Here is this week’s news of grants to historically Black colleges and universities or for programs of particular interest to African Americans in higher education.
The University of Cincinnati received a $250,000 grant from the Pfizer Medical Education Group to conduct a research study on methods to improve the rate of immunizations in minority populations.
Michigan State University received a $2 million grant from the National Institute of Health to conduct a clinical drug trial in Africa. The new drug is an anti-seizure medication for children who suffer from cerebral malaria, a disease that affects brain function in 3 million children, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa. About 10 percent of all children who survive cerebral malaria have epileptic seizures.
Morehouse College, the historically Black educational institution for men in Atlanta, received a $3 million grant from the Ray Charles Foundation. The money will help finance the construction of an academic building for the music department on campus. The building will be adjoined to the Ray Charles Performing Arts Center, made possible by a previous gift from the foundation.
Five historically Black colleges and universities will be participating in a grant program to fight obesity sponsored by the Tennessee Department of Health. Participating educational institutions are Fisk University, Tennessee State University, Knoxville College, Lane College, and LeMoyne-Owen College.
“The goals of these obesity awareness campaigns are to educate college students and others about the problems associated with being overweight or obese, and to engage them in activities fostering changes to improve lifelong health,” said Lesia Walker, director of the Tennessee Department of Health’s Office of Minority Health and Disparities Elimination. “Statistics show a disproportionate number of African Americans are either overweight or obese, and we have to start reaching people with important messages earlier in life to make a difference.”
