The NIH Almanac
The National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) leads scientific research to improve minority health and eliminate health disparities. To achieve its mission, the NIMHD:
- Plans, reviews, coordinates, and evaluates all minority health and health disparities research and activities of the NIH;
- Conducts and supports research on health disparities;
- Promotes and supports the training of a diverse research workforce;
- Translates and disseminates research information; and
- Fosters innovative collaborations and partnerships.
The NIMHD envisions an America in which all populations will have an equal opportunity to live long, healthy and productive lives.
Important Events in NIMHD History
1990 — The Office of Minority Programs (OMP) was established in the NIH Office of the Director, at the request of then Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Dr. Louis Sullivan. Dr. John Ruffin was appointed Associate Director of Minority Programs to direct the OMP.
1991 — The OMP convened an advisory Fact-Finding Team (FFT) to conduct three regional conferences with grassroots constituencies. The FFT issued a report with 13 recommendations from the community that guided the initial efforts of the OMP.
1992 — The Minority Health Initiative (MHI), the centerpiece of the OMP agenda, was launched in response to the FFT’s recommendations, and initially funded at $45 million. This multi-year biomedical and behavioral research and research training program is a partnership with the NIH Institutes and Centers. The OMP co-funded various projects including: 1) interventions to improve prenatal health and reduce infant mortality; 2) studies of childhood and adolescent lead poisoning; 3) HIV infection and AIDS; 4) alcohol and drug use studies; 5) research in adult populations focused on cancer, diabetes, obesity, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, mental disorders, asthma, visual impairments, and alcohol abuse; and 6) training for faculty and for students at all stages of the educational pipeline — from precollege and undergraduate through graduate and postdoctoral levels.
1992 — The OMP initiated a study with the National Academy of Sciences designed to present an overview of NIH extramural research training programs for minority students and to assess the feasibility of conducting a trans-NIH assessment of these programs.
1993 — Public Law 103-43, the Health Revitalization Act of 1993, established the Office of Research on Minority Health (ORMH) in the Office of the Director, NIH. Dr. John Ruffin was appointed as the Associate Director for Research on Minority Health.
1994 — The National Conference on Minority Health Research and Research Training was held in Chicago.
1996 — Conferences were held in Honolulu, Hawaii; Miami, Florida; and Puerto Rico to inform ORMH constituencies of the progress made, to solicit feedback on those achievements, and to obtain information on the needs of minority populations.
1997 — The Advisory Committee on Research on Minority Health was established to provide advice to the Director, ORMH, and to the Director, NIH, regarding research and research training with respect to minority health issues.
1998 — The first meeting of the Advisory Committee on Minority Health was held.
2000 — The ORMH celebrated its 10th anniversary with a conference entitled Closing the Minority Health Gap: 10 Years of Progress and Challenge in Eliminating Health Disparities.
2000 — The National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NCMHD) was established by the passage of the Minority Health and Health Disparities Research and Education Act of 2000, Public Law 106-525, which was signed by the President of the United States, William Jefferson Clinton, on November 22, 2000. The bill was introduced into the Congress by Senator Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts.
2001 — Dr. John Ruffin was sworn in as the first director of the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities.
2001 — Programs mandated by Congress were implemented to expand the infrastructure of Institutions committed to health disparities research and to encourage the recruitment and retention of highly qualified minority and other scientists in the fields of biomedical, clinical, behavioral, and health services research: 1) the Endowment Program, 2) the Loan Repayment Program for Health Disparities Research, and 3) the Extramural Clinical Research Loan Repayment Program for Individuals from Disadvantaged Backgrounds.
2002 — The Congressionally mandated program, Centers of Excellence program was launched, referred to as Project EXPORT — Partnerships for Community Outreach, Research on Health Disparities and Training.
2002 — The first meeting of the National Advisory Council on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NACMHD) was convened.
2002 — The NCMHD assumed responsibility for the Research Infrastructure in Minority Institutions Program (RIMI), which was established by its predecessor ORMH, in partnership with the National Center for Research Resources.
