About the CEHD

The mission of the Center to Eliminate Health Disparities will work to collaboratively with partners to advance research, provide training, and undertake action-based activities centered on recognizing the interdisciplinary, intersectoral, global and local nature of health challenges. In this sense, the CEHD understands health in a broad context, related to the physical, social and economic environment, and also related to social justice in the stratification of power and privilege in society which often work to create health inequities.

The long-term vision of the Center is to play a state and national role on equity and social determinants as they relate to Global Health (and the local connection), Social Determinants of Health Solutions for improving population health, Health Systems solutions, and Leadership Training for Social Change in Health. The binding philosophy is ethically based, community and population health driven solutions, with a strong emphasis on demonstration projects suitable for scaling up to state or national levels.

The specific role of the CEHD at UTMB is envisioned as coordinating disparities and social determinants related work among faculty as well as training health care professionals students and others on such issues.

In the short term, the Center is focused specifically on

• Advancing a large-scale Global Health Program for the UT System, which will be the only one of its kind in this region of the US;
   
• Contributing to the local recovery efforts from Hurricane Ike through research, training, and action;
   
• Conducting policy research on the impact of the 3-Share Program;
   
• Implementing a Clinical Data Repository for health care providers in the Greater Galveston area; and
   
• Developing curricula for training a new generation of health professionals, adept and prepared for effectively serving diverse populations.

Because of the small staff, the CEHD will rely on collaborative relationships within and outside of UTMB to advance its work. This strategy works well with the Center’s principle focus on inter-disciplinary, inter-sectoral solutions to improving health.

• Staff
• Contact us, abnolen@utmb.edu