The Penn State College of Medicine announced Thursday it has launched a new center dedicated to analyzing and reducing health disparities.
The Center for Advancing Health Equity in Rural and Underserved Communities will work to improve health outcomes “in Pennsylvania and beyond,” the college said in a statement.
The center is a partnership between the college and the Asian Health Coalition. The nonprofit’s director, Fornessa Randal, is the coalition’s executive director and will be the center’s inaugural director.
Randal is an associate professor of medicine and public health sciences and associate director of research excellence and health systems engagement at the Penn State Cancer Institute.
Initially the center will focus on reducing disparities in cancer outcomes and improving public health education around heart disease, cancer and diabetes, the college said.