NIH Minority & Diversity COVID Outreach – Eliseo Perez-Stable, MD

Science & Technology Interview Series

Welcome to The Not Old Better Show. I’m Paul Vogelzang, and this is episode #485.

As part of our Inside Science interview series, our guest today is Dr. Eliseo Perez-Stable.

Eliseo J. Pérez-Stable, M.D. is Director of the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). He oversees the Institute’s appropriated budget of $335.8 million to advance the science of minority health and health disparities. Under this framework, the Institute conducts and supports research programs to advance knowledge and understanding of mechanisms to improve minority health, identifies and understands health disparities, and develops effective interventions to reduce these disparities in the community and clinical settings.

Recently, the National Institutes of Health has awarded nearly $234 million to improve COVID-19 testing for underserved and vulnerable populations. A part of the Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) initiative, the RADx Underserved Populations (RADx-UP). The program will support 32 institutions across the United States and will focus on populations disproportionately affected by the pandemic. These groups include African Americans, American Indians/Alaskan Natives, Latinos/Latinas, Native Hawaiians, older adults, pregnant women, and those who are homeless or incarcerated.

Dr. Perez Estable will tell us why it is critical that all Americans have access to rapid, accurate diagnostics for COVID-19, especially underserved and vulnerable populations who are bearing the brunt of this disease. And why the funds from the new program will help us better understand and alleviate the barriers to testing for those most vulnerable and reduce the burden of this disease.

Please join me in welcoming to The Not Old Better Show via internet phone, Dr. Eliseo Perez Estable.

My thanks to Dr. Eliseo Perez-Stable, and the NIH for their help in arranging our interview. My thanks to you, our wonderful Not Old Better Show audience. Please be safe everyone, practice smart social distancing, and please talk about better. The Not Old Better Show. Thanks, everybody.

For more information about the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities and Dr. Perez-Stable, please click here:
https://www.nimhd.nih.gov/about/directors-corner/about.html