Office of Minority Health

HHS Awards $2 Million for New Center for Indigenous Innovation and Health Equity

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Today, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Minority Health (OMH) announced nearly $2 million in awards to the University of Hawaii and the Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences for a new initiative to establish the Center for Indigenous Innovation and Health Equity (the Center). The Center will support efforts including education, service and policy development, and research related to advancing sustainable solutions to address health disparities and advance health equity among American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) and Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) populations.

“In the United States, both AI/AN and NHPI populations experience a high burden of health disparities and inequities,” said RADM Felicia Collins, M.D., Deputy Assistant Secretary for Minority Health. “Identifying the health disparities that impact these communities and the culturally-grounded best practices and approaches that work to reduce those disparities is essential to improving the health of indigenous populations throughout the country.”

Over the next two years, the Center for Indigenous Innovation and Health Equity recipients will implement the Center by:

1. Participating in, contributing to, and managing the Center’s advisory board;
2. Partnering with indigenous leaders, AI/AN and NHPI communities, and academic institutions on the Center’s activities;
3. Identifying and disseminating culturally appropriate, evidence-based and/or practice-based interventions, best practices, promising approaches, and lessons learned; and
4. Designing and providing education and training to support community capacity-building.

The two new recipients will conduct their projects nationwide. The project period for the Center for Indigenous Innovation and Health Equity begins on September 30, 2021.

The recipients and award amounts are:

For more information about OMH, visit www.minorityhealth.hhs.gov.

The Office of Minority Health (OMH) is dedicated to improving the health of racial and ethnic minority populations through the development of health policies and programs that will help eliminate health disparities.