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TRANS-NIH COLLABORATION WITH NIOSH INITIATES
STUDIES OF RACIAL AND ETHNIC DISPARITIES IN HEALTH |
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TRANS-NIH COLLABORATION WITH NIOSH INITIATES
STUDIES OF RACIAL AND ETHNIC DISPARITIES IN HEALTH
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| The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, in
collaboration with six other National Institutes of Health
components, and the National Institute for Occupational
Safety and Health, today announced 12 five-year projects
that will provide scientists with a better understanding of
how social and physical environmental factors interact to
impoverish the health of racial and ethnic minorities.
The total funding for these grants is approximately $33
million over the five-year period. NIEHS coordinated the
grants and the NIH participation and provided $3.8 million
of the initial, first year $6.6 million. The partnership is
the first trans-NIH collaboration designed to address the
Department of Health and Human Services' Initiative to
Eliminate Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health.
Other NIH participants are the NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON AGING,
THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ARTHRITIS AND MUSCULOSKELETAL AND
SKIN DISEASES, THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF CHILD HEALTH AND
HUMAN DEVELOPMENT, THE NATIONAL HEART, LUNG AND BLOOD
INSTITUTE, THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MENTAL HEALTH, AND THE
OFFICE OF BEHAVIORAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCES RESEARCH. The NIH
effort was assisted by its OFFICE OF RESEARCH ON MINORITY
HEALTH, which sponsored a series of health disparities
workshops during the developmental stages of the new
research initiative.
The National Instititute of Occupational Safety and Health,
or NIOSH, is a part of the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention within the Department of Health and Human
Services .
The principal investigators who are receiving these grants
are listed below:
REDFORD B. WILLIAMS at DUKE UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER,
Durham, N.C., will study a cohort of individuals who are
care givers for spouses with Alzheimer's Disease to
determine how the stress of being a care giver, along with
other socially-related stressors can contribute to negative
health behaviors. The investigators also hope to determine
whether these stressors can contribute to the health
disparities between people of different socioeconomic
strata and races.
BRIAN S. SCHWARTZ at JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF
HYGIENE & PUBLIC HEALTH, Baltimore, Md., will explore how
lead absorption, genetics, social and behavioral factors,
social context and blood pressure contribute to the racial
and socioeconomic disparity in the decline in cognitive
functioning that occurs in elderly people. The
investigators propose to test a diverse sample of 900
subjects to see whether lead burden does indeed contribute
to a more rapid decline in cognitive function.
LAWRENCE M. SCHELL at the STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK -
ALBANY, New York, seeks to determine the relationship
between exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and
thyroid function and psychosocial measures in a population
of Mohawk adolescents living along the St. Lawrence River
in the Awkwesasne Nation in upstate New York. The results
could be of value to populations that consume large amounts
of fish, in which PCBs may accumulate.
JOHN W. FRANK at the UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-BERKELEY will
examine the interaction of psychosocial and physical-
ergonomic factors such as job category, job stress and
socioeconomic status on the incidence of negative health
outcomes in a population of healthcare workers. The
outcomes include lost work time, work-related
musculoskeletal disorders, overall quality of life, and
injury-specific functional status.
ROSALIND J. WRIGHT at BRIGHAM AND WOMEN'S HOSPITAL AND
HARVARD UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH in Boston,
Mass., will study the role of physical environmental agents
and psychosocial factors such as life stress in the
increasing incidence of childhood asthma, particularly
among socioeconomically disadvantaged children in inner
city areas. The investigators hypothesize that stress
experienced prenatally and during infancy and early
childhood has significant potential to modify immune
function and, hence, the development of asthma.
HESTER J. LIPSCOMB of DUKE UNIVERSITY and collaborators at
the UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA and the CENTER FOR WOMEN'S
ECONOMIC ALTERNATIVES, will attempt to quantify the
incidence of negative health outcomes among women in a
five-county region in northeastern North Carolina as a
result of racial discrimination and fast-paced assembly
line production. These outcomes include the evaluation of
occupational roots of health disparities in women.
JOSE SZAPOCZNICK at the UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI will study the
built environment of elderly Hispanic residents in a low-
socioeconomic neighborhood in East Little Havana, Florida.
The investigators want to determine the extent to which the
residents' built environment, as defined by the
architectural features of the buildings they occupy, is
mediated by their social behaviors and support systems in
influencing their behavioral health and cognitive
functioning.
CAROLYN A. BERRY at NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY, Chicago, Ill.,
will study the racial disparities in the incidence of
pediatric asthma among low-income African American, Latino
and Caucasian elementary school-aged children. The primary
goal is to clarify the biologic, environmental, social and
behavioral factors that lead to these disparities.
CRAIG SLATIN at the UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS - LOWELL
proposes to examine the work environment as a primary
influence on health-related quality of life endpoints such
as musculoskeletal disorders, various types of acute
injuries, and mental health conditions. All three of these
endpoints have been associated with environmental
conditions in the workplace, which themselves show a marked
socioeconomic gradient because of widespread occupational
segregation.
AMY J. SCHULZ at the UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN will examine
how race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status, demographic
factors such as neighborhood environment, and exposure to
environmental toxicants (particulate air pollution) can
lead to racial and socioeconomic disparity in the risk of
cardiovascular disease. This project will be undertaken in
partnership with community-based organizations and
healthcare institutions in Detroit.
CARLOS MENDES DE LEON at the RUSH-PRESBYTERIAN ST. LUKE
MEDICAL CENTER, Chicago, Ill., will test whether greater
biological risk factors and adverse neighborhood conditions
can lead to disparities in disability in older people. Age-
related disability is considered to be the most important
measure of overall health status in the elderly, and a
major cause of poor quality of life at that age.
MARILYN A. WINKLEBY at STANFORD UNIVERSITY in California
will assess the role of the neighborhood environment and
other individual risk factors in predicting deaths,
including those from cardiovascular disease. These
potential risk factors include neighborhood socioeconomic
status, social disorganization, Hispanic concentration,
crime rate, housing conditions, availability of goods and
services, educational resources and recreational
facilities.
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