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To promote health and prevent disease in racially/ethnically diverse populations by:
• Discovering mechanisms that explain health disparities.
• Developing and evaluating interventions to eliminate disparities.
• Training investigators to conduct research on health disparities.

The Medical Effectiveness Research Center for Diverse Populations (MERC) was established within the UCSF School of Medicine in 1993. MERC unites investigators from multiple disciplines, departments and schools in conducting clinical and outcomes research on health services, specific medical conditions, and prevention that addresses racial and ethnic disparities in health and health care. MERC is committed to promoting the development of minority investigators and supports training and mentoring of students, residents, fellows and junior faculty. MERC has built a network of relationships with diverse community-based organizations and strives to incorporate the community perspective in training and research.

In the neighborhood with Dr. Irene Yen
A neighborhood is a microcosm. For many people, neighborhood streets represent the boundaries where they live, shop, socialize and seek services. But a neighborhood can be more than a simple geographic place. It can influence what activities people do, where they shop and what they purchase, who they socialize with, and how much care they receive. Read the entire article in NIA's LINKS: Minority Research & Training Spring 2008 newsletter

Dr. Eliseo J. Perez-Stable named the winner of SGIM's 2008 Herbert Nicken's Award. The Nicken's award honors an individual who has demonstrated exceptional commitment to cultural diversity in medicine or to improving minority health.

UCSF School of Pharmacy Names First Associate Dean for Diversity

Sharon Youmans, PharmD, MPH, an associate professor of clinical pharmacy and vice chair for academic affairs in the Department of Clinical Pharmacy, has been named to the new position of associate dean for diversity in the UCSF School of Pharmacy.

Mary Anne Koda-Kimble, PharmD, dean of the School of Pharmacy, announced the appointment on Feb. 7.

Binational research teams in Argentina, Brazil, and Syria have been awarded NIDA R01 research project grants through the Fogarty International Center International Tobacco and Health Research and Capacity Building Program. The program supports transdisciplinary research and capacity-building projects that address the burden of tobacco consumption in low- and/or middle-income nations by funding U.S. researchers partnering with scientists and institutions in low- and/or middle-income nation(s), where tobacco consumption is currently (or anticipated to become) a public health priority. The major portion of the research must be conducted outside of the United States, and more than 60 percent of the direct costs requested must be used in the partner nation for either research and/or capacity strengthening of foreign institutions. The research teams include:

* Dr. Eliseo Perez-Stable, University of California San Francisco, will collaborate with Raul Mejia, Universidad de Buenos Aires, and Ethel Alderete, Universidad Nacional De Jujuy, to develop an intervention to prevent tobacco use among diverse youth in Northwest Argentina; to implement and evaluate a system-based smoking cessation intervention using a randomized trial design among physicians to promote smoking abstinence and quit attempts in their patients who smoke; and to develop policy interventions to promote smoke-free indoor space and regulation of tobacco products’ advertising by continuing to analyze the tobacco industry documents on Argentina.

Tung Nguyen, MD - Associate Clinical Professor - DGIM
Turning the Tide of Liver Cancer Among Asians
A largely preventable cancer is expected to become more common in the United States in coming years.
No, it’s not lung cancer — the decades-long decline in smoking rates finally is leading to fewer lung cancer deaths.
It’s liver cancer. Read more....

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MERC Medical Effectiveness Research Center for Diverse Populations (say "mercy")

MERC
Medical Effectiveness Research Center for Diverse Populations
(say "mercy")