About the CMHDRE

The overarching goals of the CMHDRE are to: A) Support and create an infrastructure and culture that leads to production of scientific research that is relevant, meaningful, and consistent. B) Develop the infrastructure of the CMHDRE to support its mission by establishing a diverse funding base and with the recruitment and retention of health professions dedicated to the reduction of health disparities. C) Advance and sustain meaningful partnerships with diverse communities to address health and health disparities. Accomplishing these goals will increase the ability of the College to produce a pool of well-educated health professionals and biomedical researchers attuned to the issues of disparities research.

The following objectives have been identified to facilitate achievement of the three overarching goals mentioned above:

• Develop and maintain a multidisciplinary research agenda
• Ensure a cadre of faculty capable of conducting and disseminating research
• Secure a consistent and diverse funding base
• Diversify and maximize the types and number of partners with whom to collaborate locally, regionally, and nationally
• Develop innovative practice models that lead to promotion of health equity.

Areas of Emphasis for the Center

The CMHDRE began with a primary focus on diabetes and diabetes related illnesses. With time and an expanding interest in the work of the CMHDRE among faculty and staff, cancer soon became a secondary focus of the Center with key faculty of the College of Pharmacy dedicating large percentages of their time to cancer related research. In an effort to grow the center even further and to address emerging concerns in the African American community, the CMHDRE has extended support to faculty who are pursuing research in the area of Asthma and building the capacity to conduct future phase III and IV clinical trials in the COP. The burden of disease in Louisiana attributable to diabetes, cancer and asthma suggests an increasing need for research and education in these disease states. Therefore, the Areas of Emphasis for this center in priority order are: 1) diabetes research and education and 2) cancer research and prevention/early detection education, 3) Asthma education and prevention, and 4) building the capacity of the COP to conduct future research studies.

Center Leadership

Center Director
Leonard Jack, Jr., PhD, MSc, CHES
Editor-in-Chief, (Health Promotion Practice Journal)
Associate Dean for Scholarship
Director, Center for Minority Health, Health Disparities Research and Education (CMHDRE)
Endowed Chair of Minority Health Disparities
Professor, Division of Clinical and Administrative Services College of Pharmacy

Chair and Professor, Public Health Sciences Department Xavier University of Louisiana

Dr. Leonard Jack, Jr., currently serves as Director, Center for Health Minority Health & Health Disparities Research and Education; Endowed Chair of Minority Health; and Professor in the Division of Clinical and Administrative Services in the College of Pharmacy at Xavier University of Louisiana.  He was recently appointed Chair of the University’s newly established Department of Public Health Sciences.  Prior to his employment at Xavier University of Louisiana, Dr. Jack held the Jim Finks Endowed Chair of Health Promotion and was Professor of Behavioral and Community Health Sciences at the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center’s School of Public Health.  Dr. Jack also served as Associate Dean (the Dean) of the School of Health Sciences and Interim Chair, Department of Behavioral and Environmental Sciences at Jackson State University.  He worked for 14 years at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia where he served as Team Leader of Applied Behavioral Research, Epidemiology, and Evaluation; and Chief of Community Intervention in the Division of Diabetes Translation. His areas of research and public health practice include: psychosocial aspects of disease management, health disparities, men’s health, family, and community-based research.  Dr. Jack has several years of teaching experience and has held numerous research/professional positions.  He has delivered over 95 professional presentations and published over 80 peer reviewed publications and/or book chapters.  He serves on several editorial boards of peer reviewed journals and is Editor-in-Chief of the Health Promotion Practice Journal.  Dr. Jack is Editor and contributing author of his recently published book, “Diabetes in Black America: Public Health and Clinical Solutions to a National Crisis”.  He also served as Editor of the National Commission for Health Education Credentialing seven chapter study guide, The Health Education Specialists: A Companion Guide for Professional Excellence, 6th Edition.  Dr. Jack is the recipient of the Society for Public Health Education’s 2011 Distinguish Fellow Award, the society’s highest award given in recognition of an individual’s national contributions to the profession of public health and public health education.

Program Manager

Patrice L. Rose, MPH currently serves as the Program Manager for the CMHDRE. Ms. Rose is a graduate of the University of South Florida College of Public Health where she received a Masters in Public Health with the concentration on Community and Family Health. Prior to her work with the CMHDRE, Ms. Rose worked with community health centers to develop registries for diabetes and heart disease. More recently, she served as an epidemiologist and Project Coordinator for the State of Louisiana's Office of Public Health where she managed the Louisiana Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. In this capacity, Ms. Rose was a member of several advisory committees including the Louisiana Diabetes Advisory Committee and the State Epidemiology Work Group. She was also an active participant and a member of the core team of stakeholders who completed an assessment of the State Diabetes Public Health System. As Program Manager in Xavier's CMHDRE, Ms. Rose is responsible for the administration of all projects, facilitating the strategic planning process, assisting with the implementation and monitoring of projects, preparing necessary reports, and developing the evaluation instruments.

Chronic Disease Epidemiologist

Danielle L. Broussard, PhD, MPH, serves as the Chronic Disease Epidemiologist for the CMHDRE.  Dr. Broussard has served in several capacities during her career in both academic institutions and health department settings.  She worked for two years as a Project Coordinator in the Maternal and Child Health Program of the Louisiana Office of Public Health where she managed the operations of a population-based data system.  She subsequently served as a Research Coordinator for 5 years at the Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine where she led studies exploring women’s health issues and sex differences in chronic disease risk.  Her postdoctoral training includes completion of a one-year postdoctoral research fellowship in Maternal and Child Health at the Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine followed by a two year Centers for Disease Control/Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists Applied Epidemiology Fellowship during which she trained under the mentorship of State Epidemiologists at the Florida Department of Health.  In addition, Dr. Broussard has experience teaching and mentoring graduate and undergraduate students.  Dr. Broussard’s research interests include preconception health and reproductive health; chronic health risks of women and their offspring; health across the lifespan; and social and psychosocial determinants of health. 

