{"id":147251,"date":"2021-08-31T13:13:58","date_gmt":"2021-08-31T23:13:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=147251"},"modified":"2021-08-31T13:13:58","modified_gmt":"2021-08-31T23:13:58","slug":"15m-indigenous-health-center","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2021\/08\/31\/15m-indigenous-health-center\/","title":{"rendered":"$15M<\/abbr> research center to improve Indigenous health"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
\"headshots
Joseph Keaweʻaimoku<\/span> Kaholokula and Neal A. Palafox<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A new Center for Pacific Innovations, Knowledge, and Opportunities (PIKO<\/abbr>) to improve the health and wellbeing of Indigenous Pacific People (IPP<\/abbr>) is being established with the help of a $15 million, five-year grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences<\/a> (NIGMS<\/abbr>). PIKO<\/abbr> is focused on Native Hawaiians, other Pacific Islanders and Filipinos. These communities comprise 40% of the state\u2019s population and have disproportionately higher rates of physical ailments and mental health conditions, compared to Caucasian and Asian people in Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>. <\/p>\n

PIKO<\/abbr> will be led by Joseph Keaweʻaimoku<\/span> Kaholokula<\/strong>, professor and chair of Native Hawaiian health<\/a>, and Neal A. Palafox<\/strong>, professor of family medicine and community health<\/a>, of the University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> at M\u0101noa John A. Burns School of Medicine<\/a> (JABSOM<\/abbr>). This Institutional Development Award Networks for Clinical and Translational Research center at NIGMS<\/abbr> represents a partnership between UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa, Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Pacific University, Chaminade University and a statewide network of community-based organizations. <\/p>\n

“This is an unprecedented partnership and initiative in Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> to support talented junior researchers in doing culturally responsive and community-engaged research to improve the health and wellbeing of Native Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders, Filipinos and other health disparate populations,” said Kaholokula.<\/p>\n

PIKO<\/abbr> will take a team-science approach to transform current research paradigms to accelerate clinical and translational research to improve IPP<\/abbr> health. There are seven core components to PIKO<\/abbr>: administrative; professional development; pilot projects program; biostatistics, epidemiology, and research design; community engagement and outreach; clinical research and regulatory support; and tracking and evaluation. <\/p>\n

UH<\/abbr> adds $1.5 M<\/abbr> <\/h2>\n

UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa has committed $1.5 million over five years toward PIKO<\/abbr>, which will increase the number of new and early-stage investigators from IPP<\/abbr> communities for clinical and translational research careers. With strong mentoring from established researchers, these emerging scientists will learn how to conduct community-responsive research to find real-world solutions to reduce health disparities and advance health equity.<\/p>\n

Key to PIKO<\/abbr>\u2019s success will be implementation and dissemination of research findings back to the affected communities through a robust statewide network of community-based partners and community stakeholders, who will share best practices, translate discoveries and leverage data to improve the health of IPP<\/abbr> and other marginalized communities in Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>. <\/p>\n

“Achieving health equity in Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>\u2019s marginalized populations requires a dedicated and sustained investment in relevant discovery and problem solving, tasks that belong to the people of these communities,” said Palafox.<\/p>\n

For more, go to the JABSOM<\/abbr> website.<\/a><\/p>\n

This effort is an example of UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa\u2019s goal of Excellence in Research: Advancing the Research and Creative Work Enterprise<\/a> (PDF<\/abbr><\/span>), one of four goals identified in the 2015\u201325 Â鶹´«Ã½<\/a> (PDF<\/abbr><\/span>), updated in December 2020. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PIKO<\/abbr>, led by JABSOM<\/abbr> professors, will help improve the health and wellbeing of Indigenous Pacific People.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[1307,33,165,31,1467,1363,242,9],"class_list":["post-147251","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research","tag-family-medicine-and-community-health","tag-hawaiian","tag-health","tag-john-a-burns-school-of-medicine","tag-manoa-excellence-in-research","tag-manoa-research","tag-native-hawaiian-health","tag-uh-manoa","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t