The Program on Ethnicity, Culture, and Health Outcomes (ECHO) is a new university-wide initiative with a statewide focus aimed at eliminating health disparities. The means used to achieve this goal include translatable, evidence-based research; multidisciplinary training and education; and culturally sensitive service to North Carolina communities.  

ECHO is pleased to sponsor, “Creating Research Opportunities to Address Minority Health and Health Disparities,” a free, one-day workshop for administrators, faculty, and students from North Carolina’s Minority Serving Institutions (MSI’s). Junior-level minority faculty and post-doctoral fellows at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill are encouraged to attend. The event will be held on Friday, September 20 from 8am-5: 30pm at the Julius L. Chambers Biomedical/Biotechology Research Institute on the campus of North Carolina Central University in Durham.  

This workshop aims to provide North Carolina Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) with: 

• an inside perspective on strategies to increase federal funding opportunities
• a venue to engage in dialogue about successes and potential barriers of research partnerships between MSIs and majority research institutions;
• and information regarding minority health research initiatives, faculty development opportunities, and training programs. 

The program will consist of six sessions and an interactive, lunch roundtable discussion (lunch provided). The workshop will include speakers from the National Institutes of Health who will discuss the grant review process and current NIH programs geared towards MSIs. There will also be presentations by speakers with expertise in the development and maintenance of research partnerships between MSIs and majority research institutions, training programs, and initiatives that focus on the development of minority scientists. 

If you are interested in attending, please call 919-843-6934 for a registration form. The deadline for submitting your registration is September 12^th.  

We are looking forward to an informative workshop. Please feel free to duplicate and distribute this information to your faculty, staff, post-doctoral fellows, and administrators. If you have any questions, please contact, Dawn Howard, ECHO Program Coordinator, at 919-843-6934 or at dawn_howard@med.unc.edu.