Surgery

The following programs/research are currently under way in the Department of Surgery in the School of Medicine at Meharry Medical College.

Prostate cancer education and screening pilot program for African Americans
Researcher: Flora Ukoli, M.D., M.P.H.
Funding Source: National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Project Summary: African-American men bear an unequal burden for prostate cancer (PCa) compared to other ethnic and racial groups. Dr. Ukoli hopes to reduce this burden by improving PCa knowledge and encouraging informed screening decisions among low-income African-American men.

Prostate cancer research training in health disparities for minority undergraduates
Researcher: Flora Ukoli, M.D., M.P.H.
Funding Source: Department of Defense (DOD)
Project Summary: African-American men have the highest prostate cancer (PCa) incidence in the world and their mortality rate is approximately 2-fold higher than that for American whites. The need to build a formidable team of multidisciplinary researchers that cut across ethnic and generational groups cannot be over emphasized. Pre-doctoral and post-doctoral programs are limited to large universities and may not be accessible to undergraduates from small colleges and HBCUs because of their highly competitive nature. The aim of Dr. Ukoli's program is to identify enthusiastic, intelligent, and talented HBCU undergraduates  at  Fisk  University  in  Nashville and  pair  them  with  role  model research faculty at Meharry and Vanderbilt University to undergo an exciting summer research training program and thereby attract them to careers in PCa disparity research.

Community-Based Diabetes Medical Nutritional Therapy
in African American Women
Researcher: Stephania T. Miller-Hughes, Ph.D.
Funding Source: National Institutes of Health
Project Summary: This study addresses a major public health problem, preventable diabetes-related death and disability among African-American women. It is a critical step in translating and making accessible, via community-based resources, dietary interventions that have the potential to reduce this tremendous disease burden.

Community partnership to reduce the diabetes/obesity burden among African American women in Nashville, Tenn. (MeTRC)
Researcher: Stephania T. Miller-Hughes, Ph.D
Funding Source: National Center for Research Resources (NCRR)
Project Summary: Working with Mt. Zion Baptist Church and the Full Circle Healthy Community Coalition, this project plans to test a peer-support technique to help women with very little time for themselves better manage their weight and Type 2 diabetes.