2003 — The first NIH Strategic Research Plan and Budget to Reduce and Ultimately Eliminate Health Disparities was issued.
2005 — The NCMHD assumed responsibility for the Minority International Research Training Program (MIRT) which was established by its predecessor ORMH in partnership with Fogarty International Center (FIC). The program was renamed to be more consistent with the mission of the NCMHD to the Minority Health and Health Disparities International Research Training Program (MHIRT).
2005 — The NCMHD Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) program was established. This program supports community-based participatory research intervention studies to reduce health disparities caused by diseases or conditions affecting minority and other health disparity communities.
2005 — The National Research Council of the National Academies released the report Assessment of NIH Minority Research and Training Programs: Phase 3. The report was the culmination of a series of assessments and analyses of the NIH minority research and training programs initiated by the ORMH, the predecessor to the NCMHD. This report examined the effectiveness of the programs and provided recommendations for improvement.
2006 — The Institute of Medicine of the National Academies issued the report Examining the Health Disparities Research Plan of the National Institutes of Health: Unfinished Business. The NCMHD requested this report to assess the adequacy of the NIH Health Disparities Strategic Plan in achieving the goals and objectives, to evaluate the adequacy of coordination among the NIH Institutes and Centers in developing the strategic plan, and to obtain recommendations to help NIH achieve the objectives of the strategic plan.
2007 — The NCMHD Centers of Excellence in Partnerships for Community Outreach, Research on Health Disparities and Training (Project EXPORT), was re-competed for the first time. The program was also renamed the NCMHD Centers of Excellence program.
2008 — NCMHD hosted the first NIH Science of Eliminating Health Disparities Summit on December 16-18, 2008. The summit attracted more than 4,000 participants including scientists, health care practitioners, policy makers, community leaders, and students who work or have an interest in eliminating health disparities. Acclaimed poet Maya Angelou spoke at the opening ceremony.
2008 — NIH Director Dr. Elias Zerhouni approved an Intramural Research Program (IRP) for the NCMHD. Acting NIH Director Dr. Raynard Kington announced the creation of the NCMHD IRP at the NIH Science of Eliminating Health Disparities Summit.
2009 — NCMHD launched its Health Disparities Research on Minority and Underserved Populations program. This Research Project Grant (R01) funds original and innovative research addressing elements that support the advancement of research to eliminate health disparities.
2009 — NCMHD launched the NIH Health Disparities Seminar Series in July 2009. The monthly lecture series brings national and international health disparities experts including NIH and federal agency partners to the NIH to share information about advances, gaps, and current issues related to health disparities research.
2009 — The NCMHD Disparities Research and Education Advancing our Mission (DREAM) program was launched as a component of the NCMHD Intramural Research Program.
2009 — The Research Infrastructure in Minority Institutions Program (RIMI) was renamed the Building Research Infrastructure and Capacity (BRIC) program to be more consistent with the mission of NCMHD.
2009 — NCMHD partnered with the NIH Office of Intramural Research to sponsor the 2009 NIH J. Edward Rall Cultural Lecture as part of the NIH Wednesday Afternoon Lecture Series, featuring Dr. Maya Angelou.
2009 — NCMHD, in partnership with the HHS Office of Minority Health and the U.S. Department of Education formalized the Federal Collaboration on Health Disparities Research (FCHDR) comprised of 14 federal executive departments. FCHDR promotes enhanced coordination of efforts to improve the health of health disparity populations. NCMHD co-leads FCHDR.
2010 — NCMHD was re-designated to the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) with the passing of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. In addition, the Research Endowment program was expanded to include NIMHD Centers of Excellence as eligible institutions.
2010 — NIMHD launched a two-week intensive Translational Health Disparities Course: Integrating Principles of Science, Practice, and Policy in Health Disparities Research.
2010 — NIMHD launched a Faith-based Initiative on Health Disparities and a Social Determinants of Health Initiative.
