“Eliseo is a highly respected leader with rich experience in advancing efforts to eliminate health disparities,” said Collins. “He has the passion and vision to guide the NIMHD research agenda in this critically important area.”
As NIMHD director, Pérez-Stable will oversee the institute’s $270 million budget to conduct and support research, training, research capacity and infrastructure development, public education and information dissemination programs to improve minority health and reduce health disparities. NIMHD is the lead organization at the NIH for planning, reviewing, coordinating and evaluating minority health and health disparities research activities conducted by the NIH institutes and centers.
Pérez-Stable comes to NIH from the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) where he is a professor of medicine, chief of the division of general internal medicine and director of the Center for Aging in Diverse Communities. The center works to alleviate health disparities with a focus on improving health care for aging minority populations and to diversify the scientific workforce addressing these issues.
He also is director of the UCSF Medical Effectiveness Research Center for Diverse Populations, which is addressing issues for African Americans, Asians and Latinos in the areas of cancer, cardiovascular disease and reproductive health. Pérez-Stable’s personal research interest is in improving the health of poor and minority patients, reducing health risks such as smoking in minority populations and improving cross-cultural communication skills among healthcare professionals.
NIMHD is one of 27 institutes and centers of the NIH. It leads scientific research to improve minority health and eliminate health disparities by conducting and supporting research; planning, reviewing, coordinating, and evaluating all minority health and health disparities research at NIH; promoting and supporting the training of a diverse research workforce; translating and disseminating research information; and fostering collaborations and partnerships.
