Buffalo, New York, the second largest city in New York State (population 278,349), has a diverse population,
including 37% African American and 14% Latinx. One of the most pressing problems in metropolitan Buffalo is
race-based health inequities, a condition shared with many American metropolitan areas. The life expectancy of
African American residents of Buffalo is 10 to 12 years shorter compared to White residents of Buffalo. African
Americans are 300% more likely to have chronic, often preventable, diseases than Whites who live in Buffalo. In
response to this crisis, in 2014, a group of visionary community leaders created the African American Health
Equity Task Force, which includes leaders and stakeholders from multiple sectors of the Buffalo community,
including faith leaders, community non-profits, healthcare providers, payers, University at Buffalo (UB) faculty
and more. The Task Force has met monthly since 2015 and led to the formation of three new organizations,
including the UB Community Health Equity Research Institute (2019), the community-based Buffalo Center for
Health Equity (2019) and the Erie County Office of Health Equity (2021). Leaders of these three organizations
continue to meet monthly as part of the Task Force. This community-university-government partnership has
enormous reach and influence throughout the community, positioning us to disseminate research findings and
work with policy makers and community stakeholders to promote sustainable community- and system-level
change. The mission of our NIMHD Center of Excellence in Investigator Development and Community
Engagement is to train and develop the next generation of health disparities investigators to perform
innovative research in minority health and health disparities in partnership with our community and to
the benefit of the community. The Center of Excellence will be embedded in the UB Community Health Equity
Research Institute, which includes faculty from all 12 UB schools, creating a transdisciplinary framework that
cuts across scientific and organizational silos to integrate disciplines to address the full range of social
determinants of health and to mentor early-career investigators in research in health disparities. Our Center of
Excellence will inspire, train, and mentor a new generation of scientists from diverse backgrounds and disciplines
to perform innovative research in health disparities and advance their careers (Aim 1). We will nurture our
enduring community-university partnerships to perform transdisciplinary research to develop and test innovative
solutions to end race-based health inequities in Buffalo (Aim 2). Finally, we will advance equitable collaborations
with community partners to translate our research into sustainable, community and system-level changes toward
eliminating race-based health inequities in Buffalo (Aim 3). Our enduring community-university-government
partnership a strong foundation for an NIMHD Center of Excellence will be an exceptional advance in our
environment to train and mentor a new generation of researchers to perform research that will create sustained
improvements in health outcomes in African American communities in Buffalo and the nation.
