Co-creation and engagement in a DNA integrity cohort study.

Introduction: The partnership between a research community engagement team (CE Team) and a community advisory board (CAB) formed the basis for bidirectional communication in developing resources for participant recruitment in a DNA integrity study. Engaging with a minoritized community, this partnership focused on respect, accessibility, and expanded engagement.

Methods: A ten-member CAB, working in two groups defined by meeting time convenience, provided insight and feedback to the CE Team in the creation of recruitment and consent materials, via an iterative design process in which one CAB group reviewed and enhanced materials, and the second group tested and refined them further.

A high-throughput 384-well CometChip platform reveals a role for 3-methyladenine in the cellular response to etoposide-induced DNA damage.

The Comet or single-cell gel electrophoresis assay is a highly sensitive method to measure cellular, nuclear genome damage. However, low throughput can limit its application for large-scale studies. To overcome these limitations, a 96-well CometChip platform was recently developed that increases throughput and reduces variation due to simultaneous processing and automated analysis of 96 samples.

Research Apprenticeship and Its Potential as a Distinct Model of Peer Research Practice.

Background: Three models of peer research have emerged: advisory, employment, and partner. We propose a fourth model, the "research apprentice" prototype conceived as a postsecondary workforce development avenue for members of disadvantaged communities.

Objectives: We introduce the research apprenticeship experience and its potential contributions to the fields of health equity and translational research.

Consolidating the Academic End of a Community-Based Participatory Research Venture to Address Health Disparities.

Although there is strong support for community engagement and community-based participatory research (CBPR) from public health entities, medical organizations, and major grant-funding institutions, such endeavors often face challenges within academic institutions. Fostering the interest, skills, and partnerships to undertake participatory research projects and truly impact the community requires an interdisciplinary team with the competencies and values to engage in this type of research. Discussed in this article is how a CBPR-focused team evolved at a southern university, with emphasis on the activities that supported group identity, contributed to its evolution, and positioned the group to speak with authority in promoting CBPR as a tool for addressing health disparities.

STRUCTURAL AND HIDDEN BARRIERS TO A LOCAL PRIMARY HEALTH CARE INFRASTRUCTURE: AUTONOMY, DECISIONS ABOUT PRIMARY HEALTH CARE, AND THE CENTRALITY AND SIGNIFICANCE OF POWER.

Purpose: To examine a local primary health care infrastructure and the reality of primary health care from the perspective of residents of a small, urban community in the southern United States.

Methodology/approach: Data derive from 13 semi-structured focus groups, plus three semi-structured interviews, and were analyzed inductively consistent with a grounded theory approach.

Findings: to the local primary health care infrastructure include transportation, clinic and appointment wait time, and co-payments and health insurance.

Post-disaster Gulf Coast recovery using telehealth.

Objective: The Gulf Coast continues to struggle with service need far outpacing available resources. Since 2005, the Regional Coordinating Center for Hurricane Response (RCC) at Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, has supported telehealth solutions designed to meet high service needs (e.g.

Providing continuity of care for chronic diseases in the aftermath of Katrina: from field experience to policy recommendations.

This study sought to elicit challenges and solutions in the provision of health care to those with chronic diseases after Hurricane Katrina in coastal Alabama and Mississippi. In-depth interviews with 30 health and social service providers (key informants) and 4 focus groups with patients with chronic diseases were conducted. Subsequently an advisory panel of key informants was convened.

A review of interventions to reduce health disparities in cardiovascular disease in African Americans.

Background: There is a wealth of first- (type or extent) and second- (causes) generation health disparities research. Literature on health disparities interventions (third-generation research) is emerging. In this study, we compiled and qualitatively evaluated interventions to eliminate health disparities in cardiovascular disease (CVD) among African Americans.

Insuring continuity of care for chronic disease patients after a disaster: key preparedness elements.

Background: Care for patients with chronic diseases is a challenge after a disaster. This is particularly true for individuals from health disparate populations as they are less likely to evacuate, have fewer financial resources and often depend on resource-strapped institutions for their care. The specific aim of the study presented here was to elicit challenges and solutions in the provision of health care to those with chronic diseases after Hurricane Katrina in coastal Alabama and Mississippi.

Establishing a multidisciplinary academic group to address health disparities.

Health disparities are common and a major focus of attention among health care researchers. The reasons for these disparities are several in number and broad in scope. Therefore, it will require a broad-based, multidisciplinary approach to fully understand and significantly reduce health disparities.