Guest Editors’ Message

We are pleased to present this supplemental issue of the Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved (JHCPU). The articles appearing in this issue were presented at the 13th Research Centers in Minority Institutions (RCMI) International Symposium on Health Disparities held in San Juan, Puerto Rico from December 9 to 13, 2012. The Research Centers in Minority Institutions (RCMI) Program was initiated by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 1985. Implicit in the legislative language used in establishing the RCMI Program is the major role that minority institutions must play in order for the NIH to address the health needs of the entire U.S. citizenry. RCMI Centers encourage innovative research strategies to reduce the burden of diseases that disproportionately affect minority populations, and the development of sustainable, replicable, and culturally appropriate prevention and/or intervention research programs.

The theme of the symposium, “Translating Science to Better Health: The Power of Diversity and Multicultural Engagement,” highlighted the excellence in basic, translational, and clinical research from the institutions supported by the RCMI Program, while the dedication of the Symposium to Dr. Sidney A. McNairy, Jr. underscored the importance of exemplary leadership to strengthening the biomedical research infrastructure at emerging and research-intensive institutions throughout the nation and to reducing health disparities.

The 13th RCMI International Symposium featured oral and poster presentations on important topics and attracted more than 1,400 attendees who participated in over 800 poster presentations, 10 workshops, 39 oral presentations and daily networking sessions. The Symposium called attention to current major themes in diabetes, cancer, HIV/AIDS, cardiovascular disease, obesity, gender-specific health disparities, gene-environment interactions, emerging technologies in addressing health disparities, and other relevant topics.

The 14 manuscripts presented in this special RCMI supplemental publication were selected from a pool of over 80 letters of intention submitted by Symposium’s participants after a rigorous peer-review process organized by the JHCPU. These selected manuscripts are quite representative of the topics addressed during the 13th RCMI International Symposium on Health disparities. The topics discussed in the manuscripts include effective interventions of Hispanic patients suffering from Type 2 diabetes and health outcomes; prevention strategies for HIV/hepatitis co-infections in Hispanics; factors contributing to health disparities in HIV/AIDS; the role of Vitamin D in preventing cardiovascular diseases in underserved populations; the design of novel intervention strategies to address HIV infection in elderly minority populations; health disparities in prostate cancer in the nation; mental health disparities and complications in African American women; the impact of health disparities in Sickle Cell Disease in the African American community; challenges encountered during the recruitment of minority patients for genetic studies and clinical trials; and the utilization of patient navigation for addressing reproductive health inequalities.

Truly, the manuscripts selected for inclusion in this special JHCPU supplement provide novel and useful information on efforts intended to eliminate health disparities in our community.

We are grateful to the external reviewers for their thoughtful comments, to the the Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved for permitting us to publish this supplement, and to the investigators for sharing their scientific knowledge and highlighting the importance of reducing health disparities in the populations we serve.