Health Disparities

Connecticut Convergence Institute for Translation in Regenerative Engineering Fellow in Health Disparities Elimination and Community Action

Posted on by Sherrie D Lilly

Connecticut Convergence Institute for Translation in Regenerative Engineering

Fellow in Health Disparities Elimination and Community Action

Postdoctoral Fellow position in Health Disparities

Connecticut Convergence Institute for Translation in Regenerative Engineering at the University of Connecticut is seeks to hire a full time, Postdoctoral Research Fellow position in the CT Convergence Institute.

The Health Disparities Fellow will work closely with the Chief Executive Officer and Assistant Director of the Connecticut Convergence Institute on Health Disparities related initiatives and will contribute to research and community engagement initiatives associated with the Connecticut Convergence Institute Health Disparities Core Projects. In this capacity, the fellow will work on a new National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine Roundtable on Black Men and Black Women in Medicine, Engineering and Science.  The fellow will be engaged part time to work with the development of Perspective papers and surveys related to issues facing Black Men and Black Women in Medicine, Engineering and Science.  The Fellow will also work with members of the Roundtable on formulation of follow on projects from ideas generated from the Roundtable.  In addition, the Fellow will work on community health disparities projects funded by an Aetna Foundation Community Partnership Grant to the Connecticut Convergence Institute. The Fellow will also serve on the editorial board of the Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities, published by Springer Nature and having its home at the Connecticut Convergence Institute at UCONN.

The successful candidate must hold a terminal professional degree (e.g. Ph.D. M.D., and/or M.P.H.) and have demonstrated potential for success based on scholarly record and demonstrated interest in health disparities, and have the ability to work in collaboration with clinical, translational and/or basic scientists.

A curriculum vitae and a cover letter (in pdf files) and questions regarding this search should be directed to Dr. Lakshmi Nair, Associate Director of the Connecticut Convergence Institute at nair@uchc.edu.

2nd Annual National Health Disparities Elimination Summit

Posted on by Melanie L Burnat

The 2nd Annual National Health Disparities Elimination SummitBy Cato T. Laurencin, M.D., Ph.D.

On October 29, the Connecticut Institute for Clinical and Translational Science (CICATS) at UConn, in partnership with the Connecticut Legislative Black and Puerto Rican Caucus and the W. Montague Cobb/NMA Health Institute, hosted the second National Health Disparities Elimination Summit here at UConn Health. The summit’s theme was “Living in America Today,” and its goal was bringing stakeholders together to provide important information and resources to eliminate health disparities.

This year’s summit took a holistic approach and focused on how different environments are creating or exacerbating health disparities. Discussions surrounded physical environments such as the Flint, MI water crisis; health care environment and the role of diversity in improving outcomes; and social environment including societal structural issues such as gun violence. Where people live matters! Health care providers, politicians, community leaders and individuals can all positively impact their environments, resulting in improved health outcomes in their communities.

The hours of planning and execution invested in this event were recognized by all the attendees, and I was told by several people how impressed they were by this year’s summit. I want to thank everyone for the work and the commitment to excellence.

NMA Colloquium

Posted on by Melanie L Burnat

By Cato T. Laurencin, M.D., Ph.D.

On March 4-6, the National Medical Association (NMA) hosted its 17th National Colloquium on African American Health in National Harbor, Maryland. This year’s theme, “True North Toward Health Care Equity: Clinical, Policy, and Social Determinants” conveyed the NMA’s objective to eliminate the health disparities in our country. The event also focused on the clinical, policy, and social determinants of health and impact on individual opportunities to earn a good living, live and work in a safe and healthy environment, and effectively use available social service and health care resources to optimize and maximize health care and disease prevention. This event attracted more than 200 health professionals interested in the pressing issues facing patients, healthcare providers and community leaders. I was among the many distinguished keynote speakers providing remarks aligned with the theme. The event was incredibly successful. Thank you to staff members at NMA particularly Dr. Edith Mitchell, the 116th president of NMA, for organizing such a wonderful event.

The Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities Goes Bimonthly

Posted on by Melanie L Burnat

By Cato T. Laurencin, M.D., Ph.D.

I am happy to announce our flagship journal, The Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities, will move from quarterly publication to bimonthly, starting in 2017. Since its official launch in July 2013, we have received an impressive number of high quality submissions from scholars all over the world. We have published articles in all areas of racial and ethnic health disparities. Importantly, our journal was accepted for indexing by PubMed/Medline in October 2015.

The Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities will continue to update the community on new research findings, commentaries, insights, and discussions that are relevant to the health disparities. I congratulate all our associates: editors, editorial board members, reviewers, and editorial staff for their outstanding work in achieving this milestone.