About the center

purpose
location
partners
directors
administrative staff
news and announcements

Purpose

The goal of the Michigan Center for Integrative Approaches to Health Disparities (CIAHD) is to promote and support research that comprehensively integrates social and biological factors within a multilevel framework in understanding the determinants of minority health and health disparities. Persistent and pronounced differences in health by race/ethnicity exist for multiple health outcomes. Despite repeated documentation of these disparities, there is still substantial debate on the driving forces behind them. Identifying the factors that generate these disparities has obvious implications for interventions and policies to improve health in minority populations and eliminate disparities.

There is a growing sense that current approaches to understanding these disparities which often attempt to fragment the problem into distinct social and biological components are insufficient, not only from the point of view of scientific understanding but also from the point of view on identifying the most effective strategies to reduce disparities in the real world. The overall goal of the CIAHD is to promote research that integrates social and biological factors as well factors defined at multiple levels (ranging from individuals, to neighborhoods to societies) in understanding the causes of health disparities. Although the Center will initially focus on applying this model to cardiovascular risk, it provides a framework useful to all minority health and health disparities researchers.

The Specific Aims of the Center are:

• Aim 1. To advance scientific understanding of how the interrelation of social and biologic factors contributes to health in minority populations and health disparities with a specific focus on cardiovascular risk.
• Aim 2. To establish a mutually beneficial partnership between the University of Michigan and the Jackson Heart Study (JHS) (through its partners Jackson State University and the University of Mississippi Medical Center) to advance research and training within our multilevel integrated framework.
• Aim 3. To create a forum that will integrate ongoing minority health and health disparities research broadly at the University of Michigan and our partner institutions under the general umbrella of a multilevel framework that integrates social and biological factors.
• Aim 4. To disseminate the multilevel integrated paradigm to the biomedical and health research community.

These Aims will be achieved through an Administrative Core and a Research Core. The Administrative Core will provide leadership and coordination and will organize training, as well as intra and inter-institutional exchanges. The Research Core will include three Research Projects linked to the overall theme (one of which is a partnership between the University of Michigan and JHS), pilot projects, and statistical support.

Location

The CIAHD Administrative Core is located in the Department of Epidemiology at the University of Michigan School of Public Health:

1415 Washington Heights
2675 SPH I and 3650 SPH I
Ann Arbor MI 48109-2029

Locate the School of Public Health on the U-M Campus Map » »

Research Projects are based in the Department of Epidemiology, the Institute for Social Research, and in Jackson, Mississippi through a collaboration with the Jackson Heart Study. Pilot projects are located throughout the University of Michigan and our partners.

Partners

A key component of CIAHD is the partnership with the Jackson Heart Study, Jackson State University, and the University of Mississippi Medical Center. The Jackson Heart Study is a longitudinal study funded by the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute to examine the factors that influence the development of cardiovascular disease in African American men and women. It is the first large-scale cardiovascular disease study in African Americans.

In addition, the Jackson Heart Study is an effort to empower African Americans in the Jackson Metropolitan Area to reduce the risk factors associated with cardiovascular disease such as obesity, hypertension and lack of physical activity.

Additional information on the Jackson Heart Study can be found at the JHS website. For additional information on CIAHD partners, visit the websites of Jackson State University and the University of Mississippi Medical Center.

Directors

Ana V. Diez Roux MD PhD
Director

Dr. Diez Roux is an epidemiologist whose work has focused on the examination of the social determinants of health. Originally trained as a pediatrician in Buenos Aires, Argentina, she received an MPH and a PhD in Health Policy from the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health.

Dr. Diez Roux’s research has focused on the social determinants of cardiovascular disease with special emphasis on the examination of how residential environments shape the distribution of cardiovascular risk. Recent work also examines the role of air pollution exposures, the effects of psychosocial stress on the development of cardiovascular disease, and the social patterning of biomarkers of stress, inflammation, and hemostasis.

Dr. Diez Roux has been an international leader in the social epidemiology of cardiovascular disease, the application of multilevel analysis in epidemiology, and the investigation of neighborhood health effects. In addition to directing the Michigan Center for Integrative Approaches to Health Disparities, she is Associate Director of the Center for Social Epidemiology and Population Health (CSEPH) and Co-Director of the Robert Wood Johnson Health & Society Scholars program at the University of Michigan.

Dr. Diez Roux’s website » »
2679 SPH Tower I
Ann Arbor MI 48109-2029
P (734)615-9204 F (734)763-5706
adiezrou@umich.edu

James Jackson PhD
Co-Director

Dr. James S. Jackson is Daniel Katz Distinguished University Professor of Psychology and Director of the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan. Dr. Jackson has a longstanding commitment and record focused on research on racially and ethnically diverse groups. His research interests have included international, comparative studies on immigration, race and ethnic relations, physical and mental health, adult development and aging, attitudes and attitude change, and African American politics.

Through the Program for Research on Black Americans, Jackson was the principal investigator for the NIMH-supported 1979–80 National Survey of Black Americans, the NIA-supported Three Generation Family Study (TGFS), the NIMH-supported National Survey of Black Americans Panel Study 1979/80–1992, and the NIMH-supported 1995 Detroit Area Study (DAS). He is presently the principal investigator on the NIA/NMCHD Michigan Center for Urban African American Aging Research (MCUAAAR).

Dr. Jackson’s website » »
5010 ISR
426 Thompson Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1248
P (734)763-2491 F (734)763-0044
jamessj@umich.edu

Administrative Staff

Amanda Dudley
Project Coordinator

2659 SPH Tower I
1451 Washington Heights
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2029
P (734)763-5974
F (734)764-3192
aidudley@umich.edu

 

News and Announcements

CIAHD Summer Training Program with Jackson Heart Study (JHS). Faculty and Graduate students from the Jackson Heart Study affiliates—Jackson State University and the University of Mississippi Medical Center—will be participating in a summer research training program with CIAHD. The summer training program is designed to promote research and training as well as encourage inter-university collaboration. Attendees will participate in advanced research methods courses taught by instructors on the University of Michigan campus. The CIAHD program will provide tuition, housing, and travel expenses for accepted applicants.