WASHINGTON — The Gulf Research Program (GRP) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine today announced $200,000 in planning grant awards for two historically Black universities as part of a partnership with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) to understand how data on social determinants of health can transform public health data systems in the Gulf of Mexico region.

The initiative — Improving Public Health Data Systems to Address Health Equity Challenges for At-Risk Communities in the U.S. Gulf Coast — is supporting efforts by historically Black colleges and universities to investigate new approaches to data collection for the development of strategies to address the health equity challenges of communities disproportionately experiencing the impacts of climate change. The initiative is funded by the RWJF.

A 2017 National Academies report, Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity, found that social, economic, environmental, and structural factors — and their unequal distribution — drive much of the disparities in health outcomes in the United States. The report identified nine social determinants of health that are drivers of health inequities: income and wealth; housing; health systems and services; employment; education; transportation; social environment; public safety; and physical environment.

Texas Southern University and Xavier University of Louisiana each have received $100,000 planning grants to develop full proposals to compete for follow-on awards of up to $1.5 million. The Texas Southern University team will partner with five predominantly African American communities to explore how social determinants create and maintain elevated environmental and climate risks and health disparities. The Xavier University team will partner with the Lower Ninth Ward community in New Orleans to collect data on social determinants of health to better understand how future climate-related events will impact health conditions.

“HBCUs are well positioned to partner with historically disadvantaged and marginalized communities. We are excited to support these research teams as they investigate how to transform public health data systems to better address health disparities,” said Charlene Milliken, manager of the Gulf Health and Resilience Board at the GRP. “We’re grateful to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for being such a supportive and innovative partner.”

The two planning grants will support:

HBCU-CBO Gulf Coast Equity Consortium Initiative to Address Social and Environmental Determinants of Health Challenges
Project Director (PD): Robert Bullard
PD Organization: Texas Southern University
Project Location: Gulf Coast communities of Houston, New Orleans, Gulfport, Mobile, and Pensacola
Anticipated Budget: $100,000
Project Summary:
The U.S. Gulf Coast region has a long legacy of “Jim Crow” segregation and racial discrimination that has affected the health and well-being of Black Americans. The HBCU-CBO Gulf Coast Equity Consortium Initiative was formed in 2016 to address these challenges by focusing on the role that structural inequality and systemic racism play in contributing to disproportionate environmental health disparities and elevated climate risks. This project will serve five predominantly African American communities — located in Houston, Texas; New Orleans, Louisiana; Mobile, Alabama; Gulfport, Mississippi; and Pensacola, Florida — to explore how social determinants create and maintain elevated environmental and climate risks (e.g., pollution “hot spots,” flooding, urban heat islands, and food deserts) and health disparities (e.g., asthma and respiratory illnesses, cardiovascular disease, heat-related illnesses, and mental health stress).

The project will examine environmental determinants (e.g., land use, infrastructure, industrial facility siting, housing locations, and toxic dumping) and social determinants (e.g., planning and zoning, representation on decision-making bodies, and disaster response) and their relationship with health disparities.

Bridging the Gap Between Climate Change and Determinants of Health in South Louisiana
Project Director (PD): L. Faye Grimsley
PD Organization: Xavier University of Louisiana
Project Location: South Louisiana New Orleans Ninth Ward
Anticipated Budget: $99,710
Project Summary:
Communities of color in the southeastern United States are overburdened with environmental justice and comorbidity health issues, and are ill prepared to deal with future climate impacts. The City of New Orleans Climate Change Health Report notes that extreme weather events will worsen existing health conditions. This project will partner with the Lower Ninth Ward community in New Orleans to collect social determinants of health data (e.g., environmental conditions, housing, and lifestyle factors) to better understand how existing and future climate events (e.g., extreme heat and flooding) will impact health conditions, specifically asthma and diabetes, and assess how this data can improve the capacity of public health data systems to address health equity issues in Gulf Coast communities. Data from this project will also be used to develop and implement education and outreach interventions in the community to advance climate literacy and an understanding of the social determinants of health.

The National Academies’ Gulf Research Program is an independent, science-based program founded in 2013 as part of legal settlements with the companies involved in the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster. It seeks to enhance offshore energy system safety and protect human health and the environment by catalyzing advances in science, practice, and capacity to generate long-term benefits for the Gulf of Mexico region and the nation. The program has $500 million for use over 30 years to fund grants, fellowships, and other activities in the areas of research and development, education and training, and monitoring and synthesis.

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine are private, nonprofit institutions that provide independent, objective analysis and advice to the nation to solve complex problems and inform public policy decisions related to science, technology, and medicine. They operate under an 1863 congressional charter to the National Academy of Sciences, signed by President Lincoln.

Contact:
Pete Nelson, Director of Communications
Gulf Research Program
PNelson@nas.edu