Improving minority health requires the energies and talents of both minority and non-minority investigators, so a lack of minority researchers and clinicians in the field widens the health disparities gap. Under a coordinated curriculum run by the MHRC and led by faculty members, the MHRC works to close that gap. Gathering a sizeable group of multidisciplinary investigator-trainees creates critical mass and enables the MHRC to bring in senior faculty to lecture, teach, and mentor.

The MHRC leverages resources from multiple NIH grants to train health disparities investigators. Funding grants include the Morehouse School of Medicine/Tuskegee University/O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center at UAB Partnership, the Deep South Network for Cancer Control, the Deep South Resource Center for Minority Aging Research (RCMAR), and the Obesity Health Disparities Research Center (OHDRC). Previous grant sponsors include the Deep South Network for Cancer Control and the Minority Health and Health Disparities Research Center (MHDRC).

Building the Pipeline of Health Disparities Researchers

The multidisciplinary curriculum is designed to attract and train potential researchers from their undergraduate years through postdoctoral fellowships, creating a pipeline of researchers dedicated to advancing health equality.