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By The Skanner News | The Skanner News
Published: 19 September 2022

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., PRNewswire/ -- Today, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) announced a partnership with the nation's four Historically Black Medical Colleges (HBMCs) to further support the cutting-edge scientific research they are leading to address significant gaps in genomics research, create new tools and methods to prevent and treat disease, and accelerate precision health for everyone, particularly Black people and other people of color.

CZI's Accelerate Precision Health program will advance genomics research by investing in genomics programs at each of the HBMCs—Charles Drew University College of Medicine in Los Angeles, California; Howard University College of Medicine in Washington D.C.; Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee; and Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia.

The Accelerate Precision Health program will award $46 million total in funding, or $11.5 million per institution over the next five years. Through the partnership, the HBMCs will expand research opportunities for undergraduate, graduate, and post-doctoral students; support the creation of a new master of science program in genetic counseling; support recruitment of anchor faculty in genomics; and fund state-of-the-art tools for data handling, storage, and analysis, among other elements. Dr. Ivory Dean, CZI's science program manager, diversity in science, and Dr. Hannah Valantine, CZI's senior science advisor, will oversee this new program.

"We are honored to partner with these four institutions that are national leaders and championing some of the most groundbreaking research in precision health," said CZI Co-Founder and Co-CEO Priscilla Chan. "As pillars in their communities, the Historically Black Medical Colleges are also uniquely positioned to engage populations that have been systematically underrepresented in the scientific research process to ensure that the breakthroughs represent a healthier future for everyone."

Research aims to fill 'large gap'

Precision health accounts for differences in people's genes, environments, and lifestyles, and formulates treatment and prevention strategies based on their unique backgrounds and conditions. In contrast to a one-size-fits-all approach, precision health is used to more accurately predict what type of care for a particular disease will work in which populations of people, and is crucial to improve health outcomes for all.

"It's important to underscore that for Black Americans, there is a large gap between representation and need in genomics research and the time is now to support the intersection of genomics and health differences research that will advance science.

"Research shows that expanding representation leads to innovative discoveries," said CZI's Senior Science Advisor, Hannah Valantine.

"Actively engaging HBMCs and the communities they serve in genomics research is a necessary approach to harness new perspectives that will fuel creative interdisciplinary research, unleash innovations that have yet to be conceived, and accelerate precision health equity."

The deep relationships and trust between HBMCs, Black health care providers, and Black communities positions these four institutions to be natural leaders in this work. For more than a century, HBMCs have played an unmatched role in preparing Black physicians for their careers. Overwhelmingly, these institutions produce graduates who fulfill a social mission — especially in communities that are underserved — and who pursue in-demand primary care specialties, including family and internal medicine. Despite this well-documented track record, HBMCs trail their peers because of uneven infrastructure, limited research opportunities for faculty and students, low enrollment of Black students in the field of biological and data sciences, and they also tend to receive less federal research funding. The Accelerate Precision Health program will strengthen the environments needed for genomics research at HBMCs.

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