Health equity specialization

A research option for NAU students in the IH-PHD program

Health equity is a research priority at Northern Arizona University. Health equity focuses on the social and health care systems that support optimal health for all individuals and communities and informs program and policies designed to provide health-promoting environments attentive to ethnicity, income, education, and other social determinants of health. In addition to a multidisciplinary core of health equity researchers from CHHS and SBS, the Center for Community Health and Engaged Research (CHER) at NAU directs a health equity research and dissemination.  CHER is funded by many organizations, including the National Institutes of Minority Health and Health Disparities (Southwest Health Equity Research Collaborative). Examples of projects include a regional health needs assessment for six northern Arizona counties, comparing social network transmission of infectious diseases within and across ethnic groups in northern and southern Arizona, understanding pathways of cardiovascular health and risk across socioeconomic status among U.S. residents, and examining possible biological determinants of dental health in rural Arizonans.