CSULB faculty, students, and administrators joined representatives from Long Beach community-based organizations in celebrating “Five Years of Progress towards Achieving Health Equity through Science, Community and Collaboration.” Held on January 30th, 2015 in the University Student Union Ballroom, the two-hour event highlighted major accomplishments made through a 5-year multi-million dollar grant by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities to improve research infrastructure at CSULB.
The Research Infrastructure in Minority Institutions (RIMI) Project, spearheaded by the CSULB Center for Health Equity Research in collaboration with the Center for Behavioral Research and Services (CBRS) and the NCLR Center for Latino Community Health, Evaluation and Leadership Training, provided research support, mentoring, and training to CSULB faculty and students, and brought larger attention to the importance of research in addressing health disparities among underserved communities. Over 70 Attendees listened to an inspirational talk by keynote speaker, Dr. Tony Iton, Senior Vice President for Healthy Communities at The California Endowment on social justice and place-based community health. Presentations were also given by Dr. Alex Washington, School of Social Work Professor, and Ms. LeighAnna Hidalgo, PhD student in the UCLA Cesar E. Chavez Department of Chicana/o Studies, who shared their experiences as a RIMI Faculty Fellow and Health Scholar, and spoke about the positive influence their involvement in RIMI had on their career trajectory.
As noted by Dr. Laura D’Anna, RIMI Director, 21 faculty from 14 departments and 20 graduate students from 11 departments participated in the RIMI Project, resulting in 23 peer-reviewed publications and multiple health disparities research projects. Scientific and Community Advisory Board members were also recognized for their support during the five years of the project.
Click here to download and view Dr. Iton's powerpoint presentation (19Mb - Download does not include notes or narration)