On behalf of Harvard Medical School Office for Diversity and Community Partnership, National Cancer Institute, NIH, and PAHO/WHO Office of Caribbean Program Coordination, we thank you for your interest in visiting the website of Global Transdiciplinary Research Collaboration on the Health of the Caribbean Diaspora. The meeting was held on June 23-25, 2008 at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America.

This meeting was supported by the National Cancer Institute, NIH, and in collaboration with Harvard Medical School’s Office for Diversity and Community Partnership and The Pan American Health Organization/Office of Caribbean Program. It was designed to provide a forum for researchers from the Caribbean region and the United States to interact and share research efforts focused on the social determinants of health both within the global context and then specifically as relevant to the United States and the Caribbean region. The main goals of the meeting were to 1) deepen the understanding of the root causes and social determinants of health, as applicable to the Caribbean Diaspora; and 2) strengthen the capacity of US and Caribbean-based researchers to collaborate, report and publish on health issues with an emphasis on the social determinants of health.

We are pleased that this meeting provided a unique opportunity for researchers with relevant expertise to share innovative and effective research methods, models, and evidence-based practices; to help strengthen the research infrastructure in Caribbean countries; and ultimately to contribute to our ability to promote transdisciplinary and translational science as part of global health.

Joan Y. Reede, MD, MPH, MBA
Dean for Diversity and Community Partnership
Harvard Medical School