Project Summary

MCUAAAR is one of 18 Resource Centers for Minority Aging Research across the nation tasked with improving the health of older minorities through research, scholarship and education. The University Research Corridor (URC) is an alliance of Michigan's three leading research institutions: Michigan State University, the University of Michigan and Wayne State University. The URC plays a key role in leveraging the intellectual capital of its three public research universities. African Americans have significantly higher rates than Caucasians of diabetes, stroke, heart disease, high blood pressure and certain cancers as they age.

MCUAAAR scholars investigate causes of and ways to prevent these health disparities.

Major MCUAAAR achievements:

-Two-thirds of these scholars are now tenured university professors.
-The most recent 15 scholars published more than 200 research papers and are investigators on 92 grants totaling $60 million in funding.
-MCUAAAR maintains a database of about 1,300 older African Americans in Detroit willing to volunteer for research, and plans to extend this opportunity to older African American adults in Flint through Michigan State University.
-The Healthier Black Elders Center (HBEC), under the leadership of MCUAAAR, provides educational programs and health screenings to about 2,400 older African Americans each year.