Stanford (Calif.) University School of Medicine is establishing the Stanford Precision Health for Ethnic and Racial Equity Center, according to The Stanford Daily.
Here are five things to know:
1. The center will be established thanks to a five-year, $11.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health received in 2015.
2. The new trans-disciplinary center will draw on expertise from multiple fields within Stanford's School of Medicine and collaborate with two other centers funded by the NIH.
3. The ultimate goal of the NIH funding behind SPHERE is to make precision health services universally accessible in the United States.
4. The Stanford initiative is co-led by Yvonne A. Maldonado, MD, professor of pediatrics and health and research policy, and Mark R. Cullen, MD, professor of medicine and director of the Stanford Center for Population Health Sciences.
5. SPHERE is funding three projects that will start in 2017:
- Michael Snyder, PhD, professor and chair of genetics, will look for biomarkers of rheumatoid arthritis in the Lakota Sioux tribe of South Dakota.
- V.J. Periyakoil, MD, clinical associate professor of medicine, will investigate how best to communicate genetic cancer risks to Latino and Asian Americans.
- Thomas N. Robinson, MD, the Irving Schulman M.D. Endowed Professor in Child Health and professor of medicine, will gather data on clinically overweight Latino youth to find effective strategies for prevention and treatment of youth obesity and related health problems, particularly diabetes.