Mindy Keyes Black, Communications Coordinator UAB Minority Health & Health Disparities Research Center Division of Preventive Medicine-‐-‐School of Medicine University of Alabama at Birmingham 1717 Eleventh Avenue South, MT 512 Birmingham, Alabama 35205-‐4410 205.934.6978 [email protected] www.UABMHRC.com Release date: April 11, 2012 Six Researchers Win 2012 Charles Barkley Health Disparities Research Investigator Awards at the Seventh Annual UAB Health Disparities Research Symposium BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Six researchers from UAB and the University of Alabama won Charles Barkley Health Disparities Research Investigator Awards Tuesday at the 2012 UAB Health Disparities Research Symposium, an annual event designed to keep scientists at UAB, the University of Alabama, Auburn University, and minority institutions across the Southeast at the forefront of health disparities research. Sponsored by the UAB Minority Health & Health Disparities Research Center (MHRC) at the DoubleTree Hotel on Birmingham’s Southside, the symposium included a poster competition and oral breakout sessions with presentations by faculty, post-‐doctoral fellows and residents, and graduate students from Auburn University, Morehouse School of Medicine, Tuskegee University, the University of Alabama, and UAB. Approximately 180 faculty, students, and staff attended the event. Keynote speaker Bob Croyle, PhD, Director of the Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), congratulated Mona Fouad, MD, MPH, Director of the MHRC and the UAB Division of Preventive Medicine, and Edward Partridge, MD, Director of the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center (CCC) and Co-‐Director of the MHRC, for their commitment to eliminating health disparities through their work and through the UAB Health Disparities Research Symposium. “This does not happen at every university, and it should,” Croyle said. “If every university did what you are doing here in the area of health disparities, we would be way ahead of where we are now.” Charles Barkley Health Disparities Research Investigator Awards went to the three best oral and three best poster presentations. Winners received $200 (1st place), $150 (2nd place), and $100 (3rd place). The cash awards are from an endowment created by Barkley for the UAB MHRC. 2012 Charles Barkley Health Disparities Research Investigator Awards Oral Presentations 1. Gwendolyn Childs, PhD Assistant Professor, UAB School of Nursing, Family/Child Health and Caregiving “African American Adolescent Girls’ Perceptions about Virginity and Relationships” 2. Elaine St. John, MD Associate Professor, UAB School of Medicine, Pediatrics “Racial Disparities in Neonatal and Post-‐Neonatal Mortality: Where the Differences Occur” 3. Shantel Hébert-‐Magee, MD Assistant Professor, UAB School of Medicine, Pathology “The Higher Incidence of Triple-‐Negative Breast Cancer in African American and Younger Women is Independent of Body Mass Index, Poverty, and Potential Carcinogenic Exposure” Poster Presentations 1. Giyeon Kim, PhD Assistant Professor, University of Alabama, School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Center for Mental Health and Aging/Department of Psychology “Health Disparities Grants Funded by National Institute on Aging (NIA): Trends between 2000 and 2010” 2. Amelia Boehme, MSPH Graduate Assistant, UAB School of Public Health, Epidemiology “Do Black Women with Acute Ischemic Stroke Have More Severe Strokes with Worse Outcomes?” 3. Megan Ruiter, PhD Post-‐doctoral Fellow, UAB School of Medicine, Preventive Medicine “Sleep Duration as a Mechanism in the Relationship between Ethnicity and Incident Stroke Symptoms” “The problem of health disparities is complex,” said Mona Fouad, “so the solution requires a multidisciplinary approach that spans the scientific spectrum. We congratulate our 2012 winners and applaud the important work they are doing to improve the health of underserved men, women, and children across the country.” About the UAB Minority Health & Health Disparities Research Center (MHRC) The UAB Minority Health & Health Disparities Research Center (MHRC) is a comprehensive educational, research, and community outreach center focused on eliminating health disparities of racial/ethnic minorities and underserved populations locally, regionally, and nationally. The UAB MHRC is a University-‐ Wide Interdisciplinary Research Center, approved by the Board of Trustees of the University of Alabama System, and a designated Center of Excellence in Health Disparities Research by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities at NIH. For more information, visit www.UABMHRC.com.