Newswise — November 16, 2011 (Baltimore, MD) – The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Office of Minority Health and Health Equity has awarded Kennedy Krieger Institute two grants totaling $4.49 million to educate underrepresented racial and ethnic minority undergraduate and graduate students in the public health and biomedical sciences fields for the next five years. Joining Kennedy Krieger in this national effort are fellow grant recipients Columbia University, the University of Michigan and Morehouse College in Atlanta.
One of the grants to Kennedy Krieger is for the Maternal and Child Health Careers/Research Initiatives for Student Enhancement-Undergraduate Program. Through a unique national mentorship consortium, Kennedy Krieger will partner with the University of South Dakota/Sanford School of Medicine and the University of Southern California/California State University, Los Angeles to recruit up to 50 undergraduate students for a valuable summer experience in public health. Students will participate in a one-week orientation at Kennedy Krieger focused on urban health and health disparities, along with a one-week public health course at the CDC, and eight weeks in a clinical, leadership or research track at Kennedy Krieger or its university partners.
The second grant is for the James A. Ferguson Emerging Infectious Diseases Fellowship, a collaboration between the CDC National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases and Kennedy Krieger. The fellowship will provide 20 underrepresented minority professional and public health graduate students with the opportunity to gain field experience in infectious diseases, blending public health research with clinical or leadership work.
“Many underrepresented students don’t consider a career in public health because they simply have no exposure to the field. By fostering the interest of African Americans, Hispanic Americans, American Indians, and individuals of select Asian descent, we can ultimately improve health care delivery to minority communities, many of which have poorer health outcomes than their majority counterparts,” says Dr. Harolyn Belcher, who will direct the grant program and fellowship at Kennedy Krieger. “This is an opportunity to not only increase diversity in the public health workforce, but to also fill a need in the areas of maternal and child health and developmental disabilities.”
These grants will further the partnerships between Kennedy Krieger and historically black colleges and universities locally (Coppin State University, Morgan State University, Howard University) and nationally, promoting the universities’ recruitment and mentorship efforts and supporting the professional development of diverse students.
These grants will allow Kennedy Krieger to continue its successful work in this arena. For the past five years, Dr. Belcher led Kennedy Krieger’s Research Initiatives for Student Enhancement (RISE) program, which promoted professional development, research, education and training for underrepresented racial and ethnic minority graduate students interested in pursuing public health research.
Sixty-six graduate and recent post-baccalaureate students completed the RISE program. During the funding period, 24 students obtained masters’ degrees, five students obtained doctoral degrees, five students completed medical degrees and 17 students are pursuing public health careers. Forty-seven research abstracts were accepted (88% acceptance rate) for presentation at professional conferences. Also, students were co-authors on six peer-reviewed manuscripts and one book chapter, and twenty students presented public health lectures in the community. The accomplishments of these students highlight the value of nurturing a diverse public health workforce.
About the Kennedy Krieger InstituteInternationally recognized for improving the lives of children and adolescents with disorders and injuries of the brain and spinal cord, the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore, MD serves more than 16,000 individuals each year through inpatient and outpatient clinics, home and community services and school-based programs. Kennedy Krieger provides a wide range of services for children with developmental concerns mild to severe, and is home to a team of investigators who are contributing to the understanding of how disorders develop while pioneering new interventions and earlier diagnosis. For more information on Kennedy Krieger Institute, visit www.kennedykrieger.org.
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