Center for Health Equity in Rural Montana

描述(申请人提供)：美国原住民和蒙大拿州的其他农村社区存在严重的健康差距。蒙大拿州美洲原住民的这种差异导致全因死亡率比白人高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，必须首先发展蒙大拿州研究型大学的健康差距研究基础设施，以便有适当的专门知识和组织在农村社区发展类似的能力。拟议的中心将通过实现四个具体目标来满足这一需要。1.发展有效和可持续的卫生中心的基础设施 蒙大拿州农村股权(CHERM)。2.在蒙大拿州培养一大批健康差距研究人员，对年轻的研究人员进行健康差距研究方面的培训，并雇用在这一领域具有专业知识的调查人员。这一目标将首先通过支持和指导密歇根州立大学现有的健康差异研究人员，使他们在R01资助方面具有竞争力，其次通过赞助在密歇根州立大学增聘一名终身教职跟踪助理教授从事美洲原住民或农村健康差异研究，以及在密歇根州立大学聘请一名高级雇员从事教授级别的健康差异研究(Julie Baldwin博士)。3.调查并随后了解造成健康差距的疾病的病因，合理地制定既有效又符合和尊重文化信仰的干预措施。这一目标将通过支持处理蒙大拿州原住民和拉丁裔社区健康差距的研究项目来部分实现。4.培养社区卫生和环境卫生调查人员采取跨学科方法缓解蒙大拿州农村地区健康差距的能力。CHERM试点项目将与社会学家、心理学家和免疫学家等长凳科学家合作， 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.