MACCHE Representatives Attend Health Equity Action Network Community and Scientific Meeting

On September 13^th and 14^th, faculty, staff, and community partners from the Mid-Atlantic Center for Cardiometabolic Health Equity (MACCHE) attended the second annual Health Equity Action Network (HEAN) Community and Scientific Meeting in Bethesda, Maryland. The meeting brought together representatives from 11 P50 Centers —a consortium of research institutions throughout the country who conduct research on health disparities in multiple chronic diseases—to foster cross-collaboration, share learning opportunities, and elevate voices of community members involved in community-based research. To learn more about the 11 Centers and the HEAN consortium, visit the Health Equity Action Network website.

Each center gave a presentation and provided updates on their research projects. Deidra Crews, MD, ScM, co-Principal Investigator of MACCHE, provided updates on behalf of MACCHE and the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Equity (JHCHE), and shared JHCHE’s history of community partnership and ongoing efforts to add new members to the Community Advisory Board with MACCHE funding.

On each day of the conference, there was a keynote talk followed by focus groups that attendees could attend based on topics of interest. Wednesday’s keynote speaker, Michael Peluso, MD, MHS, Assistant Professor at UCSF Department of Medicine, discussed emerging Long-COVID issues in chronic disease disparities populations. On Thursday, keynote speaker Stephen Morin, PhD Professor Emeritus at the USCF School of Medicine, presented on how to give a policy brief with health equity research data. The breakout rooms included topics such as community health workers, environmental pollution, and healthy eating. 

To break down scientific barriers and encourage participation from community partners, portions of the meeting were reserved for community members to voice their thoughts and ideas to the group. Ms. Michelle Simmons—a long-standing community partner and JHCHE Community Advisory Board member— addressed the group to discuss training for team members who take blood pressure measurements and to advocate for amplifying the voices of senior citizens within research. Inspired by her remarks, other community members shared their ideas.

Early-stage investigators (ESIs)— early-career scientists who have been granted pilot funding from their P50 Center to help build a new generation of health equity researchers — were also in attendance. These individuals attended a skills development workshop that ran at the same time as the HEAN Community and Scientific Meeting. On Wednesday evening, all attendees gathered for a poster session to mingle and learn about the pilot research being conducted by ESIs throughout the consortium.

One of CHE’s Year 2 MACCHE Scholars, Dipal Patel, MD, PhD, was one of four ESIs throughout the consortium who was selected to give an oral presentation in addition to her poster. Dr. Patel’s research focuses on the effectiveness of an electronic, self-reported measure for assessing kidney function. To learn more about Dr. Patel’s work, visit the MACCHE website.

The event was well-attended and brought together health equity and chronic disease experts from across the country.  In the coming weeks, recordings of the presentations and keynote talks will be available on the Health Equity Action Network website. Stay tuned!