FAMU’s Reams wins NIH spot in health disparity exploration

TALLAHASSEE – Florida A & M University (FAMU) pharmacy professor Romonia “Renee” Reams, Ph.D. will join a select group of research scientists who will participate National Institutes of Health (NIH) Translational Health Disparities Course to be held in Bethesda, Md.

Participants will work closely with NIH and other key researchers to gain insight in Integrating Principles of Science, Practice, and Policy in Health Disparities Research. The intense two-week session will be held in this month and it will enable participants to advance the scientific theories that will be used to resolve the health disparities that are plaguing minority communities.

Reams’ extensive research and publications in this area greatly influenced her selection. NIH Course Director Dr. M Irene Dankwa-Mullan welcomed Reams and stated that her selection is a “a tribute to you and a compliment to your work in addressing health disparities.”

Reams currently serves as Co-PI on an NIH P-20 grant that examines prostate cancer disparities in men of African descent and the high impact of this killer disease on minorities.

FAMU has a long history of collaboration with the National Institutes of Health dating back to the early 1970s. Currently, the university averages approximately $6 million in annual research awards and grants from the NIH.