Tulane Health Equity Institute
We work to enhance human health by engaging communities and populations and serving as a resource for education and training.
The institute is comprised of centers, research projects and individual researchers who explore unjust patterns in the distribution of disease that are avoidable and preventable. We work to enhance human health through engagement of disadvantaged communities and populations and to serve as a resource for education and training.
Health inequities have a very real and often deadly cost to human life, evidenced by the declining life expectancy of adults in the United States. These inequities also place an economic burden on communities and states across the country. The costs of racial and ethnic health inequities are staggering. These inequities cost the United States economy $451 billion in 2018, according to a new study published in JAMA by Tulane University researchers, helmed by Thomas LaVeist, dean of the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine.
According to the National Academy of Sciences, the inequitable distribution of these social determinants matters more than health care alone in attaining quality health. Societal structures, institutions, policies and the environment can play a profound role in generating health inequities. These social determinants shape health trajectories starting in utero and continue across the lifespan. Research on the social determinants of health is still an emerging field, with much of this research being conducted only within the last 20 years.
Partners and Projects
Health inequities have a very real and often deadly cost to human life, evidenced by the declining life expectancy of adults in the United States. These inequities also place an economic burden on communities and states across the country.
For too long, the collective health of Black men has not been a priority. The Black Men’s Health Project aims to change that.
Partners for Advancing Health Equity (P4HE Collaborative) is a research learning collaborative designed to spark discussion, share learning, foster collaboration, and facilitate resource exchange
The Society, Health, and Racial Equity (SHARE) Lab serves as a forum for research on health and social equity, and the role of racism in generating and perpetuating injustices in health.