2011 — NIMHD established the Scientific Education Initiative, which supports educational, mentoring, and career development programs for individuals from health disparity populations that are underrepresented in the research sciences.
2011 — NIMHD launched the Resource-Related Minority Health and Health Disparities Research Initiative to support minority health and health disparities research activities using a cooperative agreement which requires substantial federal scientific or programmatic involvement.
2011 — NIMHD appointed William G. Coleman, Jr., Ph.D., as the NIMHD's first permanent scientific director and the first African-American scientific director in the history of the NIH Intramural Research Program.
2011 — NIMHD assumed responsibility for the Research Centers in Minority Institutions (RCMI) program formerly administered by the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR).
2012 — NIMHD organized the first-ever “NIH Minority Health Promotion Day” on April 19, 2012 in honor of National Minority Health Month working with the other NIH ICs and other federal agencies.
2012 — NIMHD established its Transdisciplinary Collaborative Centers for Health Disparities Research Program to support transdisciplinary coalitions of academic institutions, community organizations, service providers and systems, government agencies, and other stakeholders focused on select topics related to health disparities.
2012 — NIMHD hosted the 2012 Science of Eliminating Health Disparities Summit from December 17-19, 2012, a partnership with the NIH Institutes and Centers, the HHS agencies, and 14 of the 15 federal executive departments. Rescheduled due to Hurricane Sandy in October 2012, the summit attracted thousands of participants. Major highlights included a portrait unveiling for former Congressman Louis Stokes and dedication of the Summit to the late Senator Arlen Specter.
2013 — NIMHD held the third Translational Health Disparities Course: Integrating Principles of Science, Practice, and Policy in Health Disparities Research. NIMHD selected 90 scholars from 450 applications — the largest class and number of applications to date. View Image.
2013 — NIMHD launched The Health Disparities Pulse, a newsletter for the health disparities community covering a wide array of topics, issues, and information pertaining to minority health and health disparities research and activities.
March 31, 2014 — John Ruffin, Ph.D., retired as the first Director of NIMHD. Yvonne T. Maddox, Ph.D., became Acting Director of NIMHD.
2014 — NIMHD held the fourth Translational Health Disparities Course: Integrating Principles of Science, Practice, and Policy in Health Disparities Research. NIMHD selected 92 scholars from 325 applications — the largest class to date. View Image.
2014 — NIMHD launched the System-Level Health Services and Policy Research on Health Disparities Program to support original and innovative system-level health services or policy research directed toward eliminating health disparities.
2014 — NIMHD signed onto the parent trans-NIH RO1 research project grant program to expand opportunities for investigator-initiated research in health disparities.
2014 — NIMHD cosponsors the NIH Medical Research Scholars Program, a comprehensive, year-long residential research enrichment program for medical, dental, and veterinary students located on the NIH campus in Bethesda, Maryland.
NIMHD Legislative History
1993 — P.L. 103-43, the Health Revitalization Act of 1993, established the Office of Research on Minority Health in the Office of the Director of the National Institutes of Health.
2000 — P.L. 106-525, Minority Health and Health Disparities Research and Education Act of 2000, established the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities. It also called for the development of a NIH comprehensive strategic research plan and budget for health disparities research. It authorizes the NCMHD Director and the Director of the Agency for Health care Research and Quality (AHRQ) to define health disparity populations. The law also requires the NCMHD to maintain communications with all Public Health Service agencies and other Departments of the Federal government to disseminate health disparities research information.
2010 — On March 23, 2010, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (P.L. 111-148) passed and re-designated the NCMHD to an Institute, the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD). The law gave the NIMHD authority to plan, review, coordinate, and evaluate the minority health and health disparities research and activities conducted and supported by the NIH Institutes and Centers. In addition, it transferred all of the responsibilities of the NCMHD to the NIMHD and expanded the eligibility criteria for the Research Endowment program to include institutions with an active NIMHD Center of Excellence grant.
