Seven University of Alabama at Birmingham researchers were awarded 2014 Charles Barkley Health Disparities Investigator Awards at the 9th Annual UAB Health Disparities Research Symposium in March. The annual event is designed to keep scientists at UAB and other institutions across the Southeast at the forefront of health disparities research.
The three best oral and poster presentations were selected as winners of the prestigious award. First-place winners received $200, second place received $150 and third $100 in cash awards from an endowment to the UAB MHRC by Charles Barkley.
Oral presentations
1. Esther Suswam, Ph.D., assistant professor in the School of Medicine’s Neurology Chair Office, for her presentation on “Molecular profiles of tristetraprolin and growth factors in colorectal cancers of African-American and Caucasian-American patients”
2. Angela Jukkala, Ph.D., assistant professor in the School of Nursing’s Community Health, Outcomes and Systems, for her presentation on “Measuring Patient Activation During Pregnancy”
3. (Tie) Tiffany Carson, Ph.D., assistant professor in the School of Medicine, for her presentation on “Community-based participatory research strategies for enhanced enrollment of underserved individuals for bio-specimen research”
3. (Tie) Lisa McCormick, Dr.PH, assistant professor in the School of Public Health’s Health Care Organization and Policy, for her presentation on “Addressing HIV-related stigma in healthcare settings in the South”
Poster presentations
1. Sindhu Lakkur, Ph.D., postdoctoral trainee in the School of Public Health’s Biostatistics Department, for her presentation on “The Association Between Food Desert Census Tract Residence and Dietary Patterns”
2. Amelia Boehme, graduate student trainee in the School of Public Health’s Epidemiology Department, for her presentation on “Stroke Severity in Men and Women: What Proportion of the Disparity Can Be Explained by Differences in Cardiovascular Risk Factors?”
3. Bradford Jackson, Ph.D., postdoc fellow in the School of Medicine’s Division of Preventive Medicine, for his presentation on “Comparison of Chronic Disease Prevalence and Characteristics Between Mid-South and Non-Mid-South States: Cross Sectional Analysis of The 2011 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System”
More than 200 faculty, students and staff attended the March 20 symposium, which was sponsored by the UAB Minority Health and Health Disparities Research Center. The event included a poster competition, plenary sessions, oral breakout sessions and a panel discussion.
“This year we focused on the integration of social and biological factors in health disparities research,” said Mona Fouad, M.D., director of the MHRC and the Division of Preventive Medicine.
The keynote address, “Where Health Disparities Begin: the Role of Social and Economic Determinants,” was delivered by Paula Braveman, M.D., professor, School of Medicine, and director, Center on Social Disparities in Health, at the University of California at San Francisco. Two plenary sessions were given, one on “Gene-Environment Interactions and Disparities in Obesity and Diabetes,” by Frank Hu, M.D., Ph.D., professor of nutrition and epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, and professor of medicine, Harvard Medical School. The second session was on “Incorporating Evidence from Gene-Environment Studies into Health Disparities Research in the United States” by Jason Boardman, Ph.D., associate professor, University of Colorado at Boulder, and associate director, Colorado University Population Center. A panel discussion on “Pushing the Frontier in the Study of Gene-Environment Interactions” was moderated by UAB’s Frank Franklin, M.D., and discussed with the three public health experts above, and joined by faculty member David Allison, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor and associate dean for Science, UAB School of Public Health.