NIH Grant Spurs Health Science Research in Chicago's Chinatown

Under a $1 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, Rush University Medical Center is building a research infrastructure that will lay the groundwork for health science research in the Chinese community in Chicago.

The Chinese population in the United States is the oldest and largest Asian subgroup, accounting for 24 percent of all Asians. There are an estimated 3.5 million Chinese living in the United States and about 60,000 in Chicago.

"The Chinese population in the U.S. remains largely isolated from the advances in science and technology that have improved the screening, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disease. Our aim is to increase the relevance, scientific understanding, dissemination and implementation of health sciences research in the Chinese communities," said Xinqi Dong, MD, a researcher and geriatrician at Rush.

The Rush University Institute for Healthy Aging, which has a longstanding record of epidemiological research and community outreach, will partner with the Chinese American Service League, the largest Chinese social services organization in the Midwest and the anchor of Chicago's Chinatown. The organization was established in 1978 to empower residents and help them stay healthy through health promotion and disease prevention.

Rush and the Chinese agency will establish the Chinatown Research Advisory Committee, composed of both academic professionals and community members.  The committee will provide guidance for health research conducted in Chicago's Chinatown.

Equally important, the researchers and community will also build a bilingual data resource center to enable efficient accommodation of both qualitative and quantitative surveys in the native Chinese language. This data resource center will be co-owned and co-managed by the Rush University Institute for Healthy Aging and the Chinese community and will be available to researchers for present and future community-based projects.

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