External Advisory Board

Ms. Tawara Goode
Georgetown University
Director, Nat’l Center for Cultural Competence
Associate Director, Center for Child & Human Development

Dr. B. Lee Green, Jr.
Vice President, Moffitt Diversity
Professor, Health Outcomes and Behavior

Dr. Daniel Sarpong
Jackson State University

Dr. Fadia T. Shaya
Associate Professor,
University of Maryland School of Pharmacy
Dept. of Pharmaceutical Health Services Research

Mr. Matthew Valliere
Deputy Director, Center for Community and Preventive Health
Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals – Office of Public Health

Dr. Sharon Youmans
UCSF School of Pharmacy,
Associate Professor of Clinical Pharmacy, Associate Dean for Diversity, and
Vice Chair for Educational Affairs

Programs

Health Disparities Conference
Xavier University of Louisiana College of Pharmacy's Center for Minority Health and Health Disparities Research and Education (CMHDRE) hosted its Fifth Health Disparities Conference on March 6-8, 2012 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Conference participants included clinicians (pharmacists, nurses, physician assistants, and other allied health professionals), health policy makers, health educators, and public and community health leaders whose work incorporates the use of mid-level providers to build partnerships to eliminate health disparities and improve health equity. 

Previous conference attendee evaluations indicated that the abstract podium presentations enhanced the effectiveness of the conference and helped to stimulate discussions surrounding effective clinical strategies, basic science, health policy and research disciplines, and most importantly, the significant role of mid-level providers and interdisciplinary collaborations.  Building on this feedback, this year’s conference titled, Achieving Health Equity through Access, Advocacy, Treatment, and Policy Development, included discussions on successful multidisciplinary models for improved health systems outcomes. Presentations shared at the conference can be accessed here.

HEAL Phase II Project

Xavier University of Louisiana is partnering with Daughters of Charity Services of New Orleans (DCSNO) and the Children’s Health Fund (CHF) to provide individualized education to children with asthma, ages 2 to 18, and their families.  The results of the Head-off Environmental Asthma in Louisiana (HEAL) Phase II Project will help us learn how asthma educators can better help with asthma management. Read More…

Collaborative Efforts

The Center has effectively collaborated with several organizations and institutions.  Examples include:

LA CaTs - The Louisiana Clinical and Translational Sciences (LA CaTS) Center is a single clinical translational science program for Louisiana based on synergistic programs and unparalleled collaboration from all the major biomedical research institutions in the state. The overarching objective of LA CaTS is to transform the clinical and translational research efforts of our region away from the status quo, where institutions operate in isolation to pursue their institutional missions, and toward a cohesive, mutually supportive enterprise for clinical and translational research. The LA CaTS Center represents a unified, comprehensive approach targeting the theme of “prevention, care and research of chronic diseases in the underserved population”.  Xavier University of Louisiana partners with the LA CaTS Center to develop and coordinate effective community outreach initiatives and resources to increase community engagement in research.  Read more about LA CaTS and Xavier’s role in the program here…

Walmart - The Xavier’s Health and Wellness Center, originally established with a cooperative agreement between the City of New Orleans’s Health Department and Xavier University of Louisiana to utilize space in a city clinic, was severely damaged in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.  Through partnership with a local Walmart store to provide facilities, the clinic was relocated to a new site in Harahan, Louisiana.  This site currently serves as a research facility for faculty and students as well as a training opportunity for students. The Health and Wellness Center is committed to improving the health of the community by providing education, medication therapy management, and screening services to those with diabetes related health care needs in the Greater New Orleans Area.  In addition, the Center seeks to engage the community in research designed to eliminate health disparities.

Louisiana Cancer Research Consortium (LCRC) - Xavier University College of Pharmacy is a partner in the Louisiana Cancer Research Consortium (LCRC). The LCRC is led by LSU Health Sciences Center of New Orleans and Tulane University Health Sciences Center.  The LCRC was established in 2002 by Louisiana Senate Bill 73 to provide a format in which the states research institutions can work collaboratively to address issues related to cancer research and prevention.  Xavier University became a partner in this venture in 2007. 

Department of Health and Hospitals, Chronic Disease and Prevention Unit - The CMHDRE provides evaluation consultation to several of the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals’ federally funded chronic disease prevention and control programs (Diabetes, CVD, Arthritis, Asthma, and Tobacco) housed in the Chronic Disease and Prevention Unit.  Technical assistance involves strategic planning, the selection and development of evidenced-based interventions, identification of evaluation measures, data collection, analyses, and reporting.  In addition, the CMHDRE has provided evaluation and data collection technical assistance to the CDC Healthy Communities Grant through a contract with the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals.

In the Community

As part of Xavier University of Louisiana’s College of Pharmacy, the CMHDRE is dedicated to having a positive impact on the community.  Together with many local, regional, and national partners, the CMHDRE works to provide services and education to community members on health topics such as diabetes, heart disease, nutrition, men’s and women’s health, and cancer.  These partnerships allow the CMHDRE to broaden the reach of its programs and activities to have maximum impact on the community.