AHRQ Awards One-Million Dollars Grant to the School of Public Health for the Creation of the Puerto Rico Health Services Research Institute

The Department of Health Services Administration at the U.P.R. Graduate School of Public Health has initiated the establishment of the Puerto Rico Health Services Research Institute. This initiative is funded through a one-million dollars MRISP grant awarded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality for the period 2003-2006. The grant provides support for three pilot projects and for an administrative/infrastructure component.

The Institute, directed by Roberto E. Torres Zeno, PhD, is composed by a team of fourteen faculty and staff members dedicated to advance scientific knowledge on issues related to health services in Puerto Rico. Research activities at the Institute will provide information to assist in health policy formulation and decision-making on critical public health issues in Puerto Rico. Initially, the Institute will focus on health disparities and health services delivery issues of children and adolescents in Puerto Rico.

The three initial projects suported by this grant are:

1. Patterns of Health Service Utilization by Insurance Status Among Children and Adolescents with Asthma in Puerto Rico
   (Principal Investigator: José A. Capriles Quirós, MD, MPH, MHSA)
   
   
2. Psychometric Properties of Two Potential Indicators of the Performance of Mental Health Services for Children and Adolescents
   (Principal investigator: Carmen Albízu García, MD, MPH)
   
   
3. The Effect of Health Care Reform on Infant Mortality: The Case of Puerto Rico
   (Principal investigator: Heriberto A. Marín, PhD)
   
   

For more information, please contact Dr. Torres Zeno at 758-2525, Ext. 1488 or by e-mail at retorres@rcm.upr.edu

This website is supported by the Agency of Healthcare Research and Quality, Grant No. 1 R24 HS1 4060-02 and by a Research Centers in Minority Institutions Award, G12RR-03051, from the National Center for Research Resources, National Institutes of Health