Center for Healthy Communities Advocate Newsletter, June 2019

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Hello, Colleagues and Friends! Welcome to the June 2019 edition of the CHC Advocate. With this edition, we update you on the work of the DNA integrity study and the valuable role played by the Community Advisory Board. This group of community members forms an integral part of developing the project recruitment protocols to be respectful and sensitive to community needs.

Also, we’re happy to tell you about the strides being made by STARS and STRIPES graduates as they move into the next stages of their lives. We’re happy to introduce former student Kellia Love who will start at Vanderbilt University this fall on a full academic scholarship. Also, we highlight the undergraduate research projects being undertaken by two more former STARS and STRIPES students this summer.

We hope you find this newsletter useful and look forward to working with you in the future.

Thank you for all you do for the health of our community!

Errol D. Crook, M.D.
Director of the USA Center for Healthy Communities
Abraham A. Mitchell Professor and Chair of Internal Medicine
PI of the NIMHD Center of Excellence In Health Disparities

Community Advisors Play an Integral Role in Genomics Research Project

Community engaged research is a valuable approach to population-based genomic studies and other translational research efforts. Through the intentional building of relationships between investigators and community members, research is informed by an understanding of the lived context of communities. At the same time, community members have an opportunity to both interrogate and shape the research process, thus maximizing its potential for population health impact. Starting March of 2019, the Center for Healthy Communities (CHC) has brokered such interaction within the framework of the study “Measuring genomic DNA damage and DNA repair capacity in longitudinal population samples – a step towards precision prevention.”

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Exhibit Chronicles the Making of a Food Desert

In May, the USA Archaeology Museum opened the exhibit "The Making of a Food Desert: A Byproduct of Urban Renewal,” featuring the work of Community Health Advocate (CHA) Barbara Hodnett. Using archival photos side-by-side with current photos of the same locations in the 36603 zip code of Mobile, AL, the exhibit chronicles the changes from the Urban Renewal movement of the 1950s and 1960s that led to the creation of a food desert through fragmenting the neighborhood and displacing long-term residents.

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15 Area Students Selected to Participate in the 2019 STARS & STRIPES Summer Enrichment Program

Fifteen area high school rising juniors and seniors were selected to participate in this year’s summer enrichment program. One of the means of addressing the disparities is to develop a new generation of healthcare providers through the Academic Pipeline. For nearly fifteen years the Pipeline program has encouraged minority students from underserved communities to enter career paths already committed to the reduction of health disparities.

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Two Former Pipeline Students Chosen For Summer Research Program

Kirstan Sullivan (Blount ’18) and Lindsey Nguyen (Murphy ’19) were chosen to represent the Center for Healthy Communities during the 2019 Summer Undergraduate Research Program. African Americans, Hispanics, and other minority groups are significantly underrepresented in the field of biomedical research. This disparity is even more evident among the research-based faculty of universities, non-profit institutions, and commercial research entities than it is for practicing physicians, nurses, and dentists. To address this disparity, the Center of Excellence has developed a research education link aimed at enhancing the research experience and skills of early career African American and Hispanic biomedical researchers. This program is the Undergraduate Research Program (UGRP).

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Former STARS and STRIPES Student Making Strides

Kellia Love participated in the STARS and STRIP.E.S summer enrichment program during the summers of 2017 and 2018. She is a recent graduate of Murphy High School. Graduating with a grade point average of 4.6, she finished tenth in her class.