Improving health care for the medically underserved, including our Hispanic population, afflicted by prevalent diseases, such as cancer, cardio-metabolic and infectious diseases, remains a major challenge. The current application is to support the development of Hispanic Alliance for Clinical & Translational Research in Puerto Rico (Alliance), which aims to build on the existing infrastructure of the Puerto Rico Clinical and Translational Research Consortia (PR-CTRC an RCMI-CTR) and the unique expertise on emerging infectious diseases and the study of disaster-related conditions and their impact on Health. The objective of the Alliance is to serve as the catalytic center to enhance the competitiveness of investigators to conduct research and obtain additional funding for clinical and translational research addressing highly prevalent diseases and those that affect the medically underserved in Puerto Rico. The long-term goal of the Alliance is to transform clinical and translational research in Hispanic populations in the Mainland and in Puerto Rico by promoting inter-disciplinary collaboration and leverage of resources to address diseases affecting Hispanic communities. Successful implementation of the Alliance will advance our fundamental knowledge of Hispanic health in this ethnic subgroup, which is increasingly represented in the U.S. mainland population. The Alliance is innovative because it will: (1) create a Hispanic-centered research hub integrating resources to support researchers in PR and national partners; (2) implement the Hispanic Real World clinical research data warehouse; and (3) establish a Community Health & Research Council comprised of diverse community partners emphasizing a community-centered, bi-directional research focus to impact health policy and ultimately improving health outcomes in our Hispanic community. The Alliance overall aims are specified below. Specific Aim 1: Enhance an island-wide infrastructure and human resource network and synergize with local and national partners to conduct clinical and translational research in Puerto Rico. Specific Aim 2: Provide professional development activities to enhance the ability of investigators to develop competitive clinical and translational research programs with emphasis on Hispanic health needs. Specific Aim 3: Facilitate the generation and dissemination of knowledge to and from the bench and the community to improve health outcomes that affect Hispanic communities in Puerto Rico and across United States. Specific Aim 4: Catalyze and sustain the integration of trans/multi/inter disciplinary collaborations to conduct clinical and translational research within and across institutions, organizations, community networks and health programs in Puerto Rico and other IDeA states.

Project Narrative       The  proposed  Hispanic  Alliance  for  Clinical  and  Translational  Research  is  relevant  to  public  health  because  it  will  help  advance  our  fundamental  knowledge  of  ethnic-­specific  factors  that  could  explain  the  disproportionate burden  of  certain  diseases,  and  the  limited  or  lack  of  effective  treatment  for  this  ethnic  subgroup,  which  is     increasingly represented in the US mainland population. The long-­term goal of the Alliance is to transform clinical  and  translational  research  in  Hispanic  populations  in  the  Mainland  and  in  Puerto  Rico  by  promoting  inter-­ disciplinary  collaboration  and  leverage  of  resources  to  address  diseases  affecting  Hispanic  communities.  The  project  is  relevant  to  the  NIH  mission  because  it  will  contribute  with  training  the  next  generation  of   scientists, develop research capacities, and will enhance the diversity of the scientific workforce.