Grant to propel cohesive research

A $3 million research grant has created the RTI-UNC Center of Excellence in Health Promotion Economics to focus on establishing practical tools to help people make day-to-day decisions about how to invest in health.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention awarded Research Triangle Institute International and the UNC Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention a three-year grant Friday.

The center - which collaborates the efforts of RTI, UNC and a Duke University professor - aims to train health economists and public health practitioners in health economic methods.

The project follows a national effort to develop and deliver more efficient and effective health care services.

"We hope that we can make economics an important tool for the public health community," said Tom Hoerger, director of the RTI-UNC Center of Excellence.

The new center is on its way to helping health officials understand the economic factors that underlie health promotion and prevention.

"We focus on the problem that it often costs a lot today to do the programs, but the benefits aren't received until years down the road," Hoerger said.

He said officials will start with setting priorities, identifying useful existing studies and pinpointing new projects.

The center then will focus on implementing and publishing these projects and determining practical applications for these findings.

Scientists will concentrate on obesity, smoking and diabetes, among the many other issues they are set to tackle.

Patrick Gibbons, spokesman for RTI International, said the grant places the institutions at the leading edge of research in health care economics.

The center unites an economics core - in charge of developing and refining methods for health promotion and prevention of injury, disease and disability - and a translation core, which applies and communicates the economic findings to the public health community.

Frank Sloan, a professor of economics and health policy and management at Duke University who will serve as the economic core's principal investigator, said he wants students to get involved with the center's work.

"It would be great if we could also encourage students to do work in this area or work with us," he said.

Hoerger said that at this point, the best way to incorporate students in the research has yet to be determined. He added that he hopes to recruit some students interested in working as research assistants.

Hoerger said the grant reflects on the past and future of the project's collaborators.

"It is in part a reflection of the previous work we've done, and it's in part a commitment on our part that we're going to do excellent work and try to disseminate out findings in a way that will help people take the economics and put it into practice."

Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.