The Interdisciplinary Health Sciences Institute (IHSI) recently hosted a virtual panel discussion with officials from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD), attracting researchers from nearly 30 departments and 8 colleges and schools across the Illinois campus.
The event opened with remarks from IHSI Interim Director Stephen Boppart. “Our need to promote health equity and address the existing health disparities is only getting stronger, and we face major local and global challenges in accessing health care services, health care provider shortages, and our aging population,” said Boppart. “There is also this growing awareness of the need to examine and address issues of racism and social justice that are at the root of so many of these inequalities that we see in health care and health disparities. IHSI is working to lead our campus efforts in building these important themes in our research and innovations across many different disciplines across campus.”
School of Social Work Associate Professor and Associate Dean for Research Lilianne Windsor moderated the discussion and shared her research journey. “The take-home message of my experience is that NIMHD has been a long leader in health equity research,” Windsor noted. “I think that now I am very excited to see this topic gaining a lot more traction than it ever did.”
The event featured discussions on the mission of NIMHD, an overview of their approach to health disparities research, current research priorities and funding opportunities, and how best to secure funding with NIMHD. Five NIMHD directors and program officials participated in the panel:
- Larissa Avilés-Santa, MD, MPH | Director, Division of Clinical and Health Services Research
- Rada Dagher, PhD | Program Official, Division of Clinical and Health Services Research
- Rina Das, PhD | Director, Division of Integrative Biological and Behavioral Sciences
- Yewande Oladeinde, PhD | Program Official, Division of Clinical and Health Services Research
- Nathan Stinson, Jr., PhD, MD, MPH | Director, Community Health and Population Science
“Our mission is to support and lead research on minority health and health disparities to understand some of the causes that drive these disparities and then design interventions to reduce and eliminate these disparities, support training of an increasing diversity of the workforce, and coordinate across all the different NIH institutes what they are doing with health equity research,” Das said. “I just want to encourage you that program staff at our institute are very supportive and very responsive. So if you are interested in minority health and health disparities research, I highly recommend reaching out to our program staff.”
Connect with IHSI
For access to the event presentation slides, including links to campus funding resources, event recording, and written transcript, please contact Brandi Barnes.
IHSI’s Health Equity core provides guidance for designing, conducting, and disseminating research that reduces health disparities and works towards positive health outcomes for all members of society. Please contact Brandi Barnes regarding research development services and support for community-academic collaborations during all stages of the research process.
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