The mission of the Deep South Center for Health Equity (Deep South Center) is to promote health equity and reduce the burden of cardiometabolic diseases, including obesity, diabetes, and hypertension, among Black Americans and low-income populations in our tri-state region (i.e., Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana). The Center represents a partnership between the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Tuskegee University, Pennington Biomedical Research Center, and the University of Mississippi Medical Center, along with regional non-academic partners to translate and sustain cardiometabolic research in real-world community and clinical settings. The Deep South Center is focused on expanding and diversifying the region’s research workforce, promoting equitable collaborations between researchers and non-academic partners, and advancing scientific discovery through synergistic research projects focused on multi-level, multi-domain interventions for the prevention, treatment, and management of cardiometabolic diseases in the Deep South.
Partner Institutions
Projects
Team
- Andrea Cherrington, MD, MPH
Principal Investigator (MPI)
Director, Administrative Core
University of Alabama at Birmingham - Gareth Dutton, PhD
Principal Investigator (MPI)
Co-Director, Administrative Core
University of Alabama at Birmingham - Orlando Gutierrez, MD
Principal Investigator (MPI)
Co-Director, Investigator Development Core
University of Alabama at Birmingham - Peter Katzmarzyk, PhD, FTOS
Site Principal Investigator
Principal Investigator, Project 2: Improving Weight Loss and Cardiometabolic Risk in Black Primary Care Patients with Obesity and Diabetes
Pennington Biomedical Research Center
Louisiana State University - Clayton Yates, PhD
Site Principal Investigator
Co-Director, Investigator Development Core
Tuskegee University - April P. Carson, PhD, MSPH
Co-Site Principal Investigator
University of Mississippi Medical Center - Caroline E. Compretta, PhD
Co-Site Principal Investigator
University of Mississippi Medical Center - Monica Baskin, PhD
Principal Investigator, Project 1: Community-Based Strategies to Reduce Cardiometabolic Disease in the Deep South - Angela Duck, PhD, RN
Subcontract PI, Project 1: Community-Based Strategies to Reduce Cardiometabolic Disease in the Deep South
University of Mississippi Medical Center - Norma Dawkins, PhD
Subcontract PI, Project 1: Community-Based Strategies to Reduce Cardiometabolic Disease in the Deep South
Tuskegee University - Jaimie Richards, PhD, BS, BA
Project Coordinator, Project 1: Community-Based Strategies to Reduce Cardiometabolic Disease in the Deep South
University of Alabama at Birmingham - Eboni Price-Haywood, MD, MPH, FACP
Principal Investigator (MPI), Project 2: Improving Weight Loss and Cardiometabolic Risk in Black Primary Care Patients with Obesity and Diabetes
Ochsner Health - Kara Denstel, PhD, MPH BS
Project Coordinator, Project 2: Improving Weight Loss and Cardiometabolic Risk in Black Primary Care Patients with Obesity and Diabetes
Pennington Biomedical Research Center - Jewel Harden-Barrios
Project Coordinator, Project 2: Improving Weight Loss and Cardiometabolic Risk in Black Primary Care Patients with Obesity and Diabetes
Ochsner Health - Michael Hall, MD
Principal Investigator (MPI), Project 3: Food delivery, Remote monitoring, and coaching-Enhanced EDucation for Optimized diabetes Management (FREEDOM)
University of Mississippi Medical Center - Tapan Mehta, PhD
Principal Investigator, Project 3: Food delivery, Remote monitoring, and coaching-Enhanced EDucation for Optimized diabetes Management (FREEDOM)
University of Alabama at Birmingham - Tejossy John, MPH, BS
Project Coordinator, Project 3: Food delivery, Remote monitoring, and coaching-Enhanced EDucation for Optimized diabetes Management (FREEDOM)
University of Alabama at Birmingham - Trudi Horton, PhD
Program Director, Investigator Development Core
University of Alabama at Birmingham - Michael Welsch, PhD
Member, Investigator Skills Development Working Group
University of Mississippi Medical Center - Robert L. Newton, Jr., PhD
Member, Investigator Skills Development Working Group
Pennington Biomedical Research Center - Caroline Compretta, PhD
Co-Director, Community Engagement Core
University of Mississippi Medical Center - Vivian Carter, PhD
Member, Community Engagement Working Group
Tuskegee University - Paul Muntner, PhD
Member, Common Data Elements & Data Harmonization Working Group
University of Alabama at Birmingham - Amy Dobelstein
Program Manager (Communications), Administrative Core
University of Alabama at Birmingham - April Agne, MPH
Program Director, Administrative Core
University of Alabama at Birmingham