Support is requested to partially underwrite the costs of a conference entitled "Why Our Babies Die?" to be held September 18-20, 2006 at the Nashville Marriott at Vanderbilt in Nashville, Tennessee. The general purpose of this conference is to assemble the top researchers in this field along with promising young investigators, trainees, and more senior faculty, in order to exchange and disseminate information on current research efforts aimed at addressing infant mortality/morbidity disparities in the United States. The conference will be publicized in scientific journals, on the Internet, and announcements will be mailed to members known to be active in the field. Electronic publicity will be accomplished by a Meharry and Vanderbilt-linked conference website containing details of the program and an on-line registration site; we will also list the conference on established web sites providing meeting announcements. A concerted effort will be made to attract junior investigators and those considered underrepresented in biomedical science fields, such as women and ethnic minorities. A specific number of travel awards will be provided to aid in this effort. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]