Specialized Center of Excellence on Minority Health and Health Disparities Research
Leveraging Bio-Cultural Mechanisms to Maximize the Impact of Multi-Level Preventable Disease Interventions with Southwest Populations
Principal Investigator: Flavio F. Marsiglia, PhD, Regents' Professor and Director, Global Center for Applied Health Research, School of Social Work
Funding: National Institutes of Health/National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, U54 2U54MD002316 (2017-2024)
The Specialized Center advances knowledge on the prevention of cardiometabolic disease and substance abuse disorders among the health disparities populations of the Southwest. The Center leverages SIRC's accumulated knowledge on cultural and social determinants of health and health disparities to integrate biological, sociocultural and other contextual factors into efficacious, culturally grounded and impactful health interventions.
The Specialized Center has two main research projects that aim to identify potentially modifiable risk factors and youth behaviors associated with cardiometabolic disease and with substance abuse disorders. These studies inform the design and testing of efficacious interventions that can strengthen protective factors and counteract risk factors operating within the multiple ecological domains of a young person's life.
The Specialized Center also supports early career faculty and postdocs at ASU to increase their capacity to conduct health disparities research through a comprehensive investigator development and pilot research project initiative.
- Investigator Development Core (IDC)
- Pilot Research Projects
The Specialized Center implements the research and pilot projects in close and equitable partnership with communities of the Southwest. In partnership with the SIRC Community Advisory Board, the center disseminates and translates the knowledge generated by the studies to policy, practice, and lay stakeholders through an innovative community engagement and dissemination initiative.