College of Pharmacy Awarded $3.36 Million for Minority Center of Excellence

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awarded the UTHSC College of Pharmacy $3.36 million over three years to fund the College's Minority Center of Excellence. James C. Eoff III, Pharm.D., Executive Associate Dean, is the principal investigator. The College of Pharmacy has made a commitment to this special initiative in the recruitment and retention of underrepresented minority (URM) students and faculty. The College has received two previous COE awards in 1992-1994 and 2003-2007 and from those efforts has made a transformation to one of the leading colleges with regards to recruitment and graduation of URM students as well as the development of URM faculty through its postdoctoral graduate, fellowship, and residency programs. The College boasts 22.8% URM student body which includes 16.1% Black students. The College has also been able to recruit and retain URM faculty as well as producing strong candidates to hire from our student body. The proposed Minority COE offers a opportunity to further improve our ability to develop a larger and more competitive URM applicant pool, increase retention and graduation rates of URM students, improve the recruitment, training, and development of URM faculty, improve all pharmacy graduates understanding of cultural diversity and minority health issues, increase research with URM patient populations, and increase clinical training opportunities for students in the provision of health services to URM patients.

In describing the award, Dr. Eoff stated, "This grant will have a major impact on our students, faculty, and the population we serve. While we have been very successful over the past two decades in recruiting underrepresented minority students and faculty members, this grant will help us extend our reach even further in recruiting. Likewise, we are developing materials and services that will help all students succeed in their studies, refining our faculty development plan that involves teaching techniques and new research skills. We are also going to improve our graduates' understanding of cultural diversity and minority health issues via curricular modifications, and we will work with our students to provide health services to underrepresented patient populations. The Minority Center of Excellence will be able to work in a partnership with the UTHSC Center for Health Education, Economic Empowerment, and Research (CHEER) in a significant number of ongoing projects focused on minority health. This will further improve our ability to achieve even greater success with underrepresented students, faculty, and staff, while improving educational, informational, and curricular activities related to minority health concerns."

Contact Us

College of Pharmacy
Minority Center of Excellence
847 Monroe Ave. Suite 226
Memphis, TN 38163
Phone: 901-448-6036
Fax: 901-448-7053