Background and Candidate. Understanding and eliminating disparities in health is a national priority. Black and Latino children bear a disproportionate burden of asthma, a leading cause of childhood morbidity. Yet, minority children are less likely to be using appropriate preventive medications than white children. This application requests a mid-career investigator award in patient-oriented research (K24) for Dr. Tracy Lieu, MD, MPH, a nationally recognized pediatric health services researcher. Dr. Lieu has recently become Director of the new Center for Child Health Care Studies in her department at Harvard. Her goal is to enhance the adoption of effective preventive health interventions for children, especially minority children. Her record demonstrates high productivity in funded research in asthma and vaccines. Mentoring Plan. Dr. Lieu has a growing track record of mentoring and excellent opportunities to work with beginning investigators. She is responsible for three of the junior faculty in her new Center, all of whom are within their first three years. She is also the Children's Hospital Site Director of the Harvard Pediatric Health Services Research Fellowship Program. This K24 award is needed to protect Dr. Lieu's time for guiding these beginning investigators as they establish their research portfolios.

Research Plan. The proposed research in this K24 award builds on Dr. Lieu's ongoing NICHD-supported R01 on racial/ethnic disparities in medication use by children with persistent asthma. The aims are to: 1. Conduct a prospective cohort study to evaluate parent-provider communication patterns and health beliefs as predictors of preventive medication adoption and influenza vaccination among black, Latino, and white children with persistent asthma; and 2. Analyze existing data to identify practice site policies as well as clinician and patient-level predictors of preventive medication adoption among a diverse group of children with persistent asthma.

Summary. This application offers a combination of a highly successful researcher in an intellectually rich environment. The proposed award will enable Dr. Lieu to protect time for mentoring beginning investigators and expand her research in improving preventive health care for diverse populations of children. Support from this K24 award will come at a critical time for Dr. Lieu and for the junior faculty in her new Center.

K24HD047667

2004-09-01

2010-08-31