Despite yearly advances in life-saving and preventive medicine, as well as strategic approaches by governmental and social agencies and groups, significant disparities remain in health, health quality, and access to health care within the United States. The determinants of these disparities include baseline health status, race and ethnicity, culture, gender identity and expression, socioeconomic status, region or geography, sexual orientation, and age. In order to renew the commitment of the medical community to address health disparities, particularly at the medical school level, we must remind ourselves of the roles of doctors and medical schools as the gatekeepers and the value setters for medicine. Within those roles are responsibilities toward the social mission of working to eliminate health disparities. This effort will require partnerships with communities as well as with academic centers to actively develop and to implement diversity and inclusion strategies. Besides improving the diversity of trainees in the pipeline, access to health care can be improved, and awareness can be raised regarding population-based health inequalities.

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The positive impact of diversity in increasing the effectiveness of the research workforce has been undeniably demonstrated to be an essential element for achieving health equity. Diversity is also instrumental for the research workforce to advance discovery, eliminate health disparities, improve minority health and achieve effective patient-centered outcomes in the quest for better health. One of the sustainable ways to achieve diversity in the workforce is through training, education and career development of all interested individuals including minority, underserved, underrepresented and populations with special needs. A Hispanic public, academic health center, and a historically black private medical school, have joined efforts in this article to share their experiences in addressing diversity in the clinical and translational research workforce with grant support from the National Institutes of Health. The purpose of this paper is to describe how diversity has been achieved through a concerted effort to recruit and develop underrepresented junior faculty and doctoral candidates for successful careers in clinical and translational research focused on health disparities and minority health. We describe Initiatives designed to achieve diversity in recruitment and development of research teams, together with an evaluation of outcomes to determine the success of the program and its participants.

A rapid, but sensitive and selective method for confirmation and quantitation of benzoylecgonine (BZE) and cocaine (COC) in urine by fast-gradient liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) is described. The chromatographic separation was performed on a reversed phase column employing fast-gradient techniques. Matrix prepared standards, blanks, and QC's were filtered then aliquots were transferred into a 96 well plate. Injection volumes of 25 microL were made onto the analytical column, with the flow diverted from the atmospheric pressure ionization source for the first 0.5 min of the analysis. Simultaneous multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) of three discrete transitions for each compound were used to identify BZE and COC. Quantitation was achieved utilizing the most prominent parent-daughter transition and internal standard calibration techniques. The coefficients of variation (CV) for the analysis of these drugs ranged from 0.6% to 6.8% at a concentration of 150 ng/mL (n = 155). This method suggests that fast-gradient LC/MS/MS may be suitable for routine confirmation of immunoassay cocaine-positive samples.

Background The transfer of new scientific discoveries into healthcare interventions requires that basic and clinical researchers work together with health care providers to generate team science. These innovative models require translational teams, and need to extend beyond the academic environment. The future of translational science requires partnerships with the healthcare community as well as the broader, general community. This new integrated model of effective translational teams holds promise for addressing thorny and persistent health disparities, is consistent with the nation's strategic priority of eliminating health disparities, and bodes well for increasing healthcare effectiveness aimed at better health for all. Discussion As part of the 13th Research Centers in Minority Institutions (RCMI) International Symposium on Health Disparities, several senior academic leaders joined efforts to hold a workshop to discuss a model that considers the incorporation of two translational research strategies in research career development programs: Comparative effectiveness research (CER) and community‐based participatory research (CBPR) for increasing healthcare effectiveness and eliminating healthcare disparities. Discussion included what issues may be most germane to the concept of a unified model for research workforce development through formal training and career development leading to increased effectiveness in healthcare for better health. Summary We believe that there is a gap in knowledge and skills in formal research career development programs that will enable physicians, other clinicians, and basic scientists to actively participate in these two translational research strategies. The purpose of this paper is to share the outcomes of these discussions, and encourage further discussion and possible innovation in the formulation of a new model for translational research workforce development.

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A rapid, rugged, and highly specific assay for the quantitation of cocaine (COC) and especially its primary metabolites benzoylecgonine (BZE) and ecgonine methyl ester (EME) in human urine has been established. Here, we investigated the use of on-line sample extraction coupled to rapid chromatography systems for tandem mass analysis of COC, EME, and BZE in human urine. Using this method, sample preparation consisted of a sole centrifugation step. Combined extraction and chromatographic run times were < 3.5 min. The lower limits of detection were 0.5 ng/mL, 2.0 ng/mL, and 0.5 ng/mL for EME, BZE, and COC, respectively. Linear calibration curves ranging from 7.5 ng/mL to 1000 ng/mL were produced for the test analytes. Within-day and between-day precision and accuracy of the assay were determined using human urine quality-control specimens at 5, 10, or 15; 150; and 1000 ng/mL. The analyses were performed over the course of five days, rendering %CVs < 10% for EME, BZE, and COC. Percent mean accuracy for the three analytes of 97 to 113% were obtained. Our data suggest that on-line sample extraction coupled with rapid high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry may be a viable alternative for EME, BZE, and COC analyses in human urine.

We assessed components of lenticular short-circuit current in adult hypertensive Dahl salt-sensitive rats (DS) during chronic control (0.4% sodium) versus high (3% sodium) dietary NaCl intake begun at the age of 4 weeks until rats were studied. We also evaluated the influence of barium, a potassium channel blocker, and ouabain, a specific inhibitor of Na+, K(+)-ATPase activity, by adding them to the anterior lens surface, thus measuring barium-sensitive, ouabain-sensitive, and barium- and ouabain-in-sensitive short-circuit currents. During control NaCl intake, short-circuit current in DS and their control group, Dahl salt-resistant rats (DR), did not differ significantly. DS were subclassified into cataract-prone rats and rats unlikely to develop cataracts on the basis of their initial pressor response to the change from a normal to high NaCl diet during the first weeks of age. Although only transparent lenses were studied, total lens short-circuit current was already markedly decreased in the cataract-prone subgroup compared with DS unlikely to develop cataracts and control DR. This was in sharp contrast to the increase in short-circuit current previously reported in Sprague-Dawley rats and now observed in control DR in response to high dietary NaCl. The decrease in lens short-circuit current in cataract-prone rats was associated with lower absolute values of barium- and ouabain-sensitive short-circuit currents as well as with low barium- and ouabain-insensitive short-circuit current. Although the barium- and ouabain-sensitive components of the short-circuit current were similar in DS unlikely to develop cataracts and DR, the barium- and ouabain-insensitive component of the short-circuit current was lower in DS unlikely to develop cataracts than values in DR. Interestingly, this component of lens short-circuit current also increased in DR during chronic high NaCl, whereas the opposite change occurred in cataract-prone DS and DS unlikely to develop cataracts. Thus, the barium- and ouabain-insensitive short-circuit current may be a mechanism that protects the normal lens from developing cataracts. Possible candidates for this short-circuit current component are voltage-dependent potassium channels, calcium-activated potassium channels, or both. Our studies show altered lens short-circuit current in response to high NaCl intake in cataract-prone DS and suggest the possibility of altered lens potassium transport during sustained hypertension but before loss of lens transparency.