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MUSC to participate in grant to help underserved communities A research team at the University of South Carolina (USC) and faculty from MUSC and Clemson University have been awarded a $2.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to improve the general health of residents in three underserved communities in South Carolina.   The program, which is part of the S.C. Nutrition Research Consortium, will get underway in late fall in low-income, largely black communities. The researchers will work with 130 adults, ages 18 and older, in each of the three communities, yet to be announced.   The NIH grant team includes MUSC’s Brent Egan, M.D.; Sarah Griffin, Ph.D., of Clemson; Patricia Sharpe, Ph.D., USC’s Arnold School of Public Health; Abe Wandersman, Ph.D., and M. Lee Van Horn, Ph.D., of USC’s psychology department.   “Very few people work with such impoverished, vulnerable communities,” said Dawn Wilson, Ph.D., project leader and USC psychology professor. “We wanted to find those pocket communities that are underserved and work with the residents to create programs that will have a positive and lasting impact on their mental, social and physical health.”   Through focus groups with residents, Wilson identified several community needs. “They said they want to know their neighbors and feel connected to their community,” Wilson said. “They also wanted a safer environment for physical activity and interaction.”   Wilson said community involvement and leadership are important in ensuring the program’s success. Researchers say each community has a steering community, made up of residents and a community leader, that will serve as a liaison with the research team, local law enforcement, city and county leaders, and local churches and schools. For the project, two communities will have a police-patrolled walking program, each tailored differently. The third community will have an educational program aimed at improving access to health care by making information and guest speakers available on topics such as hypertension, diabetes, obesity and stroke, all of which are more acute among African Americans.   Wilson said the S.C. Nutrition Research Consortium, which began in 2003 to foster more research on improving the health of South Carolinians, played a major role in the NIH grant award. “The consortium encourages collaboration, creative exchange and team building, which are essential to make research and statewide programs like this possible,” Wilson said. Friday, July 13, 2007 Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Island Publications at 849-1778, ext. 201.