Page 4 - MSM Primarily Caring Magazine

NEWS & NOTES

News Briefs

OCTOBER 2020 and up to 10 participating HBCU medical, Center for Primary Care, was recently award-
MSM Shares in $15M Gates veterinary, pharmacy and agriculture schools ed a five-year, $3.5 million grant from the
Foundation Investment to Expand in this effort. The other initial institutions are Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
COVID-19 Testing at HBCUs Florida A&M University, Hampton University, Administration to develop a center of excel-
School is one of six institutions serving as Howard University, Meharry Medical College lence focused on behavioral health disparities
diagnostic centers in The Just Project. and Xavier University of Louisiana. among Black people.
Building on the expertise of MSM and its
Morehouse School of Medicine is one of six large, diverse community of Black stakehold-
historically Black colleges and universities to ers, scientists and educators, the Center of
share in a three-year, $15 million investment Excellence for Behavioral Health Disparities
by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as seeks to increase the capacity of behavioral
part of its COVID-19 response, made in part- health systems to provide outreach, engage,
nership with The Just Project, which aims to retain and effectively care for Black people;
increase access to COVID-19 diagnostic testing provide current information and culturally
for HBCU campuses and their communities. appropriate, evidenced-based practices in-
The Just Project is ThermoFisher Scientific’s crease workforce development opportunities
ambitious and historic partnership with HB- focused on implicit bias, social determinants
CUs involving a multipronged effort to help of health, structural racism and other factors
address the coronavirus, which has dispro- that impede high-quality care for Blacks.
portionately impacted communities of color. The SATTC works to accelerate the adoption
The project is establishing diagnostic testing Dawn Tyus, LPC and implementation of evidence-based and
hubs at colleges and universities, including OCTOBER 2020 promising addiction treatment and recov-
equipment, additional test kits and analytical SATTC Director Awarded $3.5M ery-oriented practices. The center strives to
labs to rapidly deploy and process COVID-19 Grant to Focus on Behavioral be the premiere expert on faith-based com-
tests. MSM is serving as one of those regional Health Disparities munities and tailoring needs to special popu-
hub diagnostic centers, processing tests ad- lations, such as people of color. In addition to
ministered at multiple HBCUs. Dawn Tyus, LPC, director and principal inves- Georgia, the SATTC includes Alabama, Florida,
The Gates Foundation investment, its largest tigator of the Southeast Addiction Technology Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South
donation to HBCUs to date, will support MSM Transfer Center (SATTC) at MSM’s National Carolina and Tennessee.

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