YVONNE T. MADDOX, PH.D., NIMHD ACTING DIRECTOR
Dr. Yvonne T. Maddox is the Acting Director of the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD). As Acting Director, she leads the minority health and health disparities research activities of the NIMHD and has lead responsibility for the health disparities research across the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The NIMHD is one of the 27 Institutes and Centers of the NIH.
Dr. Maddox served as the Acting Deputy Director of the NIH and the Deputy Director of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) before joining the NIMHD.
The NIMHD is the primary federal agency for leading, coordinating and facilitating research to improve minority health and to identify and encourage the elimination of health disparities. The Institute touches the lives of millions of Americans burdened by disparities in health status and health care delivery, including racial and ethnic minority groups, as well as rural and low socioeconomic populations and other vulnerable population groups.
First established as the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities in 2000, the NIMHD was re-designated as an NIH Institute in 2010 as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. It serves as the focal point for conducting and coordinating research on minority health as well as health disparities. While minority health and health disparities are not the same, there are areas of shared concern.
Dr. Maddox has focused her priorities towards minority health and health equity in both the United States and on a global scale. In addition, she has long been a champion of issues related to women and children. As Deputy Director of the NICHD, she led a number of federal and international efforts to improve maternal and child health. These included the NICHD Safe to Sleep campaign (formerly the Back to Sleep campaign), targeted to reduce sudden infant death syndrome, the NIH Down Syndrome Consortium, and the Global Network for Women’s and Children’s Health Research.
During her career at the NIH, Dr. Maddox has received numerous honors and awards, including the Presidential Distinguished Executive Rank Award and the Presidential Meritorious Executive Rank Award, as well as the Public Health Service Special Recognition Award, the Department of Health & Human Services Secretary’s Award and Career Achievement Award, and the NIH Director’s Award. She is an inductee in the field of medicine into the Historical Black Colleges and Universities Hall of Fame. She is also a recipient of the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Distinguished Public Service Award. For her research in reproductive sciences, she was awarded the prestigious HeLa Award from the Morehouse School of Medicine.
Most recently, Dr. Maddox received the 2014 National Caucus on Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Health Disparities’ Vanguard Award for Scientific Leadership in Health Disparities. She has received several honorary degrees and has served on many public service and academic boards. She has authored numerous scientific papers, reviewed articles and delivered keynote scientific lectures, both domestically and internationally.
Dr. Maddox received her B.S. in biology from Virginia Union University, Richmond, and her Ph.D. in physiology from Georgetown University. She studied as a visiting scientist at the French Atomic Energy Commission, Saclay, France, and graduated from the Senior Managers in Government Program of the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.
|Name||In Office from||To|
|John Ruffin, Ph.D.||August 1990||March 2014|
|Yvonne T. Maddox, Ph.D. (Acting)||April 2014||Present|
Four official organizational components comprise NIMHD:
The Office of the Director (OD)
The Office of the Director (OD) determines and provides leadership to the Institute’s programs, plans, and policies. It provides leadership for the NIH minority health and health disparities research and activities including the implementation of the Minority Health and Health Disparities Research and Education Act (P.L. 106-525) and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (P.L. 111-148) and other relevant public laws as they relate to the NIMHD mission. The NIMHD OD directs an integrated system of coordination for the NIH health disparities research program and the Institute’s development and coordination of minority health and health disparities research programs, activities, and strategic partnerships with the NIH Institutes and Centers; NIH Office of the Director; Federal agencies; state, local, tribal, and regional public health agencies; and private entities. The NIMHD OD’s four organizational components include the Office of Administrative Management, the Office of Communications and Public Liaison, the Office of Extramural Research Administration, and the Office of Strategic Planning, Legislation, and Science Policy. The NIMHD OD provides leadership for the NIH health disparities strategic plan and budget and leads the management, communications, legislation, strategic planning, science policy, and ethics activities for the Institute. It also provides leadership for developing and revising the national definition for health disparity population in consultation with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
Division of Scientific Programs (DSP)
The Division of Scientific Programs (DSP) serves as the focal point for planning, directing, implementing, and managing the Institute’s extramural research programs, including its legislatively mandated extramural research programs and other research, research training, research capacity building, career development, and community-based participatory research initiatives. The organizational components of this division include the Office of Research Training and Capacity Building and the Office of Research Innovation and Program Coordination. DSP manages a diverse portfolio of special projects with respect to minority health conditions and other populations with health disparities, determines program priorities, and recommends funding strategies to achieve program goals.
