Meharry Nabs Largest NIH Grant in School History

Meharry Medical College has received its largest grant ever from the National Institutes of Health – $21 million over five years.

Meharry and three other historically black medical schools have split up $75 million total. Nashville’s Meharry plans to continue exploring health disparities among African Americans.

Dr. Ayman Al-Hendy is a gynecologist and one of the principal investigators. He’s looking at uterine fibroids and low-birth weight among African American women.

“In our lab, we have generated a lot of fundamental or basic knowledge that can benefit these diseases. For example, we have found that vitamin D deficiency puts you at higher risk for both of these diseases.”

Al-Hendy says the NIH grant will help fund medical trials for what is now just lab work.

The grant is also intended to fund research at the pilot stage. Any Meharry clinician or researcher will be able to compete for funding on the merits of their idea. College officials say the seed money will allow more minority scientists to enter mainstream research.

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