The Role of Public Health Partnerships in the Success of the Jackson Heart Study Undergraduate Training and Education Center Program

The Jackson Heart Study (JHS) is a single-site prospective epidemiologic investigation of cardiovascular disease (CVD) among African-Americans from the Jackson, Mississippi metropolitan area. The study is collaboration between Jackson State University (JSU), University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC), and Tougaloo College (TC). The cohort of 5301 participants had three detailed clinical examinations at three-year intervals 2000-2013. UMMC and JSU coordinated the examinations and related data. The Jackson Heart Study Undergraduate Training and Education Center (JHSUTEC) at Tougaloo College was developed to increase the numbers of college-aged African American students entering public health and health related fields. In order to achieve the goal of increasing the number of minority health care professionals, the UTEC  designed two programs- the Jackson Heart Study (JHS) Scholars program and a summer outreach program, "Science, Language Arts and Mathematics (SLAM)" for high school students.

JHS Scholars are required to take additional classes and participate in public health and/or biomedical research.  The scholars engage in research locally during the academic year.  However, many scholars participate in research outside of the Jackson Metropolitan area during the summer.  Because of this, national collaborators were needed to act as mentors and hosts.  Since the inception of the JHSUTEC, over 15 collaborations have been formed that have shared resources and student successes.  As of May 2015, over 120 students have successfully completed the JHS Scholar program and many have continued to careers in public health, biomedical research, and medicine.

This presentation will describe some of the collaborative activities and public health partnerships that have contributed to the success of the JHSUTEC program.