The Delta Clinical and Translational Science Consortium has chosen two research teams as the 2018 Collaborative Research Network (CORNET) Awards in Health Disparities Research winners. The CORNET Awards in Health Disparities Research were created by leaders within the consortium to stimulate innovative, interdisciplinary, team-based health disparities research that involves investigators from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC), Tulane University, and the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC). The purpose of the awards is to give seed funding, up to $75,000 per project, to collaborative research teams working to combat regional health inequities faced by those living in the Delta South.

“Through the work that the Delta Consortium is doing, we know there is an increased interest among our researchers to find solutions to complex health issues faced by people in our region,” said Steven R. Goodman, PhD, vice chancellor for Research at UTHSC. “The high response to the CORNET Awards opportunity and the potential impact the two winning projects will have for our community members is overwhelming. I congratulate all the selected collaborative team members.”

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Nearly 200 researchers from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Tulane University, and the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) gathered on Thursday, July 19 for the Delta Clinical and Translational Health Disparities Conference.

Envisioned by Steven R. Goodman, PhD, vice chancellor for Research at UTHSC, Richard L. Summers, MD, vice chancellor for Research at UMMC, and Laura S. Levy, PhD, vice president for Research at Tulane, the conference was designed to bring together health disparities researchers from UTHSC with those from UMMC and Tulane, allowing them to share their research interests, and catalyze new collaborative partnerships that will result in the submission of a UTHSC/TU/UMMC Collaborative Research Network (CORNET) Award proposal in Health Disparities Research.

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Researchers at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center have formed the Tennessee Clinical and Translational Science Institute (TN-CTSI) to address health inequities in the Southern United States.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the American South represented the largest population growth by region in 2017. Comprised of 17 states stretching from Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas on the west, to the Atlantic Ocean on the east, and northward to Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, and West Virginia, the South has a large minority population with heightened levels of poverty and health disparities.

“TN-CTSI will catalyze the development of methods and technologies that lead to more efficient translation of medical discoveries into interventions that improve human health across the translational research spectrum, from basic science to population science,” said Karen C. Johnson, MD, MPH, co-leader of TN-CTSI and Endowed Professor of Women’s Health in the UTHSC Department of Preventive Medicine. “Our mission is to improve the health of Tennesseans and underserved populations in the South by providing education and training, fostering interdisciplinary teams, improving quality and efficiency, and engaging community stakeholders and partners in meaningful collaboration.”

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