The battle to eliminate health inequities is not just a local issue. "It's global"
Dr. Keith Norris, the executive vice president for Research Health Affairs at Charles Drew University
At Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science, researchers are working to close the gap in health care inequities--not just in underserved communities, but worldwide.
Following in the footsteps of renowned scientist and physician Charles R. Drew, the university's researchers are translating discoveries into improved treatments, medical practices and cures while emphasizing on the diseases and health challenges prevalent among minorities and the disadvantaged.
"We have world-class research being conducted everyday
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| Dr. Keith Norris |
at Charles Drew University," said Dr. Keith Norris, the executive vice president for Research Health Affairs at Charles Drew University. "Our research programs are dedicated to eliminating inequities in health care with innovative biomedical investigations and the translation of these scientific inquiries into improved treatments, medical practices and cures."
The battle to eliminate health inequities is not just a local issue. "It's global," Norris said.
Earlier this year, Research!America honored Norris by naming him an "ambassador" for the nonprofit organization's Paul G. Rogers Society for Global Health Research.
The Rogers Society, named for the late Florida Congressman Paul G. Rogers (1921-2008), a champion for health research and Research!America chair emeritus, advocates for greater U.S. investment in research to fight diseases that disproportionately affect the world's poorest nations.
"I see our nation reasserting itself as a global leader in unity with other nations through the promotion of health and wellness," Dr. Norris said. "Ultimately, it is service informed by research and driven by passion that will be the key to our success."
Charles Drew researchers are leaders in their fields, advancing the pace of discovery with inquiries into the issues of access to health care and the diseases and medical conditions afflicting a disproportionate number of minorities. Cancer, cardio-vascular disease, diabetes, kidney disease, hypertension, mental health and HIV/AIDS are among the areas of research where CDU scientists and physician investigators are making a difference.
In the top ten percent of institutions funded by the National Institutes of Health, CDU is ranked in the top 50 in research among private colleges in the country.
Located in South Los Angeles, CDU makes its home in the largest and most diverse urban, underserved communities in the nation. Nowhere else in the United States is the need for trained physicians, health professionals and access to quality care more acute. In the communities surrounding the university, there are fewer than a dozen pediatricians for every 100,000 children, nearly a third of the adults are uninsured, and preventive screenings--for diabetes, breast cancer or prostate cancer--are not routine.
In addition to more traditional investigations, CDU researchers are exploring unique problems and delving into different ways to improve outreach in underserved communities.
Here are some recent examples:
CDU researcher Paul Robinson published a study showing that the geographic density of street gangs—and their long-term historical and neighborhood ties—was a greater determinant of homicide rates than factors such as poverty and unemployment.
The study found 3.4 homicides per square mile in neighborhoods without significant gang involvement where more than 4 million lived. On the other hand, the study found 61.1 homicides per square mile in neighborhoods with 30 or more gangs in a two-mile radius.
In another study, CDU researcher Kevin C. Heslin found gay and bisexual black men are less likely to be tested for prostate cancer than men of any other racial and ethnic backgrounds, regardless of their sexual orientation.
“Gay and bisexual black men had the lowest use of the PSA test, compared with every other group of men in the study,” Heslin said. “For blacks, being a member of both racial and sexual minority groups represents a kind of double jeopardy when it comes to getting PSA testing.”
Heslin’s findings are significant because black men are more likely to be diagnosed late with prostate cancer and, as a result, are more likely to die from the disease than any other racial or ethnic group.
Meanwhile, CDU researcher Dan Ortiz recently received funding to improve the capacity of national programs and universities throughout Angola to battle HIV and Tuberculosis co-infection. The project will provide technical assistance to medical schools to improve their capacity to educate health providers. As part of the an effort to fight the HIV pandemic throughout Sub Saharan Africa and in Central America, the university provides education, research and clinical service to some of the most underserved communities in the world.
Karen G. Cheng, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at Charles Drew University (CDU), works on international health projects, primarily in sub-Saharan Africa. She has worked with the Rwanda Defense Forces for the last three years to build their capacity to provide medical and psychosocial services to Rwandan soldiers living with HIV or AIDS. This includes developing an electronic system for patient records. The next step of the project will be to expand services to families of soldiers.
Researcher Nina T. Harawa investigated undiagnosed HIV infection and HIV risk history by arrest charge among 1,322 new arrestees to examine whether specific charges may help prioritize jail-based screening. And she found that using arrest charges to target screenings may efficiently increase HIV diagnosis in jail inmates where universal HIV screening is not possible.
Charles Drew University’s research efforts also support a program by Dr. Bill J. Releford, an associate professor at the university and founder of the Black Barbershop Health Outreach Program.
The Black Barbershop Health Outreach program, sponsored by the Abbott Fund, sends local health care professionals into neighborhood barbershops to offer free diabetes and high blood pressure screenings to African American men throughout the country and provide education about healthy lifestyle alternatives.
Data collected from all 750 barbershops will be analyzed and processed at Charles Drew University.
“This is an amazing program on many levels,” Dr. Norris said. “Not only is the idea of screening African American men in barbershops critical for reaching many who many otherwise not be captured in the health care system, it creates a model for education and empowerment which is needed to reduce health disparities.”
Dr. Norris is board certified by the American Boards of Internal Medicine and Nephrology and certified as a specialist in clinical hypertension by the American Society of Hypertension. He is a fellow of the American College of Physicians and the American Society of Nephrology, and a member of the steering committee for the National Kidney Foundation’s Kidney Early Evaluation Program. He also serves as a reviewer for several National Institutes of Health (NIH) Study Sections.
Dr. Norris’ research interests focus on the prevention and early treatment of chronic kidney disease, with an emphasis on improving outcomes for African-American and Latino populations. Other areas include the role of vitamin D in chronic kidney disease, calcium management in the end-state renal disease and hypertension.
ABOUT CHARLES DREW UNIVERSITY OF MEDICINE AND SCIENCE (CDU)
CDU is a private nonprofit, nonsectarian, minority-serving medical and health sciences institution. Located in the Watts-Willowbrook area of South Los Angeles, CDU has graduated over 550 medical doctors, 2,500 post-graduate physicians, more than 2,000 physician assistants and hundreds of other health professionals. The only dually designated Historically Black Graduate Institution and Hispanic Serving Health Professions School in the U.S. CDU is recognized as a leader in health inequities and translational research, specifically with respect to heart disease, diabetes, cancer, mental health, and HIV/AIDS. The University is among the top National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded institutions and rated one of the top 50 private universities in research in the U.S. Recently, the CDU/UCLA medical program was named the “best performer” in the University of California System with respect to producing outstanding underrepresented minority physicians. For more information, visit http://www.cdrewu.edu
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