25 Sep PNW Research Institutes Awarded $2.5 Million in Federal Funds to Advance Health Equity through Research with Rural Primary Care Practices
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has announced a significant award to create a primary care research hub for research-to-clinic connectivity in the Pacific Northwest. The vision is to accelerate research advancement for adoption into every day clinical care, improving health outcomes and advancing health equity.
The $2.5 million award brings together two stellar networks that have been advancing clinical research in primary care settings, the Oregon Rural Practice-based Research Network (ORPRN) at Oregon Health & Science University, and the WWAMI region (Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho) Practice and Research Network (WPRN), supported by the Institute of Translational Health Sciences (ITHS) and UW Family Medicine.
This also marks a new collaboration between the Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) program hubs, Oregon Clinical and Translational Research Institute (OCTRI) at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) and the Institute of Translational Health Sciences (ITHS) at the University of Washington.
Together they are creating the Primary Care Rural and Frontier Clinical Trials Innovation Center to Advance Health Equity (PRaCTICE) Network Research Hub (NRH).
- They now become a primary care Research Network Hub, one of 3 across the United States funded by this new award.
- These hubs will implement innovative study designs that address common health issues, including disease prevention.
- They will also prioritize sustained engagement with rural communities and primary care practices that are traditionally underrepresented in clinical research.
Melinda Davis, PhD, MCR, director of ORPRN and the OCTRI Community and Collaboration Core, will lead the overall collaboration. Allison Cole, MD, MPH, director of WPRN and co-director of the ITHS Community Engagement Module, and Sebastian Tong, MD, MPH, associate director of WRPN and a co-investigator in the ITHS Community Engagement Module, will oversee activities in WWAMI.
Dr. Cole, Director of the WPRN, said, “This new network hub allows us to build on our deep relationships with rural communities and primary care practices, ensuring that research truly serves those who are often left out of clinical studies. Together, we aim to create real-world solutions that improve health equity and access to care across the WWAMI region.”
Together, we aim to create real-world solutions that improve health equity and access to care across the WWAMI region.
In its first year, PRaCTICE will support two NIH funded studies, BeatPain Utah, a remote physical therapy and pain education intervention targeted at rural federally qualified health centers, and Co-Care, which is a collaborative care model for polysubstance use disorder.
In addition, PRaCTICE will enhance its existing engagement infrastructure with practices and communities across WWAMI and Oregon. Engagement activities to collaboratively develop research priorities and future studies include 5 components: 1) PRaCTICE Advisory Board, 2) Regional Engagement Specialists, 3) Community Health Needs Assessments, 4) Regional Listening Sessions, and 5) Annual All-Team Meeting. These activities will allow PRaCTICE to collaboratively develop future research studies that matter to practices and communities in the WWAMI/Oregon region.
The goal is to implement a sustained infrastructure that integrates innovative research with routine clinical care in real world settings with communities that are traditionally underrepresented in clinical research.
“Rural communities face unique healthcare challenges,” said Dr. Sebastian Tong, Associate Director of the WPRN, “and this grant empowers us to work hand-in-hand with local practices to address those needs. By engaging these communities directly in the research process, we can ensure that the studies we conduct are relevant, impactful, and capable of improving care on the ground.”
from LinkedIn
“We eagerly anticipate collaborating with our local partners – primary care providers and patient communities – to tackle the health challenges they identify as most pressing,” said NIH Director Dr. Monica M. Bertagnolli. “These awards will lay the groundwork for primary care-focused clinical research, creating opportunities for people to engage in research that matters to them right where they receive their care.”
WPRN staff and faculty: Laurie Hassell, Monica Zigmund Suchsland, Dillon van Rensburg, Allison Cole and Sebastian Tong
Earlier this year, the NIH launched the National Institutes of Health Communities Advancing Research Equity for Health™ (CARE for Health™) program to connect cutting-edge research opportunities to primary care settings. This first year of funding will be used to establish three new Research Network Hubs to conduct research in primary care settings. These awards will mark the first hubs in a growing network that will address barriers to access to clinical research participation and adoption of research findings in everyday clinical care.
“This award represents a transformative opportunity to bring together researchers, clinicians, and community members to tackle some of the most pressing health disparities in our region. We are excited to be part of this effort to expand the reach of clinical research and improve health outcomes in rural and frontier areas,” Dr. Tong said.
The award was funded by the NIH Common Fund. Read the NIH press release here.
The ITHS website is your source for information about translational research resources in the WWAMI region. Find us on Facebook, X, and LinkedIn. Sign up for our newsletter, “The Research Connector,” here!
