Health disparities research center celebrates 20th anniversary

Loma Linda University School of Medicine's Center for Health Disparities and Molecular Medicine is celebrating its 20^thanniversary and the hundreds of students over the past two decades who have benefited from internships and summer research training programs.

The center was officially established by the LLUH Board in 2006 after a major P20 award from the National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities to establish a center for health disparities research.

The original grant and substantial support from the School of Medicine enabled Loma Linda University to establish several initiatives, such as NIH-funded basic biomedical research programs on chronic diseases associated with health disparities, summer biomedical research training programs for students in high school and college, and community-based outreach, interventions, and research.

Over the past two decades the center has provided more than 700 summer research internships for local high school students participating in the Apprenticeship Bridge to College (ABC) Program, university students participating in the Undergraduate Training Program (UTP), and medical students participating in the Medical Training Program (MTP). For those high school students, more than half have gone on to graduate school and professional programs. For the college students, the percentage is over 80%. Over 120 alumni from the ABC and UTP programs have matriculated at LLU, most in doctoral programs.

"When I look back now years later, I can see how we have made a major difference in the lives of hundreds of students from our own community and communities across the country," said Carlos A. Casiano, PhD, director of the Center for Health Disparities and Molecular Medicine and a professor in the Microbiology Division in the Department of Basic Sciences at the School of Medicine. "We look back with satisfaction that many of the students we have trained have become biomedical scientists, physicians, dentists, and faculty, not only in Adventist institutions, but also in other institutions nationwide."

Casiano said he and his team continue to hear from new summer cohorts of high school and college students how these training initiatives are making a difference in their lives and opening up future opportunities.

He said a high school student working in his lab last summer discovered that she really enjoyed medical research and asked if he knew anyone at UCLA where she had committed to go to college. Casiano put her in contact with one of his first graduate students who is now a professor there. "My summer trainee is now working with my former trainee," he said. "This type of story has happened many times over the years."

The center was established in 2006 following major NIH awards and the success of a PhD student research and educational training program that had launched five years earlier. That initiative was started by School of Medicine faculty researchers Marino A. De León, Daisy De León, and Casiano with the goal of creating research training and career development programs for PhD students.

The center was founded to emphasize basic and translational biomedical research. Areas of focus are diseases that are associated with health disparities, such as diabetes, obesity, and neuropathy, as well as several cancers, including prostate, thyroid, breast, leukemia, pancreatic, ovarian, and cervical. Casiano said the center has also held many educational activities and interventions for the community to help reduce the burden of obesity, diabetes, and cancer.

"The impact of these programs has been immense," he said.

The center's next phase includes the support of a recent $3.7 million T32 grant from the National Institutes of Health for furthering basic biomedical research training and career development of PhD students. This program is led by Casiano and Johnny Figueroa, associate director of the center and an associate professor in the Physiology Division of the Department of Basic Sciences. Many students in the program will go on to work as researchers at Loma Linda University and other top research centers across the country.

"It's very rewarding to see that this center is making a substantial impact locally and nationwide," Casiano said.