Abstract
Hampton University’s First Annual Caribbean Health Conference – Addressing Inequities One Step at a
Time will seek to address the large health inequities that exist within Caribbean populations residing in
Caribbean Nations and U.S. territories. Surprisingly, few studies have examined the effect of social factors
such as age, gender, socioeconomic status, geographic location or place of residence/birth on differential
disease patterns, disease prevalence and mortality among the various populations. Complicating matters
further, Caribbean populations are admixed with varying degrees of genetic influences from African, European,
Asian Indian and Asian Chinese genetic ancestral lineages; thereby making it difficult to treat Caribbean-
Americans, Caribbean residents and new immigrants as a homogenous population. The Specific Aims of the
conference are: Aim 1: Disseminate culturally specific evidence-based strategies that will maximize community
outreach activities and promote health awareness among Caribbean nations, and Caribbean-American
subpopulations; Aim 2: Connect key stakeholders from the Caribbean community with healthcare
professionals, healthcare systems, and genomic scientists in the U.S. to accelerate collaborations and
communications related to improving health and treatment outcomes of Caribbean nations and Caribbean-
American subpopulations; Aim 3: Facilitate the development of genomic clinical studies, admixture mapping,
and genotype-stratified trials that are more inclusive of Caribbean nations and Caribbean-American
subpopulations; and Aim 4: Promote workforce diversity in health disparities research by providing a pre-
conference Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) workshop for scientists, health professionals
and under-represented students interested in working with Caribbean nations and Caribbean-American
subpopulations to address health inequities. The conference will foster a dynamic environment that will lead to
the creation of transdisciplinary networks consisting of domestic and international Caribbean community
advocates, genomic scientists, epidemiologists and health professionals who will work closely to pioneer
strategies for 1) improving health education among Caribbean nations, U.S. territories and Americans of
Caribbean descent, 2) implementing evidenced based interventions and 3) using genome-guided therapeutic
approaches to address disease prevention and treatment outcomes in Caribbean- American subpopulations.
The supporting plenary sessions and activities are designed to disseminate best practices in community
engagement, to discuss potential disease biomarkers associated with this population, to explore the benefits of
use of precision medicine and to prepare the next generation of biomedical investigators who engage in
translational and community-based participatory research.
