Health Disparities News and Research

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Health disparities (also called healthcare inequality in some countries) refer to gaps in the quality of health and health care across racial, ethnic, sexual orientation and socioeconomic groups.

Researchers uncover mechanism that governs cell specialization

Researchers at then Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have uncovered a mechanism that governs how cells become specialized during development.

10 Nov 2011

State roundup: Storms' huge impact on health care; Brooklyn's hospital quest; Calif. election results

Only a few private hospitals have survived in neighborhoods like Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brownsville and Bushwick to serve poor patients like them. Now all are in such dire financial shape that a small group of veteran health care planners appointed by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo is debating last-ditch measures to save them.

10 Nov 2011

RWJF announces recipients of 2011 Community Health Leaders Award

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is proud to announce today the recipients of its 2011 Community Health Leaders Award, honoring 10 individuals who have overcome daunting odds to improve the health and quality of life for disadvantaged or underserved communities across the country.

9 Nov 2011

Brain plays a key role in regulating glucose metabolism in humans

Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have demonstrated for the first time that the brain is a key player in regulating glucose (sugar) metabolism in humans.

7 Nov 2011

North Shore Medical Labs to donate Nortec EHR to medically underserved communities

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Minority Health, North Shore Medical Labs, Inc. and the American Health Information Management Association recently announced a demonstration project to foster broader adoption and use of Electronic Health Records and support national efforts to reduce health disparities affecting minorities in underserved areas.

5 Nov 2011

UofL intervention program for caregivers of people with IDD

People with intellectual and developmental disabilities living in family or group homes are less likely to receive routine dental care than those living in institutions, according to University of Louisville School of Dentistry associate professor Catherine Binkley, D.D.S., Ph.D.

4 Nov 2011

Einstein scientists receive two NCI grants to study cancer metastasis

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) has awarded Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University two grants totaling $8 million to study the microenvironments that drive the spread of cancer from the primary tumor to other parts of the body in the process known as metastasis.

4 Nov 2011

State roundup: Ga., Minn. move slowly on exchanges

The entire Massachusetts congressional delegation is asking CMS to preserve the level of safety net funding and provider payments as the state tries to renew its Medicaid waiver. "We are concerned that changes proposed by CMS could significantly threaten payments to Massachusetts health care providers providing care for the most vulnerable populations," Sens. John Kerry and Scott Brown and the 10 House members in the state's delegation wrote.

2 Nov 2011

Early retirees' health insurance fund running out

A federal report predicts this $5 billion account created as part of the health law will be drained by 2012. In related news, one senator criticizes the program's handling. Also drawing criticism are exchange regulations, which advocates say could undermine the law's goal of expanding health insurance. Meanwhile, the Department of Health and Human Services finalized standards -; part of the administration's efforts to reduce health disparities -; to track factors that affect people's health.

2 Nov 2011

ACO rule revisions get nod from medical industry group

An influential medical group's change of heart is boosting President Barack Obama's plan to use Medicare to promote higher quality, less expensive care. The American Medical Group Association represents premier organizations like the Mayo Clinic, the models for the proposed "accountable care organizations" in Obama's health care overhaul law. The networks of doctors and hospitals will collaborate to keep patients healthier.

1 Nov 2011

Mount Sinai co-sponsors 'The Impact and Future of Medical School Rankings' summit

A panel of prominent medical school deans from across the country convened yesterday in New York City to discuss the future of annual medical school rankings issued by U.S. News & World Report, which are now celebrating their 20th anniversary.

29 Oct 2011

NYUCN to study 'Midwifery: Primary Care and Health Literacy Program Enhancement'

New York University College of Nursing (NYUCN) received a three -year, $1,002,318.00 grant from the Human Resources & Services Administration (HRSA) to research "Midwifery: Primary Care and Health Literacy Program Enhancement."

29 Oct 2011

Higher diabetes rates in African American women after GDM

African American women who develop gestational diabetes mellitus during pregnancy face a 52 percent increased risk of developing diabetes in the future compared to white women who develop GDM during pregnancy, according to a Kaiser Permanente study published online in the journal Diabetologia.

21 Oct 2011

CMHDRE, DCSNO and CHF team up to help autistic children in New Orleans

The disappearance of reliable healthcare services in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina left many children with asthma no choice but to seek treatment in emergency rooms across town - if they sought care at all. Xavier University of Louisiana's Center for Minority Health & Health Disparities Research and Education, Daughters of Charity Services of New Orleans and the Children's Health Fund have teamed up to reverse that trend by bringing reliable health care directly to these children.

21 Oct 2011

NIH awards Einstein College of Medicine $5.7M for children's IDD Research Center

The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute for Child Health and Human Development, part of the National Institutes of Health, has awarded researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University $5.7 million to fund the Rose F. Kennedy Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center (IDDRC).

18 Oct 2011

UAB's Deep South Network now includes community-based cancer research

The University of Alabama at Birmingham Comprehensive Cancer Center's Deep South Network for Cancer Control now includes research among its core outreach and awareness activities to reduce cancer disparities in the South's poorest communities.

15 Oct 2011

Six new Bristol-Myers Squibb grants to reduce cancer disparities in CEE

The Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation today announced six new grants totaling more than $900,000 that focus on improving cancer awareness, prevention and care by developing cancer nursing skills and building nurse-community partnerships in Hungary, Poland, Romania and Russia.

15 Oct 2011

Affymetrix launches Axiom Pan-African Array

Affymetrix, Inc. today announced at the ICHG/ASHG annual conference in Montreal, the worldwide launch of the Axiom Genome-Wide Pan-African Array, the first commercial product to maximize genomic coverage of both common and rare alleles in populations of African ancestry, including West African, East African, and African American.

13 Oct 2011

CHOP, Albert Einstein College of Medicine to study genetics of conotruncal defects

The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development, part of the National Institutes of Health, has awarded researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University and collaborators at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) a five-year, $6.7 million grant to study the genetics of both rare and common congenital heart abnormalities known as conotruncal defects.

12 Oct 2011

Selected prescription drugs contribute to 10% of lower urinary tract symptoms among men

Use of selected prescription medications, including antidepressants, antihistamines, bronchodilators, anticholinergics, sympathomimetics, and diuretics contribute to 10 percent of lower urinary tract symptoms among men according to a Kaiser Permanente study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

11 Oct 2011