HCP’s John Ayanian, MD, MPP, participated in the Harvard Catalyst Colloquium Series held on June 8, 2009, at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. The weekly series, intended to educate and inspire clinical and translational scientists, is offered to the entire Harvard community. It addresses seven main topics including: Discovery in Translational Medicine, Translational and Emerging Technologies, Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Ethics in Clinical and Translational Research, Responsible Conduct of Research, Health Disparities Research, and Works in Progress.

Dr. Ayanian’s talk was the first presentation under the Health Disparities’ category, and was entitled, “Understanding & Eliminating Health Care Disparities: What is the Role of Translational Research?" His presentation focused on racial disparities in health care and the potential impact of translational research to address these disparities. The Health Disparities series intends to educate the Harvard community by (1) exploring biological and social mechanisms that mediate health disparities; (2) highlighting examples of disparities research in clinical medicine, public health, mental health, environmental health, prevention sciences, human genetics and social sciences; (3) identifying innovative methods and data sources for disparities research; and (4) evaluating health policies and clinical and public health interventions that address the health needs of minority and other underserved individuals and communities.

To view a video and slides from Dr. Ayanian's talk, please visit the following link. 

If you are interested in being notified about future health disparities-related events at Harvard, please contact Kathryn Pollenz at pollenz@hcp.med.harvard.edu or (617) 432-7357.