Irvin D. Reid, President of Wayne State University, has announced this year’s Research Enhancement Program seminar, Wayne State University President’s Conference on Health Disparities. According to President Reid, “This event will explore the underlying cause of the disparity in health outcomes, particularly those related to chronic diseases among medically underserved and ethnic minority populations living in an urban environment.”

The seminar will be held on October 10 and 11 in the McGregor Memorial Conference Center on WSU’s main campus. Pre-registration for this event is required. Registration is $25; Wayne State students are free if they submit a letter from the department or advisory verifying their full-time status. Registration information about the conference can be found at www.research.wayne.edu under announcements.

All healthcare professionals, faculty and students are invited to submit abstracts concerning the treatment and prevention of health disparities to be considered for presentation at the Conference. Abstracts may be submitted in any scientific discipline related to the health of ethnic minority populations and may represent either completed work or results of work in progress. Curriculum vitae of the principal author must be included with the abstract. Previously published or presented abstracts will not be considered. Abstracts are due via email to Erikka Cullum (ecullum@med.wayne.edu) by September 19, 2005. Abstract submission information can be found at www.research.wayne.edu under announcements.

Three years ago, President Reid announced a new program at Wayne State University called the Research Enhancement Program. This program was established to promote interdisciplinary collaborations in order to address the many interrelated challenges faced in many disciplines and fields from across the university. This year, the program focused on health disparities research, with funds used to seed projects that will support Wayne State University’s goal in becoming a leader in the area of understanding and overcoming the disparity in health outcomes.

Part of this year’s funds will be used to build capacity in the NIH funded WSU Center for Urban and African American Health (CUAAH), led by Dr. John Flack, interim chair, Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine. This program consists of a number of research projects and core facilities, with participation of 34 investigators from across the WSU campus. The Center has invested heavily in coalescing and expanding a shared research infrastructure that is widely accessible to investigators.

In addition to CUAAH, five additional interdisciplinary WSU proposals were funded including: 
     
• “Helping Older Minority Women Transition from Homelessness” – led by Dr. Olivia Washington, College of Nursing and Institute of Gerontology
     
• “Reducing Health Disparities in Urban Adult Populations through Personalized E-Technology: Impacts and Effects of eHealthSmart®” – led by Dr. Joseph Tan, School of Business Administration
     
• “Looking for Answers in Lymphedema Prevention: Is it what we inherit? Is it what we do? Is it what we treat?” – led by Dr. Mary Ann Kosir, School of Medicine and Karmanos Cancer Institute
     
• “Feasibility Study of Testing Fecal DNA/RNA and Bacterial Markers for Population Studies” – led by Dr. Ikuko Kato, School of Medicine and Karmanos Cancer Institute
     
• “Prostate Cancer Admixture Mapping in African American Men” – led by Dr. Cathryn Bock, School of Medicine and Karmanos Cancer Institute

“Wayne State has great strengths in the area of health disparities, and I am pleased to support the excellent research and training we are carrying out in this field,” said President Reid. “Our aim is to support rapid progress in this area of immense scientific opportunity and need, and I am pleased to support our faculty in their interdisciplinary research and this conference in this regard.”

Wayne State University is one of the nation’s pre-eminent public research universities in an urban setting. In the past 20 years, Wayne State’s research has grown nine percent annually, with research expenditures reaching nearly $214 million in 2003. Over 75 percent of research at WSU is focused on the life sciences, and this focus has led our School of Medicine to climb the National Science Foundation rankings to 22.

Through its multidisciplinary approach to research and education, and its ongoing collaboration with government, industry and other institutions, the university seeks to enhance economic growth and improve the quality of life in the city of Detroit, state of Michigan and throughout the world.