The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded a five-year $7.6 million grant to the University of Miami’s School of Nursing and Health Studies for its Center of Excellence for Health Disparities Research: El Centro.

“This award recognizes the accomplishments of this vital project known as El Centro during our first five years and will allow us to continue to build a program that serves our University, community, and society in advancing the science of eliminating health disparities,” said Nilda (Nena) Peragallo, professor and dean of the nursing school. Read the full story

From left, four of the CFAR’s five directors are Savita Pahwa, Gwendolyn Scott, Margaret Fischl, and Guillermo “Willy” Prado.

The National Institutes of Health has recognized the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine as Florida’s first and only Center for AIDS Research (CFAR), a prestigious designation awarded to only about 20 of the nation’s most prolific and promising AIDS research institutions.

With the award, the Miller School’s Developmental Center for AIDS Research (D-CFAR) is transitioning to a full CFAR after proving its ability to operate at the highest scientific level and will receive a significant increase in NIH funding – nearly $7 million over five years – to enhance existing research and nurture new research in HIV/AIDS. Read the full story

The Department of Anesthesiology will host grand rounds on Thursday, May 24 from 6:45 to 7:45 a.m. in the Rosenstiel Medical Science Building, third-floor auditorium. Stephen O. Heard, professor and chair of the Department of Anesthesiology at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, will present “What Anesthesiologists Can Do to Prevent Catheter-Related Bloodstream Infections.” For more information, contact Marsha Williams at 305-585-1191 extension 2-2 or [email protected].

On Tuesday, May 22 Maria Carrillo, senior director of medical and scientific relations for the Alzheimer’s Association, will visit the Miller School of Medicine campus to meet with Margaret A. Pericak-Vance, associate dean for Human Genomic Programs, Dr. John T. Macdonald Foundation Professor of Human Genomics, and director of the John P. Hussman Institute for Human Genomics, and other Alzheimer’s disease researchers from across South Florida. At 2 p.m. Carrillo will present the Alzheimer’s Association International Society to Advance Alzheimer’s Research and Treatment program in the Lois Pope LIFE Center, seventh-floor auditorium.

For more information, contact Mary Lewin, senior administrative assistant at the Hussman Institute, at [email protected] or 305-243-3812.

The Department of Epidemiology and Public Health will host a distinguished speaker seminar on Friday, May 25 from 12 to 1 p.m. in the Clinical Research Building, conference room 692. Daniel W. Goldberg, research assistant professor of spatial science and associate director of the University of Southern California’s GIS Research Laboratory, will present “Uncertainty in Geocoded Data and Its Effects on Environmental Health Studies.” For more information, please contact Recinda Sherman at [email protected].