For generations, Xavier University of Louisiana has pursued its goals of lessening health disparities, positively impacting underserved communities, and fulfilling its mission to promote a more just and humane society by educating its students to become leaders and agents of change. In recognition and support of these endeavors, Xavier has been chosen to receive a grant through the John Lewis NIMHD Research Endowment Program. A total of $60 million will be distributed among the six awardee institutions, and at Xavier, the endowment will fund its Precision Medicine, Education, Data Informatics, and Community Translation (PREDICT) Institute. Dr. Kathleen Kennedy, Dean of Xavier’s College of Pharmacy, is the grant’s Principal Investigator (PI). 

The PREDICT Institute will be a comprehensive and programmatic initiative that will create a framework for using electronic health data and community translation to improve health outcomes. Extending Xavier’s Technical Research Exchange (TREX) program, the new PREDICT Institue will also train current and future researchers from underrepresented communities on health informatics to diversify the research workforce and expand the use of community-based approaches to enhance clinical research in populations more vulnerable to health disparities. 

Learn more here!