Family and Community Medicine Research

Striving to enhance the health of families and communities through rigorous and evidence-based research, we cover a wide range of research areas to include: Prevention, nutrition and health; health disparities, diabetes and obesity; alcohol disorders including fetal alcohol spectrum disorders; substance abuse in primary care; antibiotic use and stewardship; and maternal and child health. Our faculty members collaborate with other clinical departments and investigators around the country to help make Baylor one of the most innovative in the country.

The program has been successful in obtaining external research grant funding. Federal sponsors include the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Health Resources and Services Administration.

The department is home to the C3PH, under the direction of Roger Zoorob, M.D., MPH. Topics include disease prevention, health disparities, diabetes and obesity, substance use disorders, fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, integrated behavioral health, epidemiology of health, antibiotic stewardship, medical education research, cost-effectiveness and comparative effectiveness research, and maternal and child health. We encourage students, residents, fellows, and faculty to develop their skills as investigators by offering research training and mentorship opportunities that lead to career growth and contributions to science including academic publications, presentations, and advocacy.

Dr. Zoorob restructured and secured funding for our T32 Primary Care Research Fellowship Grant awarded by the Health Resources and Services Administration. The training grant is a five-year award of $1.6 million.

The fellowship, open to M.D.s, Ph.D.s, and other doctoral degree holders, has implemented a multifaceted training program that comprehensively prepares health care professionals for a career in primary care research. This fellowship features core curriculum based on faculty development modules, emphasizes multidisciplinary team-based mentoring, and offers a diverse spectrum of primary care research opportunities from an existing inter-institutional collaborative housed within the medical center. Additionally, all fellows will have the opportunity to establish their own tailored, inter-professional mentoring team and an individualized plan of measurable objectives. Each mentoring team will be constructed to function as a “mentoring mosaic” and will consist of at least a peer mentor, a career mentor, and the mentoring chair.