BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The UAB (University of Alabama at Birmingham) Minority Health and Research Center (MHRC) will host the 2007 Health Disparities Research Symposium, April 5 at the Double Tree Hotel, 808 20th St. S.

The symposium highlights and promotes work by undergraduate, graduate, post-doctoral and faculty researchers from universities throughout the Southeast in the field of racial and ethnic health disparities.

“The symposium allows us an excellent opportunity to showcase the latest research being done to eliminate health disparities and provide equal care to all individuals in Alabama and our nation.” said Mona Fouad, M.D., M.P.H., director of UAB MHRC.

UAB will present cash awards for three post-doctoral fellows and faculty presentations, and three undergraduate poster presentations. All winners will be recognized at the Annual MHRC Gala, Sept. 28.

This year’s event features keynote speaker LaSalle D. Leffal Jr., M.D., renowned surgeon, oncologist, professor and medical spokesman. Leffal has devoted his professional life to the study of cancer, particularly among African-Americans. In 1978, he became the first African-American president of the American Cancer Society. Leffal currently holds the Charles R. Drew Endowed Chair at Howard University in Washington, D.C., where he served as chairman of the Department of Surgery for 25 years.

The UAB Minority Health Research Center is a community outreach center focused on eliminating health disparities of racial and ethnic minorities. UAB Project EXPORT, a training program sponsored by the NIH National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities, is co-sponsoring the symposium. For more information, call 1-877-MHRC-UAB or visit www.uabmhrc.com/.