Center for the Elimination of Minority Health Disparities (CEMHD)

CEMHD's work focuses on minority health disparities in New York’s smaller cities and towns. The reasons for this geographical emphasis are twofold:

• Most research on minority health disparities focuses on populations in large cities, with relatively little known about the distinct causes of poorer health among historically marginalized communities in smaller cities.  
• The health disparities faced by racial and ethnic minorities and underserved populations in upstate New York are different from those documented in larger cities. The appropriate solutions also differ.

CEMHD was established in 2005 with a $1.25 million National Institutes of Health (NIH) award.  

In 2009, CEMHD received an award of $6.8 million through the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) Centers of Excellence program. This award established CEMHD as an Exploratory Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities in Smaller Cities.

In 2016, CEMHD received the NIMHD S-21 Endowment award, which created a $10 million endowment to train doctoral students in health disparities research.

In April 2020, the governor of New York commissioned UAlbany to investigate the Differential Impacts of COVID-19 in New York State. The project focused on the causes of the pandemic’s disparate impact on communities of color and identified potential interventions. CEMHD supported the project’s new research and collaboration ecosystem, which engaged over 35 researchers on our campus.  

In Fall 2022, the Institute for Social and Health Equity (ISHE) was created with a $1.7M UAlbany investment. CEMHD is housed under the ISHE’s umbrella.