Promoting Cardiovascular Health in the Community: Training the Next Generation of Scientists in the Jackson Heart Study.

Purpose: The aim of this article is to show the impact of the use of National Institutes of Health (NIH) research supplements in the training of African American students affiliated with the Jackson Heart Study (JHS).

Recent Findings: The JHS Undergraduate Training and Education Center (UTEC) at Tougaloo College has had 19 students to be awarded research supplements. The awardees gained invaluable skills while working on the research supplements.

Living through their first pandemic: Mississippi young adults reveal COVID-19 concerns and challenges.

The study aimed to understand the perceptions, knowledge, information sources, and coping skills pertaining to COVID-19 among two groups of African American young adults. African American ages 18-29 years enrolled in Historically Black Colleges and Universities and non-college enrolled young adults in Mississippi were the participants. : Focus groups were conducted from February through May 2021.

Thinking Ahead to the Next Generation of Cardiometabolic Investigators: What It Takes to Successfully Engage Underrepresented Minorities in Biomedical and Public Health Careers.

Purpose Of Review: The purpose of this review is to examine the existing information regarding cardiometabolic syndrome (CMS) manifestations among underrepresented minority populations, underrepresented minorities' representation in the cardiometabolic workforce, and the models that successfully recruit and retain underrepresented minorities in the field.

Recent Findings: The scientific literature is replete with information on methods to recruit and train URM in research careers. However, there are few programs that are specifically designed to train URM to become diabetes researchers, or more specifically cardiometabolic researchers.

Weight Misperception among African American Adolescents: The Jackson Heart KIDS Pilot Study.

Background: Weight misperception is a common problem among adolescents; however, few studies have examined contributing factors among an exclusively African American population. The purpose of this study was to examine factors associated with weight misperception among 12- to 19-year-old participants in the Jackson Heart KIDS Pilot Study (JHS-KIDS).

Methods: Data were drawn from JHS-KIDS, a prospective, observational examination of cardiovascular-related risk factors among African American adolescents who were children or grandchildren of participants in the Jackson Heart Study.

The Role of Public Health Partnerships in the Success of the Jackson Heart Study Undergraduate Training and Education Center.

Background: The Jackson Heart Study (JHS) is a single-site prospective epidemiologic investigation of cardiovascular disease (CVD) among African Americans from the central Jackson, Mississippi area. The study is a collaboration between Jackson State University (JSU), University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC), Tougaloo College (TC), and the Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH). The JHS Undergraduate Training and Education Center (JHSUTEC) at TC was developed to increase the numbers of college-aged African American students entering public health and health-related fields.

The Jackson Heart Study: Preparing African American High School Students for Health Careers and Research.

In 1999, Tougaloo College (TC), located in Jackson, Mississippi, was charged, as a part of its role in the Jackson Heart Study (JHS), with creating a pool of well-trained high school students who, upon entering college, could successfully complete undergraduate and graduate or professional degrees in the health professions, biomedical research, and public health. TC identified the following educational challenges experienced by Mississippi high school students: inadequate exposure to reading, writing, logic, and quantitative skills; inadequate course work in science and mathematics; lack of mentors and role models in science-related fields as well as for exploration and identification of career options in the health professions and biomedical research. To this end, the JHS Undergraduate Training and Education Center (JHS UTEC) developed three four-week summer workshops in Science, Language Arts, and Mathematics (SLAM) for high school students in grades 9 through 11.

A Systematic Examination of Food Intake and Adaptation to the Food Environment by Refugees Settled in the United States.

The United States is the largest refugee resettlement country in the world. Refugees may face health-related challenges after resettlement in the United States, including higher rates of chronic diseases due to problems such as language barriers and difficulty adapting to new food environments. However, reported refugee diet challenges varied, and no systematic examination has been reported.