Howard University Clinical Research Network for Health Equity

Research Abstract African Americans experience significant disparities in chronic disease morbidity and mortality. Of note, eliminating health disparities requires significant improvement in chronic disease management, which is dependent on the provision and utilization of evidence-based preventive care. The provision of high-quality

preventive services to the African Americans is hindered by several things including insufficient evidence which is a consequence of underrepresentation of minority populations in clinical research trials. In fact, United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommendation statements often cite underrepresentation of

minorities in clinical trials as a research gap and limitation. This affects the development of clinical practice guidelines that meet the needs of minority populations when the epidemiology of a particular disease is different in minority populations. Not only is there an underrepresentation of minorities as study participants but

there is equally severe underrepresentation of African Americans as clinical investigators, which is due in part to underrepresentation of African Americans in the clinical research workforce. Addressing these disparities requires complex systems analysis, development of innovative approaches, generation of scientific evidence,

and effective knowledge dissemination. For over 150-years, Howard University has contributed significantly to the African American physician workforce through undergraduate and graduate medical education. In addition, Howard University has advanced minority health through robust research activities and comprehensive patient

care to the residents of the District of Columbia and beyond. The adoption of Electronic Medical Record Systems by Howard University Hospital and Howard University Faculty Practice Plan has led to the generation of vast amounts of clinical data about this inner-city urban low-income African American population.

To address the challenges, we propose the formation of the Howard University Clinical Research Network (HUCRN) as an addition to the consortium of the RCMI Clinical Research Network for Health Equity (RCMI-CRNHE). This effort will lead to an innovative, productive, and impactful research network for

investigation of studies of high importance in minority health and health disparities. The significance of this project is derived from the necessity to study a health disparity affected population, burden of chronic disease, prevalent health disparities, engagement of an underrepresented clinical research workforce. Further we intend

to introduce a new application of innovative data science called mHealth. We will develop a mHealth information technology infrastructure, clinical research informatics infrastructure including a clinical data repository, and we will conduct 2 pilot studies to assess the effectiveness of the infrastructure, policies, and

processes that have been implemented.