National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities Funding Opportunity Announcement

The National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NCMHD), part of NIH, has announced a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) to solicit exploratory and developmental research project grant (R21) applications that propose innovative and transdisciplinary interventions on health disparities, social determinants of health, health behavior and promotion, and disease prevention, that is jointly conducted with faith-based organizations or faith-motivated programs and the research community. The full funding announcement is available at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-MD-10-004.html.

The total amount of funding that NCMHD expects to award through this FOA is approximately $2.5 million. The anticipated number of awards is up to 8. Letters of intent to apply for funding are due by February 9, 2010, and the application deadline is March 17, 2010. Direct costs are limited to $275,000 over a two-year period, with no more than $200,000 in direct costs allowed in any single year. Applications for this award should describe projects distinct from those supported through the traditional R01 mechanism. For example, long term projects, or projects designed to increase knowledge in a well-established area, will not be considered for this R21 award. Applications submitted under this mechanism should be exploratory and novel, involving studies that break new ground or extend previous discoveries toward new directions or applications. Projects of limited cost or scope that use widely accepted approaches and methods within well established fields are better suited for the R03 small grant mechanism.

Haiti earthquake health information links

A new web page of Haiti earthquake health information links is now available at http://disaster.nlm.nih.gov/dimrc/haitiearthquake.html. This information was compiled by the Disaster Information Management Research Center, Specialized Information Services, US National Library of Medicine. The page includes resources about the Haiti earthquake situation from both government agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). There is also a section of Haitian Creole and French-language materials. Links to background information on earthquakes and subsequent health issues, such as public health assessments, emergency surgical care, and management of dead bodies, are also included.

The page will continue to expand and will add a section on hazards from concrete dust and other airborne particulates from the collapsed buildings and subsequent clean-up activities. Please send comments and any additional suggestions about health information content to tehip@teh.nlm.nih.gov.

Sciencedirect down Sat, Jan 23

ScienceDirect will be unavailable due to scheduled maintenance for approximately 12 hours from 3am to 3pm on Saturday, January 23, 2010.

Guide to Tropical Disease Motion Pictures and Audiovisuals

The Tropical Disease Motion Picture and Audiovisual Collection is comprised of films, videorecordings, and digital videocasts produced from the 1920s through 2009, with the majority shot prior to the 1960s. An estimated 120 titles are in the collection. All are devoted to health concerns and include material on medicine and public health. Materials range from ideological, documentary, educational, and training films to American war propaganda. The intended audience is diverse and includes military personnel, health professionals, and the general public. The collection will be of particular interest to scholars concerned with the social, economic, and political implications of health disparities in a world where epidemics travel with great rapidity across national and regional borders.

*Guide to Tropical Disease Motion Pictures and Audiovisuals
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/collections/films/tropicalguide/index.html

Community Health Fair @ JABSOM, Fri, 1/8, 12pm

Community Health Fair
12 noon - 3pm
Friday, January 8, 2010
UH School of Medicine

The University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa’s John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM) will sponsor a free community health fair this Friday, January 8, at the medical school’s Kaka‘ako campus from 12 noon until 3 p.m.

Highlights:

• Free blood pressure, BMI, glucose, and other health screenings
• Door prizes & free samples of nutritional items
• Acupuncture, ayurvedic medicine, Native Hawaiian healing, Chinese & herbal medicine, and massage demonstrations and nutrition counseling by Med School faculty
• Keynote speaker, Dr. Terry Shintani, will give a talk at 2pm. He is the author of the popular books "THe Hawaii Diet" and "Eat More, Weigh Less."
• Yoga demonstration at 1pm
• Over 50 vendors, such as Whole Foods, YMCA, American Cancer Society, National Kidney Foundation.
  

The fair is organized annually by the school’s first and second year medical students.

For more information: http://jabsom.hawaii.edu/JABSOM/about/news.php?categoryid=4&articleid=823

MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia

MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia: New Patient Information and Enhanced Navigation

In November 2009, the National Library of Medicine released a new version of the A.D.A.M. Medical Encyclopedia on MedlinePlus. The encyclopedia now includes hundreds of new Patient Instruction pages in English and Spanish. These pages cover pre-operative information, discharge instructions, self-care instructions, and questions to ask your doctor. Users can find links to Patient Instructions and related MedlinePlus topics in the right side-bar of many encyclopedia articles.

For more information: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/techbull/nd09/nd09_mplus_encylclopedia.html