DISPARITIES RESEARCH CENTER

The Disparities Research Center provides an infrastructure for communities and investigators to interact in designing research programs with the goal of eliminating health disparities.  Investigators in this Center must be committed to partnering with communities in both the development and implementation of research studies. 

The Disparities Research Center has two locations positioned on either side of South Dakota: one in Sioux Falls, SD, at the Sanford School of Medicine’s Health Science Center, and in a building on the campus of Black Hills State University in Spearfish, SD

Co-Director (Sioux Falls):
Amy Elliott, PhD
Dr. Amy Elliott is a Licensed Child Clinical Psychologist and Co-Director of the Disparities Research Center at Sanford Research/USD and Associate Chair of Pediatric Research at the Sanford School of Medicine at the University of South Dakota. With her colleagues, Dr. Elliott is investigating early markers of risk for fetal and infant morbidity and mortality, with laboratory sites in Sioux Falls, Rapid City and Pine Ridge, SD.

Co-Director (Spearfish):
Kathy Langwell, M.A.
Ms. Langwell is a health economist and has over 25 years of experience in designing and conducting research, evaluations, and policy analyses of health care organization, management, and financing. Over the past seven years, she has focused on research designed to address health disparities of American Indians, working collaboratively with tribes in the Northern Plains.

 

Other Staff

Current Projects