New York University School of Medicine's Institute for Urban and Global Health received a $5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to establish the nation's first Center for the Study of Asian American Health. The multi-year grant is devoted to the particular health care needs of Asian American communities in New York City and nationwide, providing a central location for the comprehensive evaluation of health problems affecting these communities. It is among the largest grants that the NYU School of Medicine has ever received from the NIH.

"This grant is in response to the ever-growing Asian American population, and the fact that the healthcare needs of this burgeoning population haven't been adequately addressed," says Mariano J. Rey, M.D., Executive Director of the Institute for Urban and Global Health and Senior Associate Dean for Student Affairs. "This unique Center will fulfill a great need, and we are extremely gratified that NYU School of Medicine is the recipient of this prestigious grant," he says.

The new center will integrate the work of more than two dozen NYU researchers who are already investigating diseases, such as liver and stomach cancer, that occur more frequently in Asian Americans than in other minorities. Additionally, lung and prostate cancer are leading killers of Asian American men. Such differences in the rates of disease and access to preventive services and treatment for racial and ethnic groups are commonly referred to as "health disparities."

Another vitally important part of the Center's mission will be to provide support for a large community outreach effort, which will be carried out in cooperation with more than twenty Asian-American community groups, Bellevue and Gouverneur Hospitals, as well as the Charles B. Wang Center, formerly the Chinatown Health Project.

Robert M. Glickman, M.D., Dean of NYU School of Medicine, established the Institute for Urban and Global Health in April of 2000. Today, the Institute is at the forefront of investigative work specially designed to help large under-served populations in New York and around the world. It comprises a number of Centers, including the Center for Immigrant Health and the Center for Health and Human Rights, which includes the Survivors of Torture Program at Bellevue Hospital and NYU School of Medicine.