Representatives from Wayne State University and the University of Michigan joined community leaders at the kick-off event for the "Healthier Black Elders" program at Hannan House in Detroit.

The health program is sponsored by WSU and U of M as part of the newly established Michigan Center for Urban African American Aging Research. The center is funded by a $2.1 million National Institute on Aging grant shared by the two schools.

The universities are conducting urban research and outreach activities to reduce health disparities for older African Americans. The project has been hailed by elected officials, including state Sen. Joseph F. Young Jr., who called the work innovative and commendable.

The open house, attended by about 75 people, focused on research projects that have been undertaken in this field. Participants had the opportunity to meet with researchers and ask questions about their work.

Principal investigators on the grant are Peter Lichtenberg, interim director of the WSU Institute of Gerontology, and James Jackson, director of the Program for Research on Black Americans at the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research.

"This is a model for collaborative relationships between universities and mentoring junior faculty members," Lichtenberg said. "The National Advisory Board for the Healthier Black Elders Program is very supportive of the center.

"Our next step will be hosting 30 African-American scholars from across the country for a workshop on research methods."

The goal of the program is to look at health disparities between elder African Americans and older white counterparts for diseases like diabetes, hypertension and stroke and promote research to reduce the prevalence and impact of those illnesses.

Six pilot projects by minority researchers on issues of health already are funded by the center and three pilot projects for 1999-2000 have been approved.

One pilot investigator from Wayne State is submitting a grant to the National Institutes of Health based on her work with the Healthier Black Elders program. Diane Brown, a professor in the College of Urban, Labor and Metropolitan Affairs and director of the community liaison core of the project, was approached by several people during the event who want to volunteer for the program or serve on the local advisory board. The program is expected to grow in the upcoming years.