Race and Health across the Twentieth Century

Award Year: 2002	Investigator: Dora Costa	Budget: $267,435	Categories: Health Disparities, Race and Health
Abstract: In her Investigator Award project, Race and Health across the Twentieth Century, Dr. Dora Costa looks to the past to help us understand the factors that led to health differences between whites and African Americans. Dr. Costa will use various datasets that span the entire twentieth century and, for the early twentieth century, include selected populations, such as children born at Johns Hopkins Hospital and African American Civil War veterans. Armed with these data, she will examine health outcomes during the first 10 days of life, and again at middle and late ages. Her study will explore how differential access to technology and knowledge contributes to disparities in health status. By analyzing conditions such as heart disease, where significant technological advances have been evident, Dr. Costa will investigate the role of access to technology in outcome disparities. She will also consider how historical politics contributed to racial differences in access to clean water, sewage, and medical care.