University of Wisconsin–Madison Center for Health Disparities Research (CHDR)

What University of Wisconsin–Madison Center for Health Disparities Research (CHDR) does

The University of Wisconsin–Madison Center for Health Disparities Research (CHDR) is an academic research center launched in 2021 within the UW–Madison School of Medicine and Public Health, operating under the Office of Social Health Sciences and Programs. Directed by Amy Kind, MD, PhD (Associate Dean for Social Health Sciences and Programs), with Deputy Directors Andrea Gilmore Bykovskyi, PhD, RN and Nicole Rogus-Pulia, PhD, CCC-SLP, the center pursues life-course social exposome research examining how social and environmental factors interact with biology to produce disease across the life span, particularly in Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias. CHDR's mission is to catalyze research, clinical innovation, and educational activities to eliminate health disparities disproportionately affecting racial/ethnic minority, socioeconomically disadvantaged, underserved rural, and sexual/gender minority populations, while extending the Wisconsin Idea to communities across Wisconsin and beyond.

The center's portfolio centers on the Neighborhood Atlas platform (with the Area Deprivation Index) as a publicly accessible neighborhood-disadvantage data infrastructure, alongside the NIH/NIA-funded Neighborhoods Study (R01AG070883), the Swallowing & Salivary Bioscience Lab, the ADRC Care Research Core (Core H, P30AG062715), the Cognitive Health Communication & Ethics Research Core (K99/R00 AG083131), and the Powell Research program (R21AG079277). Underlying technology is statistical and geospatial rather than AI/ML: ADI computation and life-course exposome analysis draw on biostatistical and epidemiological methods. Research outputs are disseminated via peer-reviewed publications (NEJM, JAMA Network Open, JAMA Neurology, Alzheimer's & Dementia), the monthly CHDR Dispatch newsletter, and the chdr.wisc.edu web presence.

CHDR is a non-commercial academic unit; it does not sell products or services. Operating funding flows from NIH/NIA grants and institutional support from UW–Madison. Headcount is approximately 25 staff including scientists, research operations, and affiliates. There are no disclosed customers, no pricing model, and no commercial distribution channels. The center sits within a public state university governed by the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System and competes on a national scale for top-tier NIH funding.

Name

University of Wisconsin–Madison Center for Health Disparities Research (CHDR)

Legal name

Center for Health Disparities Research (CHDR) – School of Medicine and Public Health – UW–Madison

Website

https://chdr.wisc.edu

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The University of Wisconsin–Madison Center for Health Disparities Research (CHDR) is a 2021-founded academic research center within the UW–Madison School of Medicine and Public Health that conducts life-course social exposome research to eliminate health disparities, primarily via the Neighborhood Atlas/ADI platform and NIH-funded dementia and disparities studies.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Academic Health Disparities Research

akta.pro primary industry

Health Equity, SDOH & Disparities Measurement (HLAJANAJ)

Keywords

• Health disparities research
• Exposome research
• Alzheimer's research
• Neighborhood disadvantage metrics
• Health equity research

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

CHDR is an academic research center that conducts multi-disciplinary health disparities research focused on the life-course social exposome. It operates NIH-funded research programs (The Neighborhoods Study, Swallowing & Salivary Bioscience Lab, ADRC Care Research Core, Powell Research, Cognitive Health Communication & Ethics Research Core) and maintains the publicly accessible Neighborhood Atlas platform featuring the Area Deprivation Index (ADI) for measuring neighborhood-level disadvantage.

Product overview

CHDR is an academic research center (not a commercial technology product company) organized around advancing health disparities research. Its portfolio consists primarily of research programs and platforms rather than commercial products. The core research infrastructure includes The Neighborhoods Study (a major NIH-funded dementia research program), The Neighborhood Atlas platform (providing the Area Deprivation Index), and several specialized research labs and cores including the Swallowing & Salivary Bioscience Lab, ADRC Care Research Core, Cognitive Health Communication & Ethics Research Core, and Powell Research. These programs work together under the center's life-course social exposome research mission to understand how social and environmental factors affect health outcomes.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• The Neighborhood Atlas A web-based, publicly accessible platform that provides neighborhood-level data, including the Area Deprivation Index (ADI), to measure and visualize socioeconomic disadvantage across geographic areas in the United States. It is used by researchers, clinicians, and policy professionals studying health disparities and population health.
• The Neighborhoods Study A major NIH/NIA-funded (R01AG070883) research initiative led by Dr. Amy Kind examining the social exposome in Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias, investigating how neighborhood environments across the life course affect brain health.
• Swallowing & Salivary Bioscience Lab (SSBL) A specialized research laboratory led by Dr. Nicole Rogus-Pulia focused on swallowing disorders and salivary bioscience, particularly in persons with dementia.
• ADRC Care Research Core (Core H) Part of the Wisconsin Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (ADRC) and funded under NIH/NIA P30AG062715-07, this research core led by Dr. Nicole Rogus-Pulia focuses on care research for Alzheimer's disease and related conditions.
• Powell Research A NIH/NIA-funded (R21AG079277) research initiative led by Dr. W. Ryan Powell examining Alzheimer's disease and related dementias.

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights2 records

Broad incumbents

• RAND Corporation Health Care Division: Major non-profit policy research organization producing rigorous health equity and disparities research with broader scope and significantly larger staff base. Not a university unit but competes for similar federal funding and shapes national discourse on health equity.
• Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Equity: Health-system-based research center within Kaiser Permanente focused on health equity with access to large clinical populations. Operates at significantly larger scale than university research centers and offers a contrasting delivery-research model.
• Urban Institute Health Policy Center: Large non-profit research organization conducting policy-oriented health equity research. Broader policy-research mandate with substantial disparities-focused portfolio competing for federal and foundation grants.

Direct peers

• Johns Hopkins Center for Health Equity: School-wide research center at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health dedicated to health equity research, training, and policy translation. Directly comparable to CHDR's role at UW-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health.
• UCLA Fielding School of Public Health — Center for the Study of Latino Health and Culture (CESLA): School-anchored research center addressing health disparities in Latino and other underserved populations. Comparable academic structure with population-focused health equity research mission.
• NYU Langone Center for Health Equity and Community Wellbeing: Academic medical center research unit focused on community-based health equity research and structural drivers of health. Operates with similar interdisciplinary structure and NIH funding model.
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Center for Health Equity Research: University-based research center focused on health equity and community-engaged disparities research. Comparable in mission, funding model, and academic structure to CHDR, with similar emphasis on translating research into community impact.
• Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health — Center for Health, Equity and Inclusion: School-level center within Harvard's School of Public Health advancing health equity research and training. Comparable institutional placement and mission scope, with broader faculty base providing larger research capacity.
• Mount Sinai Institute for Health Equity Research: Institute-level research hub at the Icahn School of Medicine focused on eliminating health disparities through translational research. Comparable academic-medical-center-anchored model with similar disparities-research mission.
• University of Michigan Center for Research on Ethnicity, Culture, and Health (CRECH): University-based research center examining social and cultural determinants of racial/ethnic health disparities. Comparable academic unit structure and NIH-funded health-disparities research portfolio.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses2 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/center-for-health-disparities-research-chdr

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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