Conference examines health disparities in minorities

ASU’s Southwest Interdisciplinary Research Center will host its 8th annual research conference, “Health Disparities: A Global Challenge, a Local Response,” from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., April 23, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, 122 North 2nd St.

Eighteen national and local researchers will present their work and studies pertaining to health issues affecting minority and disadvantaged populations.

Challenges like the earthquake in Haiti and its related humanitarian cataclysm create the need for extending research studies from a community to a global level, according to Flavio Marsiglia, director of the Southwest Interdisciplinary Research Center, or SIRC. 

“Haiti is the least developed country in the hemisphere and one of the poorest countries in the world," Marsiglia said. "Haiti’s case makes us think very hard about global health and about health disparities as a global phenomenon.”

Nabila El-Bassel, professor at Columbia University’s School of Social Work, will discuss these complex issues from her perspective as a leading researcher in Africa and Asia, and with marginalized communities in the U.S. She also is director of Columbia University’s Social Intervention Group, and Global Health Research Center of Central Asia.

Conference participants can register to attend a morning and afternoon concurrent session from a selection of outstanding researchers addressing a wide selection of health and health disparity topics. The afternoon poster session will display 20 SIRC research projects by the center’s graduate assistants and associates. 

In lieu of conference costs, the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund will collect a suggested donation of $20 per person in support of the Haiti relief fund. This tax-deductible contribution includes eligibility for a drawing to win an original oil painting by Haiti artist L. Antoin.

Registration and a continental breakfast will start at 8 a.m. A reception will take place at 4:30 p.m.

For information or to register, visit http://sirc.asu.edu/annual-conferences or contact Linda Madrid at Linda.Madrid@asu.edu.