Nashville CHildren Eating Well (CHEW) for Health
Funded by:
United States Department of Agriculture
Award:
$4,600,000
Duration:
February 14, 2011 — February 13, 2016
Units:
Center for Health Research
Division of Research and Sponsored Programs
Project Contact:
Dr. Baqar A. Husaini
[email protected]
(615) 320-3005
Collaborators:
Meharry Medical College, Department of Family and Community Medicine
Progreso Community Center
Community Food Advocates
Metropolitan Public Health Department of Nashville/Davidson County
Community Advisory Board—WIC participants, grocery stores, and
non-profit community organizations
Dr. Pamela Hull
[email protected]
(615) 320-3005
INVESTIGATORS
Baqar A. Husaini, Ph.D.
Dr. Baqar A. Husaini holds a post-retirement
research appointment at Tennessee State University
where he was Professor of Sociology and Director of
the Center for Health Research.
Principal Investigator, CHEW
Pamela C. Hull, Ph.D.
Dr. Pamela C. Hull is currently Associate Director of
the Center for Health Research at Tennessee State
University.
Co-Principal Investigator, CHEW
SUMMARY
Nashville CHildren Eating Well (CHEW) for Health, is a collaboration between Tennessee State University and Meharry Medical College (Historically Black Colleges/
Universities) and community stakeholders to address childhood obesity prevention
through research, extension and education. All of the project activities focus on the
USDA’s federal WIC (Women, Infants and Children) supplemental nutrition program. The target population is low-income WIC participant families with children
ages 2-5, with a focus on African American and Hispanic families, and the WICauthorized grocers that serve this population. The geographic scope of the project is
urban Nashville/Davidson County, Tennessee. Project objectives are: (1) Research:
Develop and test culturally-tailored consumer education materials for WIC participants with children ages 2-5, using a community-based participatory research approach; (2) Extension: Provide technical assistance to WIC-authorized vendors to
expand the availability and marketing of healthy foods; (3) Extension: Conduct consumer education outreach to WIC participants (and other consumers) to improve dietary practices, through in-store demonstrations and peer educators; (4) Education:
Implement curriculum for Meharry medical students, residents and practicing physicians on child obesity prevention; (5) Education: Implement curriculum for TSU students and post-doctoral fellows on obesity prevention, nutrition-related chronic diseases and non-pharmacologic approaches to their prevention and management.
The education component of the project includes enhancing the nutrition curriculum
at TSU (reaching 900 undergraduate students over the five years) and at Meharry
Medical College (reaching 400 medical students and 150 medical residents over the
five years). In addition, the project includes training 40 undergraduate student interns, 10 graduate students and 4 post-graduate fellows in obesity prevention research
and outreach over the five years.
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May, 2011
Tennessee State University ● Division of Research and Sponsored Programs ● 3500 John A. Merritt Blvd. ● Nashville, TN 37209-1561 ● Telephone: (615) 963-7631 ● FAX: (615) 963-5068 ● Email: [email protected] ● Website: www.tnstate.edu/research
Baqar A. Husaini, Ph.D.
Retired Professor of Sociology and
Director, Center for Health Research
Tennessee State University
Dr. Baqar Husaini holds a post-retirement appointment at Tennessee State University (TSU) where he was Professor of Sociology
and Director of the Center for Health Research. Dr. Husaini’s research has focused on health services, preventive health, and health
disparities pertaining to mental health, cancer, heart disease, stroke, and other chronic diseases. Over the years, Dr. Husaini established and
maintained ties in the local African American community to collaborate on several community-based intervention studies and communitybased surveys addressing health-related needs.
Dr. Husaini established the Center for Health Research at TSU in 1976. As Director for 33 years, he led the Center for Health
Research as a free-standing research center, funded exclusively by external grants, until last year when TSU began to invest some institutional
funds in the Center. Dr. Husaini has obtained research funding from multiple federal agencies, such as the National Institutes of Health
(NIH), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), and Centers for Medicare
and Medicaid Services (CMS).
Among his numerous grants and publications, Dr. Husaini’s early work focused on assessing the physical and mental health needs of
African Americans, including the establishment of CES-D cut-off scores for depressive symptoms among rural African Americans. He has
conducted efficacy studies of community-based interventions to improve mental health among seniors living in publicly-subsidized housing
and church-based interventions to increase breast cancer and prostate cancer screening. He co-leads the Cancer Outreach Core under the
Meharry-Vanderbilt-TSU Cancer Partnership, which aims to facilitate the development of community-based participatory research focused on
reducing cancer disparities. He has directed several projects examining health disparities among the elderly using Medicare claims data. He
has led the production of two technical reports for the Tennessee Department of Health on the Burden of Heart Disease and Stroke in
Tennessee, which provide guidance for the state’s plan for reducing incidence, mortality and disparities in heart disease and stroke. During the
past 10 years, Husaini secured funding for the Center for Health Research under two developmental center grants from NIMH and AHRQ
called Minority Research Infrastructure Support Programs (MRISP). Under these programs, seven faculty investigators were mentored on six
research subprojects, and six investigators were mentored to develop 13 new grant proposals, eight of which were funded. Thirty-five
students participated in MRISP training activities, including nine students who worked directly on the MRISP subprojects.
Dr. Husaini has assembled and led inter-disciplinary teams of researchers at TSU and other universities to work with the Center
through various research projects and collaborative arrangements. Under Dr. Husaini’s direction, the Center sponsors Health Research
Seminar Series and Research Skills Building Workshops in research methods and data analysis. Dr. Husaini has also acquired multiple
secondary datasets for his research and for faculty and students to conduct research. These include the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance
System, the Hospital Discharge System, Medicare Billing Data, the Death Statistical Summary System for Tennessee, as well as the Medicaid
Billing Data for Arkansas and the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health.
Dr. Husaini’s honors for his research accomplishments include the TSU Distinguished Researcher Award and the TSU Million
Dollar Research Club Award. Dr. Husaini has been a leader in TSU’s research enterprise, providing a thriving hub of research activity and
Pamela C. Hull, Ph.D.
Associate Director of the Center for Health Research
Tennessee State University
Dr. Pamela C. Hull is Associate Director of the Center for Health Research at Tennessee State University. Dr. Hull is a medical sociologist
with expertise in health and race and ethnicity; prevention, early detection and management of chronic conditions including obesity and
cancer; the impact of community factors on health; access to health care; and program evaluation. Dr. Hull conducts community-based
participatory research in collaboration with community partners in the Nashville Hispanic and African American communities. This includes
participatory needs assessments and the development and evaluation of community-based interventions to improve health. She also
collaborates with researchers from Vanderbilt University and Meharry Medical College, including being part of the Cancer Outreach Core of
the Meharry-Vanderbilt Cancer Partnership. Dr. Hull earned a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Duke University, and a Masters and
Ph.D. in Sociology from Vanderbilt University. She has additional background in immigration and Latin American studies, and is fluent in
Spanish.