Immunization and Pneumonia Disparities Research Core

Goals:
To reduce disparities in the outcome of pneumonia and other vaccine-preventable diseases (e.g., influenza and invasive pneumococcal infections) by understanding and eliminating racial disparities in immunization rates and in the processes and outcomes of care for patients with pneumonia. To achieve these goals, we will: (1) increase knowledge and understanding of causes of racial disparities, (2) support efforts to train minority researchers, and (3) sharing findings with the community.

Objective 1: Increase interdisciplinary collaboration to detect and understand the causes of disparities in immunization and processes and outcomes of care for community-acquired pneumonia, and foster research on interventions to overcome them including translational research to impact clinical care.

Objective 2: Increase the number of minority researchers addressing disparities in immunizations and processes and outcomes of care for pneumonia.

Objective 3: Educate providers serving disadvantaged, inner city populations and residents of those communities about vaccine-preventable diseases, immunizations, barriers to immunizations faced by minorities, research findings and proven methods to increase immunization rates, and processes of care associated with improved outcomes for pneumonia.