Preface

It is my distinct honor to write the Preface for this special issue of the Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved. The mission of the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) is to lead scientific research to improve minority health and eliminate health disparities. The NIMHD envisions an America in which all populations have an equal opportunity to live long, healthy and productive lives. Despite the notable progress in the health of the nation as a whole, there are continuing disparities in the burden of disease and death that place ethnic and racial minority populations, the poor, and other underserved populations at a distinct disadvantage for health. Measures, methodologies, and tools that take into consideration biological, cultural, and societal determinants of health must be identified, investigated, validated, and disseminated so that research findings and lessons learned can be translated into practice and policy that improves health for all.

This special issue includes peer-reviewed manuscripts that build on research presented during the 13th Research Centers in Minority Institutions (RCMI) International Symposium on Health Disparities held in San Juan, Puerto Rico, entitled Translating Science into Better Health: The Power of Diversity and Multicultural Engagement. This symposium, supported via an NIMHD U13 conference grant to the Morehouse School of Medicine, is dedicated to exploring innovative methods, models, and tools to address disparities in health outcomes for racial and ethnic minority populations and to highlight quality improvement strategies tied to evidence-based prevention practices.

The articles in this issue highlight research advances in basic, clinical, and translational science that describe promising and innovative approaches to addressing health disparities and have the potential to prevent, treat, and manage diseases such as sickle cell anemia, cardiovascular disease, cancer, HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases, and diabetes. Using an animal model, Lai-Hua Xie et al. describe a new iron chelation delivery system for sickle cell disease that reduces toxicity and enhances efficacy. Animal models have also been used by Zivar Yousefipour, Mohammad Newaz et al. to elucidate the mechanism by which acrolein, a ubiquitous environmental pollutant and major component of cigarette smoke, increases blood pressure and alters vascular reactivity through increased generation of reactive oxygen species. Edu B. Suárez-Martínez et al. address the correlation between low levels of Vitamin D and development of cardiovascular disease among Puerto Ricans (with a special emphasis on the elderly).

Stephen Ekunwe et al. characterize compounds from the plant Ocimum gratissimum that inhibit growth of prostate cancer cells through the reduction of androgen receptor levels. These compounds have the potential to lead to new pharmacological interventions for prostate cancer. Hong Xiao et al. examine racial differences in time-to-treatment of prostate cancer as a causal factor for disproportionately high incidence of death for African American men from this disease.

Health disparities related to HIV/AIDS are characterized by continued persistence of HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND). Melissa Agsalda-Garcia et al. suggest that HIV DNA in cerebrospinal fluid cellular subsets may play a role in HAND neuropathogenesis in a cohort of native Hawaiian and Puerto Rican patients, even with effective combined active antiretroviral therapy. George Perry et al. defined the importance of an isoform of a human cellular protein Apolipoprotein E 4 (Apo E4) in protection against malaria. These investigators are the first to demonstrate that Apo E4 inhibits the invasion of malarial parasites into host cells.

Articles in this issue also highlight the importance of cultural competency and community partnerships in implementing strategies to improve health outcomes. Ana Maria Castejon et al. examine a culturally competent pharmacist intervention and its impact on clinical outcomes in Latino patients with type-2 diabetes. Kisha Holden et al. describe research with African American women in a community-based primary health care center to identify prevalence and correlates of depression and resiliency. Gerónimo Maldonado-Martínez et al. address HIV in the elderly, exploring the profile of this often overlooked cohort.

Lastly, tools are described by Farah Arosemena et al. to study reproductive health inequities, and Greta Winbush et al. examine an online health tool targeted towards older African American patients and their physicians...