Dr. Pamela Payne-Foster, professor in the College’s Department of Community Medicine and Population Health, was awarded a grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health that aims to increase the number of African Americans participating in Lupus clinical trials. Payne-Foster is the principal investigator of “Deep South Health Equity Lupus Program DS-HELP,” which targets the states of Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee and Kentucky and seeks to increase awareness and provide education and networking opportunities to three stakeholder groups – Lupus support group members, primary health-care providers and health disparities researchers. Partners include the Mid-South and Georgia chapters of the Lupus Foundation of America, National Alumni Association of Meharry Medical College, American College of Rheumatology, Tuskegee University National Bioethics Center, and Lupus researchers from Northwestern University, Michigan University and Harvard University.
Dr. Alan Blum, the Gerald Leon Wallace, MD, Endowed Chair of Family Medicine for the College, presented an e-poster and commentary at the Paris-based World Conference on Lung Health Oct. 18. His poster was titled: “The Filter Fraud: Banning the sale of filtered cigarettes as a key new strategy for tobacco control.”
Dr. Brian Gannon, associate professor of pediatrics, Dr. Abbey Gregg, assistant professor of community medicine and population health, Dr. Lea Yerby, associate professor of community medicine and population health, and Hui Wang, a research data analyst with the College’s Institute for Rural Health Research, co-authored a poster titled “Reduced Health Care Expenditures in a Medical Home for Children in Foster Care,” presented at the virtual American Academy of Pediatrics National Conference & Exhibition Oct. 11-12.