The proposed Center for Biomedical Research Excellence (CoBRE) will establish the Children’s Health Equity Solutions Center (CHESC). The long-term goal of the CHESC is to eliminate unjust differences in children’s health by race, ethnicity and socioeconomic status through effective translational science. The immediate goal of the CHESC is to build Oklahoma State University-Tulsa’s research environment focused on discovering the sources of health inequities among children, and translating scientific results into solutions that eliminate children’s health inequities. The CHESC’s immediate goal will be achieved by accomplishing three specific aims, the CHESC will: 1) cultivate a cadre of independent researchers focused on discovering the bases for, and solutions to, children’s health inequities; 2) establish the foundation and initial processes necessary to enable translational research focused on eliminating children’s health inequities; and 3) build the scientific infrastructure needed to harness the growing field of available biomarkers and analytic techniques needed to delineate the bio-behavioral mechanisms linking the origins and outcomes of children’s health inequities. The CHESC will be placed in Tulsa, OK: the nation’s 46th largest city – yet lacks a comprehensive research university or major academic medical center, a community with remarkable children’s health disparities, and in a state that consistently scores among the 10 worst states in the US in terms of child health outcomes. The CHESC will consist of an Administrative Core and a Methods Core led by an established NIH investigator and mentor and an Executive Committee (EC) of four additional established investigators or well-trained mentors. The EC will solicit advice annually from an exemplary External Advisory Committee (EAC), and (at least) quarterly advice from an Internal Advisory Committee (IAC). An expert external evaluator will provide semiannual and annual progress reports to the EC, EAC, and IAC. The CHESC will support and train three promising emerging investigators and transition them into independent status. The CHESC is significant; its focus on identifying solutions for children’s health inequities addresses a critical barrier to achieving a national priority. The CHESC is innovative. Research centers focused on health disparities and inequities exist throughout the country; however, none of these centers focus specifically on children’s health inequities.

The proposed Center for Biomedical Research Excellence (CoBRE) will establish the Children’s Health Equity Solutions Center (CHESC). The CHESC will build the ability of Oklahoma State University faculty in Tulsa to design and implement research that will find solutions to eliminate health inequities among children. Oklahoma is an essential state for the CHESC as it consistently ranks among the bottom 10 states in most indicators of children’s health, and there are wide differences in health outcomes by race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status.