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NIH awards Morehouse School of Medicine to lead first ever Minority Health-GRID
NIH awards $13.3 million to Morehouse School of Medicine researchers
to lead first ever Minority Health-GRID
A three-year grant from the National Institutes of Health will fund the “Minority Health Genomics and Translational Research Bio-Repository Database Network: A Genomics Resource for Health Disparity Research (GRID)” project, the first of its kind to focus primarily on minority patients.
The project will result in a database of genetic and other health information from minority populations by bringing together a web of institutions, hospitals and community clinics that will share information derived from electronic health records. The Minority Health-GRID will launch in the Southeast — known to have the highest incidence of high blood pressure and stroke among African Americans. Dr. Gary Gibbons, chairman of the Department of Physiology and director, Cardiovascular Research Institute, and principal investigator for Minority Health-GRID, will lead a multi-disciplinary team of scientists with expertise in health disparities research, genomic science, bioinformatics, bioethics, epidemiology, minority community outreach, behavioral science and cardiovascular medicine.
“The Minority Health GRID will enable clinicians to establish more effective treatments based on ‘point-of-care’ access to health information taking into consideration the patient’s biological, social and environmental determinants of health,” Dr. Gibbons predicts.”
The Minority Health-GRID is expected to yield predictive tools that will allow clinicians to identify at-risk patients with hypertension who are most likely to benefit from interventions designed to prevent complications such as stroke, heart failure or kidney failure. The project is among the first in the nation with a specific focus on applying state-of-the-art technology and multi-level approaches that will facilitate the ability of the clinician to capture genetic, social and environmental factors that influence the course of disease.
