HJAR Jul/Aug 2020

30 JUL / AUG 2020  I  HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF ARKANSAS   Healthcare Briefs $765,789 Grant to Focus on Racial, Ethnic Health Disparities A five-year, $765,789 grant to the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences ((UAMS) will sup- port teaching graduate students advanced analyt- ics to address racial and ethnic health disparities. The grant, from the National Institute on Minor- ity Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD), estab- lishes the Arkansas Center for Health Disparities T32 Pre-doctoral Research Training Program. Mick Tilford, PhD, professor and chair of the Department of Health Policy and Management in the UAMS College of Public Health, led the grant application with support from the UAMS Transla- tional Research Institute. “Minorities are much more likely to experience chronic diseases and have other poor health out- comes,” Tilford said. “Exhibit A is COVID-19. Afri- can-Americans make up only 13 percent of the U.S. population, but 33 percent of hospitaliza- tions are from this demographic.” He and Jonathan Bona, PhD, will co-direct the T32 program, which will select two graduate stu- dents per year. Bona is an assistant professor in the UAMS College of Medicine Department of Biomedical Informatics. Tilford believes that developing the skills needed to analyze large sets of data by com- puter will lead to a better understanding of the complex relationships between social determi- nants of health and population health outcomes. With multidisciplinary, team-based science as part of the T32 training, Tilford said the program will produce a new generation of researchers to address health disparities and to improve health equity. Arkansas INBRE Receives 5-Year Funding of $18.4Million to Promote Biomedical Research Across Arkansas Arkansas INBRE, which promotes biomedical research with programs for undergraduate stu- dents and faculty statewide, has seen its federal funding renewed for $18.4 million over the next five years. While the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) is the lead institution, INBRE grants and programs have impacted nearly all colleges and universities in the state during the 20-year history of the IDeA Networks of Biomed- ical Research Excellence program. “What we’ve managed to develop is a whole ecosystem that promotes biomedical research in Arkansas,” said Lawrence E. Cornett, PhD, Arkan- sas INBRE director. “After 20 years, we have stu- dents who were introduced to research by INBRE and are now career scientists or physicians. We have supported research that has produced excit- ing findings and impactful publications. We have purchased game-changing technology and sup- ported new academic programs.” The grant comes from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, which is part of the National Institutes of Health in the U.S. Depart- ment of Health and Human Services. With this lat- est funding, Arkansas INBRE has received a total of $78.5 million to date. IDeA refers to the Institu- tional Development Award (IDeA) program, which builds research capacity in states that historically have had low levels of NIH funding. IDeA grants, including INBRE awards, are awarded to Institu- tions in 23 states and Puerto Rico. Arkansas INBRE is perhaps best known, state- wide, for its research opportunities for undergrad- uate students. About 15 students annually spend their summer at UAMS or the University of Arkan- sas, Fayetteville conducting research, and INBRE funds similar opportunities at four-year institu- tions statewide. For many of the students, it is their first time conducting research, working in a lab, and presenting their findings with posters and oral presentations. INBRE also provides funding for faculty research at the four-year institutions in the state. Many of these grants include the requirement that fac- ulty provide opportunities for undergraduate researchers to work in the lab. NYITCOMat A-State Receives $50,000 in Grants fromKays Foundation New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine at Arkansas State Univer- sity (NYITCOM) recently received two grants from the Keys Foundation totaling $50,000. Both grants will be used to help the medical school mentor high school and undergraduate students and help them prepare for careers in science and/or medically related fields. One of the grants will fund the newly estab- lished “PrepAR” program, which focuses on pre- paring a pipeline of Arkansas State students towards Medical School. The grant will be used to recruit, prepare, and equip A-State students from STEM disciplines interested in applying to medical school. The goal of this pilot project is to enable students to achieve a successful entry into the medical field. The program will include a Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) prepara- tion course and connect candidates with mentor- ship opportunities. “The process of applying to medical school and securing admission is a tedious one that can be expensive,” said Brent Owens, EdD, NYITCOM associate director of pipeline programs. “We’re excited to offer this program that will help make these students stronger candidates for medical school, and we’re grateful to the Kays Founda- tion for funding such an instrumental endeavor.” The other grant will fund NYITCOM at A-State’s “Summer Health Academy for Research Explora- tion” (SHARE) program. The grant will provide ten stipends to high school students to experience eight weeks of intense laboratory exposure along with professional and career development activi- ties to navigate them towards a science, technol- ogy, engineering, math, and medicine (STEMM) field or professional degree. The SHARE program will bring prospective students to campus and serve as a recruitment initiative for the medical school. The stipends will allow the students to focus on research projects and receive mentorship at a time when many young people divert their atten- tion from scholastic endeavors to a part-time job. “Students often miss out on valuable educa- tional opportunities like this because they have to work,” said Rajendram Rajnarayanan, NYITCOM at A-State assistant dean of research. “The Kays Foundation is investing in these students to give them this unique opportunity, and we can’t thank them enough for doing so.” The SHARE program launched in 2019, and plans are underway to alter the format to allow much of the curriculum to be delivered virtu- ally, in light of the ongoing global health crisis. Students who participated in the 2019 program remain connected with NYITCOM at A-State as many continue to work with their mentors and