Conference Background
The Research Group on Disparities in Health (RGDH) was founded in January 2003 within the Department of Health and Behavior Studies at Teachers College, Columbia University. The RGDH Founder/Director, Dr. Barbara Wallace was the first African American woman to move through the ranks and gain tenure in the 100 year history of Teachers College in Morningside Heights, doing so in 1994. As a response to isolation, the RGDH was created after Dr. Wallace travelled to Africa and decided to use a group-based learning technology. She launched the RGDH and a weekly group Research Seminar – Disparities in Health. This created the element of community that had been missing. By mentoring and training pre- and post-doctoral fellows, the RGDH contributes to the national and international pipeline, as well as much needed diversity for the next generation of health disparities researchers. The RGHD launched the Annual Health Disparities Conference at Teachers College, Columbia University in March 2006, as a highly successful two-day conference also held in March 2007, March 2008, and March 2009. After a period of dormancy due to the Teachers College continuing education department that organized the conference being eliminated in May 2009, the conference will be revived in March 2013.