A federal grant of $8.25 million has been awarded to Rafael Perez-Escamilla, PhD, an associate professor of nutritional sciences and public health at the University of Connecticut, Hartford.
The grant is intended to support Dr. Perez-Escamilla in development of a UConn-based center for Hispanic health-improvement research, data collection, and education. It recognizes the unique health care needs of Connecticut's Hispanic community, which comprised 9.4 percent of the state's population as of the 2000 Census.
The center will focus initially on prevention and management of Type 2 diabetes, a condition that affects Hispanics twice as often as non-Hispanic whites. Specifically, continuing an existing collaboration with Hartford's Hispanic Health Council and Hartford Hospital, the federally-funded center will support research to identify innovative nutrition/health counseling and outreach approaches that help overcome cultural and language barriers, and train medical professionals in their application.