Division of Data Management and Scientific Reporting (DDMSR)
The Division of Data Management and Scientific Reporting (DDMSR) provides leadership for knowledge management and scientific reporting. It maintains a Health Disparities Information (HDI) database to facilitate the collection, interpretation, and analysis of data, education, dissemination, and communication of information to various audiences in collaboration with other organizational components of the Institute. This division collaborates with the Office of Strategic Planning, Legislation, and Science Policy to analyze and synthesize data on minority health and health disparities research conducted and supported by the Institutes and Centers. It also coordinates reporting requests on the Institute and NIH activities on minority health and health disparities research; provides epidemiological and statistical expertise for the Institute on planning, designing, and implementing research studies and to support research programs; coordinates data collection activities and reporting on minority health and health disparities including the Institute’s implementation of relevant policies, regulations, and laws; and provides advice to the Institute senior management and program officials on data collection standards and guidelines. The DDMSR coordinates Institute activities under the Privacy Act and administers the Institute's Freedom of Information Act activities.
Division of Intramural Research (DIR)
This Division of Intramural Research (DIR) provides leadership for the Institute’s intramural research program to prevent, diagnose, treat, and understand disease and conditions that disproportionately affect health disparity populations. It plans, develops, and conducts innovative trans-disciplinary research focusing on the linkage between biological and non-biological determinants of health in health disparity populations to include basic, behavioral, social sciences, and clinical research. This division develops, coordinates, and implements training and career development programs in minority health and health disparities research. It collaborates with and coordinates intramural research on minority health and health disparities conducted by the Institutes and Centers, integrates new research into the Institute’s program structure, and provides advice to the Institute Director and staff on matters of scientific interest to the Institute.
NIMHD Leading Programs:
Investigator-Initiated Research Project Grants on Health Disparities, a NIH Research Project Grant (R01) program, supports original and innovative research addressing elements that eliminate health disparities. The program consists of two initiatives focused on a) basic and applied research; and b) social, behavioral, health services, and policy research. It also supports the study of diseases/conditions that contribute to poor health outcomes or disproportionately impact racial and ethnic minority populations, rural and urban poor, and other health disparity populations.
The System-Level Health Services and Policy Research on Health Disparities Program supports innovative system-level health services or policy research directed toward the complex and multi-factorial web of interconnected factors of health disparities.
The Community Based Participatory Research Program (CBPR) is designed to promote collaborative research between scientific researchers and members of the community through the joint design and implementation of intervention research projects targeting health disparities in underserved populations including racial and ethnic minorities, rural populations, and individuals of low socio-economic status.
The ultimate goal is to foster sustainable efforts at the community level that will accelerate the translation of research advances to health disparity populations and eliminate health disparities. The CBPR Initiative has three phases. It starts with a three year planning grant, followed by a competitive five year intervention grant and concludes with a competitive three year information dissemination grant. This is a long term commitment by the NIMHD with potential funding for up to 11 years in individual CBPR projects.
The Academic Research Enhancement Award: Enhancing Health Disparities Research at Undergraduate Institutions supports small-scale research projects at institutions of higher education to expose students to meritorious research and to strengthen the research environment at the institution.
The NIH Medical Research Scholars Program (MRSP)
NIMHD cosponsors this competitive, rigorous, comprehensive, year-long residential research enrichment program for medical, dental, and veterinary students. Located on the NIH Intramural research campus in Bethesda, Maryland, the program engages scholars in a mentored basic, translational, or clinical research project in an area that matches their personal interests and career/research goals.
The Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer Program (SBIR/STTR) is a highly competitive federal program mandated by the Congress as a part of the Small Business Development Act. Each year designated federal departments and agencies award a reserved portion of their research and development funds to small businesses and to partnerships between small businesses and nonprofit research institutions to bring innovative technologies to market. The NIMHD SBIR/STTR Programs give high priority to research activities designed to empower health disparity communities to achieve health equity through health education, disease prevention, and community-based, problem driven research.
The Centers of Excellence Program (COE) is congressionally mandated by Public Law 106-525. The program was established to develop novel programs in the U.S. that would make significant advances and contributions to easing the health burden in underserved populations and in reducing and ultimately eliminating health disparities in several priority diseases and conditions. This strategy helps to increase the pool of investigators from health disparity populations through research training and faculty development. In addition, the collaborations help disseminate health information to underserved populations and increase the participation of health disparity populations in clinical trials. The program has funded studies on numerous diseases/conditions including breast, prostate, and pancreatic cancers; human papillomavirus; HIV; and cardiovascular disease.
The Transdisciplinary Collaborative Centers for Health Disparities Research Program establishes specialized centers that support transdisciplinary regional coalitions focused on priority areas in minority health and health disparities research, such as health policy, the social determinants of health, and men’s health. Coalitions bring together academic institutions, community organizations, service providers and systems, government agencies, and other stakeholders. The program supports targeted research, implementation, and dissemination activities that transcend customary approaches and “silo” organizational structures to address critical questions at multiple levels.
The Research Centers in Minority Institutions Program (RCMI) enhances the research capacity and infrastructure at minority institutions that offer doctorates in the health professions or health sciences by expanding human and physical resources for conducting basic, clinical, and translational research.
The Building Research Infrastructure and Capacity Program (BRIC) supports the development of sustainable research programs at non-research intensive institutions of higher education. The primary goal is to build, strengthen, and/or enhance the research infrastructure and research training capacity of non-research intensive institutions.
The Resource-Related Minority Health and Health Disparities Research Initiative supports minority health and health disparities research activities using a cooperative agreement which requires substantial federal scientific or programmatic involvement. The initiative focuses on bioethics research, global health, data infrastructure, information dissemination, and research on healthcare for rural populations.
The Research Endowment Program is congressionally mandated by Public Law 106-525. The program was established to provide endowments to eligible academic institutions to support minority health and health disparities research. The educational institutions must use interest from the grants to a) build the capacity for research or research training which may include renovating facilities, improving technology, or updating equipment; b) recruit and develop a diverse faculty, as well as create courses concerning health disparities research methodology; and c) advance recruitment and training of students from underrepresented and socio-economically disadvantaged populations who plan to pursue scientific careers.
The Loan Repayment Program (LRP)
NIMHD offers two types of loan repayment programs. The Health Disparities Research Loan Repayment Program is mandated by the Congress to increase the pool of extramural researchers who conduct health disparities research. The Extramural Clinical Research Loan Repayment Program extends to health professionals from disadvantaged backgrounds who engage in clinical research. Eligible candidates are health professionals with postdoctoral degrees who are not federally employed and interested in conducting basic, clinical, behavioral, social sciences, or health services research addressing health disparities.
The Minority Health and Health Disparities International Research Training Program (MHIRT) supports young scientists conducting scientific research abroad. It offers short-term international training opportunities in health disparities research for undergraduate and graduate students in the health professions who are from health disparity populations. Grantees work with international health investigators in countries around the world including Mexico, Uganda, Ghana, Australia, Peru, Spain, and South Africa.
The Science Education Initiative supports educational, mentoring, and career development programs for individuals from health disparity populations that are underrepresented in the research sciences. The program is geared towards ensuring that minority and health disparity populations are continuously exposed to and encouraged to explore careers in biomedical, behavioral, clinical, and social sciences ranging from kindergarten through early-stage investigators.
The Scientific Conferences Program supports scientific conferences, meetings, workshops, and similar forums designed to share, exchange, or disseminate information on a defined subject relevant to improving minority health and eliminating health disparities.