Director's Message

Since 2001, the Prevention Sciences Research Center (PSRC) has been a productive and sustainable research infrastructure serving Morgan State University (MSU) and the community. The Center's mission is to help create and sustain community programs while educating and training students from under represented cultures and backgrounds.

PSRC is housed under MSU's School of Community Health and Policy and collaborates with other schools and programs across campus. Partnerships on and off campus are core to PSRC's mission, and PSRC has developed relationships with local community groups as well as national and international institutions. As a result, many high-profile community oriented projects have been successfully implemented. One example is CEASE (Communities Engaged and Advocating for a Smoke-free Environment), a community based smoking cessation program with impressive outcomes.

PSRC has also collaborated with MSU's ASCEND Center for Biomedical Research and initiated a Small Grant Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) program. Ten small projects were funded, and community and academic researchers engaged in collaborative research. PSRC has also developed relationships with research centers at Johns Hopkins University, including the Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (ICTR) and Institute for Global Tobacco Control (IGTC). PSRC has also established a strategic partnership with the International Collaboration for Participatory Health Research (ICPHR) and has engaged in important international projects. PSRC has an exciting future, and I am honored to be part of it.

Dr. Payam Sheikhattari, MD, MPH
Professor and Director
School of Community Health and Policy
Prevention Sciences Research Center
Email: payam.sheikhattari@morgan.edu