University Receives $1M to Expand the Health Disparities’ Fellows Program

The University at Albany has received a $1 million grant from the Hearst Foundations to expand the Health Disparities Fellows program within the University’s Center for the Elimination of Minority Health Disparities (CEMHD).

Developed in 2016 with a $10 million endowment grant from the National Institute of Minority Health Disparities, the program recruits scholars from traditionally underrepresented minority groups who often have first-hand experience with the disparities they will be studying.

The new grant from the Hearst Foundations will allow the Center to recruit a total of five additional fellows.

“We are extremely grateful to the Hearst Foundations for their recognition of the important work our CEMHD students are doing and have the potential to do,” said UAlbany President Havidan Rodriguez. “The University’s nationally leading work in minority health disparities has never been more critical, and expanding the Hearst Fellows program will help us maximize our impact.”

CEMHD Fellows obtain doctoral degrees in fields related to health disparities, along with training that includes experiential learning in community-based settings. Fellows go on to provide policies and improvements in preventive health and health care to eliminate minority health disparities in the United States, assuming leadership roles in government and non-governmental agencies, research institutions and universities.

The Hearst Foundations’ grant coincides with a UAlbany led study, commissioned by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, examining the environmental, socioeconomic and occupational factors causing Latinx and Black populations to be disproportionately harmed by COVID-19.

The University’s expertise in this area is exemplified by CEMHD. Established in 2005, the Center encompasses six UAlbany schools and colleges and more than two dozen Capital Region community organizations, including hospitals and state and county health departments. The Center’s work focuses on barriers to health care and prevention programs, and on the development of programs that may reduce those barriers and ultimately improve health in affected communities.

“The generosity of the Hearst Foundations allows us to increase our recruitment of engaged scholars and, through those scholars, develop a diverse workforce committed to understanding and responding to the widening health disparities gap,” said Lawrence M. Schell, Center director and distinguished professor of anthropology.

This award is the third significant Hearst Foundations investment at UAlbany, joining the Minority Graduate Students in Public Health Endowed Scholarship Fund (established in 1996) and the Endowed Scholarship Fund at the School of Social Welfare (established in 2001). Together, the two funds have supported 43 UAlbany students.

“UAlbany is attracting exceptional scholars who will help us understand and address health disparities in Black and Latinx communities. We are proud to support these Fellows as they launch their careers, ” said George Irish, Eastern Director of the Hearst Foundations.

About the Hearst Foundations

The Hearst Foundations are national philanthropic resources for organizations and institutions working in the fields of Education, Health, Culture and Social Service. Our goal is to ensure that people of all backgrounds have the opportunity to build healthy, productive and inspiring lives. The charitable goals of the Foundations reflect the philanthropic interests of William Randolph Hearst.