What's Happening
Lunch & Learn on Community Engagement Opportunities with NE Extension
The Department of Sociology, Minority Health Disparities Initiative, and Rural Drug Addiction Research Center are jointly sponsoring a Lunch & Learn event entitled “Community Engagement Opportunities with NE Extension” presented by Dr. Jentry Barrett. This event will be held on Friday, February 17, 2023, from 12:30pm -1:30pm in the Nebraska Union Platte River Room South. It is FREE and open to public. Click here for additional event details.
10 Year Anniversary Celebration
feat. Dr. Eliseo Pérez-Stable
On Friday, March 31, 2023, we will be hosting a Ten-Year Anniversary Celebration at Lincoln Station in Lincoln, NE. Dr. Pérez-Stable, Director of the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, will provide a keynote address with a dinner and reception to follow. Click here for additional event details.
February 2023 Health Equity Grand Rounds
Tasha Golden
Tasha Golden will be presenting “Arts, Health, and Health Equity: Opportunities for Impact” at our February Health Equity Grand Rounds event! It will take place on February 8, 2023, from 1 - 2:30 PM CT via Zoom. Click here for additional event details.
October 2022 Health Equity Grand Rounds
Laina Bay-Cheng
Join us on October 5th for a Health Equity Grand Rounds webinar on “Capable of Risk: Sexual Vulnerability and Dignity in the Sexual Lives of Marginalized Youth,” presented by Laina Bay-Cheng! It will take place from 1 - 2:30 PM CT via Zoom. Click here for additional event details.
June Health Equity Speaker Series
Thomas Dirth
Thomas Dirth will join us on June 15th to present a Health Equity Speaker Series talk on "Common History, Shared Struggle: Precursors, Consequences, and Directions for Disability Social Identity." The talk will take place from 1 - 2:30 PM CT via Zoom. Click here for additional event details.
NE Today: Nebraska team studying how social ties may boost health outcomes of Latinos facing discrimination
Nebraska Today reports on new NIH grant funded project led by MHDI Co-Director, Trey Andrews. The project will reframe the role of interpersonal discrimination in driving chronic stress and health inequities among Hispanics. View the article.
May Health Equity Speaker Series
Sharon Obasi
Join us on May 10th for a Health Equity Speaker Series talk with Sharon Obasi on "Embodying Identity: Names, Gender, Equity." Obasi will explore the importance of names in familial and gender identity and how identity may inform health equity. The talk will take place from 1 - 2:30 PM CT via Zoom.
March Health Equity Speaker Series
Athena Ramos
Join us at our March Health Equity Speaker Series featuring Athena Ramos, Assistant Professor in the Center for Reducing Health Disparities at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. The talk will take place on Wednesday, March 16, 2022, from 1 - 2:30 PM CT via Zoom.
2022 Nebraska Conference on Health Equity
Alongside the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, we are excited to announce that the 2022 Nebraska Conference on Health Equity (NECHE) will be April 26-27, 2022 from 8:45 am - 4:00 pm CT via Zoom!
NECHE is a call to action on health equity in Nebraska. This conference will explore the ways that community connections and connectedness build healthier communities in Nebraska. The theme also allows us to better explore concepts that are intrinsically intertwined with connectedness such as racial injustice, mental health, health care policy and access, and so much more.
The conference is FREE and OPEN to the public. All are welcome. For more information, visit nehealthequityconference.com.
November Health Equity Speaker Series
Sarah Beal
Join us at our November Health Equity Speaker Series! We are pleased to host a presentation on "Understanding Disparities in Healthcare Access and Use for Youth in Foster Care," by Sarah Beal.
Sarah Beal, PhD, is an associate professor in the division of behavioral medicine and clinical psychology at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. She is also the scientific director for the Comprehensive Health Evaluations for Cincinnati’s Kids (CHECK) Foster Care Center at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.
The following event is FREE and OPEN to the public. We will be live streaming the talk via Zoom on November 18, 2021 from 1:00-2:30 pm CT.
