NIH funds minority health research

LSA junior Bria Barker wasn't sure what she wanted to do after graduation, so she looked for an experience that would focus her interests into a career. Through the Minority International Research Training program she discovered a love for health issues and now wants to study public health.

Founded in 1993, MIRT sends historically underrepresented minorities overseas to research biomedical and behavioral science topics. The National Institute of Health provided MIRT with a $789,000 grant to continue its program during the next four years.

The NIH supports the MIRT program in more than 30 colleges and universities nationwide. Participating students at the University conduct their research in Chile, South Africa and China.

With the new funding, MIRT's sites will expand to include Costa Rica and India, said Kate Restrick, director of the University's Center for Human Growth and Development.

Undergraduate, graduate and medical students join research groups in the different cities and are encouraged to publish the results of their work.

"Research is the common denominator between us and them," said Kimberly Yee, a second-year medical student who worked in China. "But the language barrier was pretty hard. It was the first time I had ever been illiterate - I'd walk down the street and not be able to read the signs."

Some participants said cultural differences were the most interesting and valuable parts of the program.

"I liked having the opportunity to see several other countries," said Stacie Smith, a second-year public health student. "It expanded the world for me."

Barker studied obesity among adolescent boys in Santiago, Chile. "Some of the boys acted strangely toward me partly because I was a girl and partly because I was African-American," said Barker. "There are virtually no people of color in Chile."

LSA senior Kourtney Cockrell said about her research in South Africa, "It made you realize the disproportion between South Africa and America.

"In America you're black and then you're an American - in South Africa you're an American and then you're black," she said.

Ixsy Ramirez, an LSA senior, said she participated in MIRT to increase research on Latino/a issues. "When I was doing journal readings before I left, I couldn't find articles that related to Latino families and Latino cultures," said Ramirez, who researched maternal depression and its relationship to child rearing in Chile.

The NIH grant money will support about 16 students' research each year, Restrick said. The Center for Human Growth and Development initially received $400,000 annually, but Restrick said she feels that decreased funding is beneficial because an excess of students in the program can be difficult to manage.

"This is program is so rewarding," Restrick said, "because you know that for some students this is really the opportunity of a lifetime."

11-01-99