About CHAAMPS
A Multidisciplinary Team
UAB and UMN have a multidisciplinary team of investigators and national experts with expertise in diverse fields from public health to cardiovascular disease, cancer control and prevention, surgical oncology, psychosocial motivations, adolescent risk-taking, to community-based participatory research.
Community partners have respected, strong relationships with African American communities. These relationships are essential in developing collaborative strategies to change the current trajectory and explore factors responsible for current differential health outcomes.
Why A New Approach
African American men’s health research typically focuses on disease risk factors. A comprehensive interventional approach to eliminate the health risk has largely been ignored, until now.
CHAAMPS researchers are investigating the socioeconomic, behavioral and biological factors that drive and sustain the pronounced disparities in African American men, in such areas as unintentional and violence related injuries, cardiovascular disease, prostate and other cancers, diabetes and stroke.
Clinical research on poor health outcomes in African American men often neglects the multiple, complex interplay of socio-environmental, behavioral and bio-physiological influences responsible for differential health outcomes.
By investigating the socioeconomic and environmental factors involved in African American men’s health, CHAAMPS takes a life- course approach, pinpointing critical periods in a person’s life, such as youth/adolescence, young adulthood, middle age and old adulthood, when social context may be more salient in the way it affects physiology or shapes health behavior.
This integrative approach seeks to understand how risk of disease is differentially acquired and manifested and how it can be eliminated.
Current Research Projects
Communities Invested in Healthy Life Trajectories of African American Boys
Sonya Brady, PhD, Associate Professor University of Minnesota School of Public Health Capetra Jolly, BA, Community Coalition Coordinator and Facilitator University of Minnesota School of Public Health
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Communities Invested in Healthy Life Trajectories of African American Boys
Tina Simpson, MD, MPH, Associate Professor, Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, School of Medicine University of Alabama at Birmingham Charles Jason Branch, MA, LPC, Coalition Facilitator University of Alabama at Birmingham Janice Phillips, BS, Program Administrator University of Alabama at Birmingham
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Patient NAVIgation to Reduce Readmissions among Black Men with Heart Failure (NAVI-HF)
Raegan Durant, MD, Associate Professor, University of Alabama at Birmingham
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Evaluation of the Oncotype DX risk stratification score in AA men with prostate cancer
Christopher Warlick, MD, Assistant Professor, University of Minnesota
Charles Rogers, PhD, CHES, University of Minnesota
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Healthy Eating, Activity & Resting Together (HEART) Matters
Larrell Wilkinson, PhD, MSPH, CHES, Assistant Professor, Community Health and Human Services, School of Education, University of Alabama at Birmingham
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Understanding Hypertension Among Black Men in a Faith Based Setting
James Shikany, DrPH
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Developing and Testing a New Model to Reduce Risks for Heart Disease and Stroke
Ruth Lindquist, PhD, RN, FAHA, FAAN Professor, School of Nursing, University of Minnesota National USA Foundation, Inc. Reverend Doctor Larry B. West, Liaison
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Improving Diabetes Medication Management Through Face to Face and Social Media Support Among African American Men
Kylee Funk, PharmD, BCPS, University of Minnesota Caitlin Frail, PharmD, MS, BCACP, University of Minnesota
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Characterizing Healthcare Utilization in Black Males to Improve HCV Outcomes
Anne Zinski, PhD University of Alabama at Birmingham Dr. Mark Alexander, Dr. Romeo Stockett, Dr. Eric Griggs 100 Black Men of America, Inc.
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Novel Biomarker that Discriminates Indolent from Aggressive Phenotype in African American Men
Saleem Bhat, PhD, Assistiant Professor Hormel Institute, University of Minnesota Dr. Mark Alexander 100 Black Men of America, Inc.
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Fibrinolytics Improving Lung Cancer Outcomes
Jayanth Panyam, PhD, University of Minnesota
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Violence Among Youth: Pathways to Prevention
Rhonda Jones-Webb, PhD, University of Minnesota Sonya Brady, PhD, University of Minnesota
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Universal Screening
Mirjam-Colette Kempf, PhD, MPH, University of Alabama at Birmingham
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Regulation of Cardiac Gene Expression
Adam Wende, PhD, University of Alabama at Birmingham
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Guarding the Prostate Epigenome
Sunil Sudarshan, MD, University of Alabama at Birmingham
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Bariatric Surgery in African American Males
Dr. Sayeed Ikramuddin, MD, MHA, University of Minnesota Contact Shannon Jannatpour at 612-624-5746 or sjannatp@umn.edu for more information.
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Reducing violence among high risk African American men through individual support
Principal Investigator: Sylvie Mrug, PhD, Associate Professor, University of Alabama at Birmingham
View ProjectCancer Screening among East African Communities
Motohiro Nakajima, Ph.D. (PI) Mustafa al’Absi, Ph.D. University of Minnesota Medical School Collaborators: UMN: Rebekah Pratt, PHD Consultant: Robert Albee Community Organizations: Oromo Community of Minnesota (Jemal Tufe; Girma Hassan); Multicultural Adult Day Care (Abdulaziz Farah); Friendly Home Healthcare Community partners: Sahra A Ali, Sahra H Ali, Dr. Abdusamed Yousuf, Dr. Abdulkadir Shire, Dr. Obsa Hassan Research Staff: Abdifatah Haji, Hussein Hussein, Abdul Sero, Sartu Taha, Iman Geleto, Hileena Habte, Shamso Jama, Gemachu Mekonnen
View ProjectInfluence of women in a community-based health intervention
Olihe Okoro, PhD MPH,
Improving the Health of African American Men in a Southeastern Community
Principal Investigator Sylvie Mrug, PhD, University of Alabama at Birmingham smrug@uab.edu Co-Investigators Jarralynne Agee, PsyD Juliann Purcell, MS
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