September Health Equity Speaker Series
Julie Tippens
We are pleased to invite you to our September Health Equity Speaker Series event on "Visual and Participatory Approaches to Identify Refugees’ (Mental) Health-Promoting Resources: a Photovoice Study with Yazidi Women," presented by Julie Tippens.
We will be live streaming the talk via Zoom on September 28, 2021 from 1:00-2:30 pm CT. You can register, and receive your unique connection information, for this event by using the following link: Register Here.
2021 Nebraska Conference on Health Equity
The Minority Health Disparities Initiative and the Department of Health & Human Services Office of Health Disparities and Health Equity are jointly presenting the inaugural Nebraska Conference on Health Equity (NECHE) on April 22 & 23, 2021, from 8:00 am - 4:30 pm. NECHE is a call to action on Health Equity and Access. This conference will address the role that social determinants of health play when caring for and working with minoritized populations in Nebraska.
We will be hosting the conference virtually. This conference is free and open to the public. To register and learn more about the 2021 Nebraska Conference on Health Equity click here.
Health Equity Speaker Series
Tierney Lorenz and Sophia Sánchez
The Minority Health Disparities Initiative invites you to our March Health Equity Speaker Series on “Barriers to Sexual Health Communication in Young People,” presented by Tierney Lorenz and Sophia Sánchez.
We will be live streaming the talk via Zoom on March 30, 2021 from 3:00-4:00 pm CT. You can register, and receive your unique connection information, for this event by using the following link: Register Here.
Visiting Speaker Series
Carolette Norwood, PhD
The Minority Health Disparities Initiative invites you to our fall Visiting Speaker Series on “The Politic of Spatial Confinement: Jim Crow Geographies, Sexual and Reproductive Health Disparities, and Housing Insecurity from the Progressive Era to the Twenty-First Century,” presented by Dr. Carolette Norwood.
We will be live streaming the talk via Zoom on October 14, 2020, from 2:00-3:30pm CDT. You can register, and receive your unique connection information, for this event by using the following link: Register Here.
MHDI Leadership Change Announcement
The Minority Health Disparities Initiative announces that Director, Kirk Dombrowski, has accepted the position of Vice President for Research at the University of Vermont, effective April 1, 2020.
He leaves MHDI after leading its staff and core faculty members, for more than six years, in innovative research and programming that aims to improve the health status of vulnerable and disadvantaged populations in Nebraska and nationally... Read Our Letter.
2019 MHDI Faculty Seed Grant Awardees
The Minority Health Disparities Initiative awards Dr. Debra Hope (Department of Psychology) and Dr. Rebecca Brock (Department of Psychology) the 2019 Faculty Seed Grant for their research projects. The grant will enable them to acquire the preliminary data necessary to apply for and obtain external federal funding. Congratulations! Learn more .
MHDI RFA Announcement
The Minority Health Disparities Initiative (MHDI) is pleased to announce an opportunity for seed grant funding. The goal of the MHDI Seed Grant Program is to provide support to emerging scholars and promising research projects in acquiring the preliminary data necessary to apply for and obtain external federal funding. Successful applicants will receive up to $10,000 in direct costs for 1 year projects, as well as access to resources of the MHDI for professional development and project support. Learn more.
Reducing Health Disparities: Research Updates From The Field, Volume III
At the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, the Minority Health Disparities Initiative (MHDI) is committed to breaking down traditional academic silos, and adopting an interdisciplinary and translational approach that includes science, policy, practice, and training to better the health and well-being of all Nebraska residents. This volume of collected essays is a product of our third annual writer’s retreat. The goal of this retreat is to disseminate and translate research updates from the field faster and more efficiently to community partners & organizations committed to addressing the needs of minority and underserved populations throughout the Central Plains. Buy the book.
The Minority Health Disparities Summer Research Program
The 2018 Minority Health Disparities Summer Research Program is now in full swing. Our program, funded by the National Science Foundation, provides six students, each summer, with basic approaches to network science and social network analysis and then they practice these skills while conducting NIH- and NSF-funded research projects in the lab. Learn more.