# Interdisciplinary Health Equity Research (IHER) Center

> **NIH NIH U54** · DELAWARE STATE UNIVERSITY · 2023 · $3,563,774

## Abstract

Interdisciplinary Health Equity Research (IHER) Center
Summary
 The COVID-19 pandemic put a spotlight on our nation’s stark disparities in
health and the disproportional burden of disease related to race, ethnicity, and
socioeconomic status. Delaware is an ideal state for a health disparities-focused
research center as it represents the whole of the USA in a compact form. The
population of Delaware (~978,000) mirrors the US population in ratios of urban-to-rural, old to young, and
ethnic/racial diversity. Thus, studies involving a cross-section of Delaware are easily generalizable to the
national population. In addition, Delaware is ranked 35th out of the 50 states for overall health outcomes, a
low ranking that reflects high disparities in health status for low-income and minority populations.
 The urgency to address health disparities in Delaware is clear, and promoting health equity through
a social determinants of health approach is a state priority. Delaware State University is well-positioned to
lead that effort. DSU’s Interdisciplinary Health Equity Research Center has the overall goal to develop
DSU as a leader in biomedical, behavioral and social research related to health conditions that have a
disparate impact on underserved individuals and communities. The Center will build a supportive
scientific community that brings together faculty investigating the social and behavioral determinants of
health with faculty using biomedical approaches to investigate health conditions that have a disparate
impact on underserved populations. The IHER Center will build a research-enabling infrastructure at DSU
by: a) providing access to core facilities in biostatistics, qualitative methods, microscopy and
electrophysiology; b) providing investigators working with human subjects support for managing the IRB
process, and an infrastructure for secure collection, analysis and storage of human subject data; and c)
immersing researchers in a supportive professional network. We will also build our IHER Center by
recruiting two new faculty members with expertise in behavioral and social research related to health equity,
and supporting them to work with other DSU scientists in interdisciplinary research teams. Through
mentorship, career enhancement activities, and a Pilot Grant Program for early-stage investigators, our
IHER Center will develop faculty at DSU into independent investigators who can successfully lead
interdisciplinary research teams and compete for external funding
 DSU is currently engaged in robust initiatives to promote health equity, including DSU’s Center
for Neighborhood Revitalization and Research, Health Disparities Center; and an NIH RADx-UP grant.
Our IHER Center will leverage Delaware State University’s expanding human and research resources in
biomedical research, our state-wide partnerships with other Delaware institutions and community based
organizations, as well as the nationwide RCMI Translational Research Network to promote he...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10707341
- **Project number:** 5U54MD015959-02
- **Recipient organization:** DELAWARE STATE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Sangeeta Gupta
- **Activity code:** U54 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2023
- **Award amount:** $3,563,774
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2022-09-20 → 2027-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10707341

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10707341, Interdisciplinary Health Equity Research (IHER) Center (5U54MD015959-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10707341. Licensed CC0.

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