The Southwest Rural Health Research Center at the Texas A&M University School of Public Health has been awarded a four-year, $2.8 million cooperative agreement by the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Federal Office of Rural Health Policy. The funding will support research that will be used to guide national health policies impacting rural America.

Established in 2000 as one of six rural health research centers in the nation, the center leverages faculty and practice-based expertise within the Texas A&M University System and its partners to examine the needs of rural populations across the United States.

This cooperative agreement will allow the center to continue its crucial interdisciplinary research on the needs of rural and underserved populations by bringing together faculty expertise in health policy, chronic disease, health economics, health law, nursing and epidemiology. The award supports approximately four projects per year, which are selected to inform the nation’s policy agenda and reforms as they relate to rural populations.

The agreement will also allow the center to continue its rich tradition of training students to become well-rounded future contributors to improvements in rural population health. The center’s graduate students are routinely involved in research question development, data analysis, interpretation of results and dissemination of research findings.