote the translation of research to improve health outcomes across the region. The collection and storage of biological specimens will also contribute to national biomonitoring projects and has the potential to identify unique risk and protective factors in the development of NCD. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Strengthening capacity for the design and implementation of actionable health outcomes research within the Eastern Caribbean is an essential component of any comprehensive strategy to combat the emerging epidemic of noncommunicable diseases (NCD) in the Western Hemisphere and globally. The Eastern Caribbean Health Outcomes Research Network (ECHORN) is a novel, multipronged collaboration that will ultimately inform strategies, diagnostics, technologies, and targeted interventions to improve health.