For the third year in a row, President Irvin D. Reid has earmarked $1.8 million for the WSU research enhancement program, the bulk of which went to School of Medicine programs. The program's goal is to provide seed money to increase the number of successful requests for external research funding, particularly those entailing interdisciplinary research and scholarship.

This program is intended to contribute to developing research themes for the university with an emphasis on an urban mission, a global presence and technology. This year's funds are designated for research aimed at understanding and overcoming the disparity in health outcomes, particularly those related to chronic diseases among medically underserved and ethnic minority populations living in an urban environment.

Part of this year's funds will be used to build capacity in the WSU Center for Urban and African American Health, which is funded by the National Institutes of Health. Led by John Flack, M.D., M.P.H., WSU associate chair of internal medicine, the center seeks new ways to redress health disparities by identifying preventive strategies and therapeutic approaches to chronic diseases that plague this population, namely obesity, cardiovascular disease and cancer.

In addition to funding CUAAH, five additional WSU proposals will receive funding from the research enhancement program.

• "Looking for Answers in Lymphedema Prevention: Is it what we inherit? Is it what we do? Is it what we treat?" The goal of this project is to reduce the incidence of arm lymphedema in breast cancer survivors in Detroit. The interdisciplinary team for this project is led by Mary Ann Kosir, WSU associate professor of surgery at the Karmanos Cancer Institute.
• "Feasibility Study of Testing Fecal DNA/RNA and Bacterial Markers for Population Studies" The goal of this interdisciplinary project is to gain knowledge that is useful in the prevention of colorectal cancer for high-risk populations, such as African Americans. Ikuko Kato, WSU associate professor at the Karmanos Cancer Institute, leads this project.
• "Prostate Cancer Admixture Mapping in African-American Men" This two-year study will use an approach called admixture mapping to identify genes involved in prostate cancer susceptibility in African-American men. The project is led by Cathryn Bock, WSU assistant professor at the Karmanos Cancer Institute, and Elisabeth Heath, WSU assistant professor of internal medicine.
• "Reducing Health Disparities in Urban Adult Populations through Personalized E-Technology: Impacts and Effects of eHealthSmart" The goal of this project is to research use and effectiveness of personalized computer software that identifies and addresses specific health-promoting lifestyle needs of individuals disproportionately affected by smoking, obesity and other chronic diseases. Joseph Tan, chair of information systems and manufacturing at the School of Business Administration, leads the interdisciplinary team for this project.
• "Helping Older Minority Women Transition from Homelessness" This two-year study involves 75 African-American women, age 45 and older, during their transition from homelessness. The project's interdisciplinary team is led by Olivia Washington, WSU associate professor of Nursing at the Institute of Gerontology, and David Moxley, WSU professor social work.