Annual review of nursing research
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This chapter focuses on promoting cultural competence in research and the care of vulnerable populations by establishing inter-university nursing partnership centers for health disparities research between historically Black universities and minority-serving institutions and research-intensive majority institutions. The Hampton-Penn Center to Reduce Health Disparities (HPC), an inter-university collaborative center funded through the National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) P20 funding mechanism, is discussed as the exemplar. ⋯ The history, goals, and conceptual model underlying this collaborative effort between the University of Pennsylvania and Hampton University Schools of Nursing are described as are the accomplishments and lessons learned to date. Based upon the Hampton-Penn experience, recommendations for similar collaborations to reduce health disparities among vulnerable populations are made in three major areas: (a) increasing the study of the multi-system level factors that contribute to health disparities among vulnerable populations, (b) promoting the development of culturally competent research on health disparities, and (c) promoting the recruitment and training of health researchers who are themselves members of vulnerable populations.