Development of a Statewide Collaborative Research Initiative to Address Health Disparities in Florida

Purpose is to describe the development and initial outcomes of the Florida Health Equity Research Institute (HERI). The need for HERI arises from the disproportionate disease burden among medically underserved populations in Florida and the lack of large, multi-disciplinary and multi-institutional efforts to improve health in these populations. The process of establishing HERI included:  a) development of the Health Disparities Research (HDR) Agenda for Florida in 2011; b) advocacy to communicate the HDR Agenda and the need for funding with key decision-makers; c) approval for HERI by the state governing board with performance metrics; d) receipt of a non-recurring state appropriation of $400,000 each year for 2013 and 2014; and d) organization of HERI into four cores:  Administrative, Community Engagement, Education & Training, and Research.  Initial outcomes include:  a) establishing affiliations with over 17 Florida universities and community organizations;  b) hosting two health disparities summits with a total of 310 faculty, students, community representatives and clinicians attending; c) establishing a 10 member Steering Committee and a 15 member Community Leadership Board; d) mentoring of 154 students and 95 faculty/community stakeholders through student symposia and summer research internships; e) establishing a pilot grant program for multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional and community-based (MMC) research with two $50,000 grants awarded; and f)  identifying $11.6M in competitive MMC federal and state grants submitted and $5.9M in awards from HERI investigators.  Lessons learned and future directions will be shared.