# Arkansas Center for Health Disparities (ARCHD) Bridge Funding

> **NIH NIH U54** · UNIV OF ARKANSAS FOR MED SCIS · 2022 · $500,000

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT - OVERALL
 Health disparities are a significant problem in Arkansas, arguing for research to eliminate them. The
development and support of researchers and communities who can conduct research to elucidate the
mechanisms underlying these disparities and test the effectiveness of strategies to achieve health equity is
essential. In the proposed bridge funding year, we will continue to complete research in minority health
disparities, promote the training of a diverse research workforce, disseminate research findings, and foster
collaborations and partnerships through the activities of the Arkansas Center for Health Disparities (ARCHD).
The ARCHD builds on 15 years of strong, collaborative work as a Center of Excellence, continuing its thematic
focus on developing multidisciplinary, multilevel research that reduces chronic disease risk factors for
which there are significant health disparities among socially disadvantaged African American
communities, with a goal of improving health and quality of life and ultimately eliminating health
disparities. ARCHD will maintain three core units – an Administrative Core to provide overall coordination and
management of Center activities, including the coordination of common data elements, evaluation, and
methods expertise; an Investigator Development Core, to continue a pilot project program for early stage
investigators and to provide mentorship and guidance; and a Community Engagement and Dissemination
Core, to expand and facilitate equitable, sustainable, collaborative relationships with community and other
stakeholders and to coordinate dissemination of research findings to diverse audience segments. The Center
will continue two full research projects, both using a community health worker model to deliver interventions to
disadvantaged African American populations, i.e., female African American tobacco users in rural communities
and recently incarcerated African Americans at high risk of contracting HIV. We will also continue to foster
additional research addressing minority health disparities, the dissemination of which may inform efforts to
create systematic change in policies, programs, and environments to reduce and eliminate health disparities.

Consistent with the theme of the ARCHD, the long-term goal of this study is to reduce the burden of
multiple tobacco exposures, improve access to preventive care, and reduce the risk for chronic diseases
among socially disadvantaged African American women and children. Cigarette smoking prevalence among
African American Arkansan women is nearly double the overall smoking prevalence for African American
women in the United States and rates are increasing among African American women in AR. Health disparities
are often systematically linked to social disadvantage and socially disadvantaged African American women
and children have poorer access to preventive health care, disproportionately higher rates of secondhand
smoke exposure, and l...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10621633
- **Project number:** 3U54MD002329-15S1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIV OF ARKANSAS FOR MED SCIS
- **Principal Investigator:** Carol Ellen Cornell
- **Activity code:** U54 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $500,000
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2007-09-30 → 2024-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10621633

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10621633, Arkansas Center for Health Disparities (ARCHD) Bridge Funding (3U54MD002329-15S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10621633. Licensed CC0.

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