Detroit – Wayne State University and the Center for Urban and African American Health (CUAAH) will examine the factors that lead to health problems associated with minority populations. The CUAAH, located at WSU’s School of Medicine, is hosting its President\'s Biennial Conference on Health Disparities on Thursday, Nov. 15. This event brings health professionals together from across Michigan to discuss the health risks that urban communities face and the factors responsible for health disparities among minority populations.

The conference is organized by the CUAAH, a National Institutes of Health funded program consisting of numerous research projects and facilities, managed by 34 investigators from across WSU and its School of Medicine. The keynote address will be delivered by principal investigator for the CUAAH and School of Medicine professor and Chair of the department of internal medicine, John Flack MD, MPH.

“Gaining better understanding of health disparities has broad implications for the population. Usually when disparities are uncovered they represent the tip of the iceberg of an excessively high disease burden in the entire population,” explained Dr. Flack. “When treatment disparities are discovered, it usually means that the entire patient population is getting inadequate care, and some are getting worse care than others."

Other discussion topics will include Environmental Influences on Health, Barriers to Patient Quality of Care, Obesity, Sickle Cell, Health Disparities in the Arab American Community and Health Disparities Research.

The Wayne State University President\'s Biennial Conference on Health Disparities will be held on Thursday, Nov. 15 from 7:45 a.m. to 6 p.m., at the WSU McGregor Memorial Conference Center, located at 495 Ferry Mall, on the main campus in Detroit..

For more information about the conference or to register, visit http://www.hdc.med.wayne.edu/, or contact Erikka Cullum at 313-966-9687.

Wayne State University is a world class institution of higher education offering more than 350 academic programs through 11 schools and colleges to more than 33,000 students.


Contact: Mike Gentile, Officer, Public Affairs, WSU School of Medicine
Voice: (313) 577-9098