Session: INVITED SYMPOSIA: "Global Comparative Research to Inform Health Problems in the United States" (Society for Social Work and Research 14th Annual Conference: Social Work Research: A WORLD OF POSSIBILITIES)

In this session, we will outline the advantages of a comparative global research approach to understanding how genes and environment interact to impact the health of disparity populations in the United States. Specifically, we will describe our Centers for Population and Health Disparities research in Nigeria and the United States and how we have used the two to understand why, although white women in the United States are more likely to develop breast cancer, black women are 37% more likely to die from it. Environment and genetics of women in West Africa are compared to environment and genetics of white and black women in the United States.