Media Advisory: UB, community partners to announce new institute aimed at addressing health disparities on Buffalo’s East Side

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Community partners and University at Buffalo leaders will join together on Thursday, Dec. 12, for the announcement of a new community research institute that will address health disparities on Buffalo’s East Side.

This new institute comprises 10 schools from UB, as well as key community partners from the African American Health Disparities Task Force.

When: 11 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 12

Where: 5th floor atrium, UB Clinical and Translational Research Center (in the same building as the Gates Vascular Institute), 875 Ellicott St., Buffalo (map). Parking for media is available in the #502 Visitors A Lot at 796 Ellicott, across from John R. Oishei Children's Hospital.

Who: Scheduled speakers include:

• UB President Satish K. Tripathi
• Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown
• Rev. George F. Nicholas, pastor, Lincoln Memorial United Methodist Church-Buffalo; member, African American Health Disparities Task Force
• Assemblywoman Crystal Peoples-Stokes
• State Sen. Timothy M. Kennedy
• Timothy F. Murphy, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor and senior associate dean of clinical and translational research at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at UB

Why: The new institute will conduct research that addresses the root causes of the health disparities that exist on Buffalo’s East Side — particularly the 14204, 14206, 14211, 14212 and 14215 zip codes — while developing and testing innovative solutions to eliminate health inequities in the region.

“This is a historical moment for not only the University at Buffalo, but for the community,” said George F. Nicholas, pastor of Lincoln Memorial United Methodist Church and convener of the African American Health Equity Task Force. “The issues of health disparities are caused by the social determinants of health, which are rooted in generations of racial oppression beginning with the enslavement of African people and continuing now in uneven distribution of resources and public policy.”