{"id":202690,"date":"2024-08-28T10:49:50","date_gmt":"2024-08-28T20:49:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=202690"},"modified":"2025-06-23T10:31:08","modified_gmt":"2025-06-23T20:31:08","slug":"jabsom-mhrt-program-2024-cohort","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2024\/08\/28\/jabsom-mhrt-program-2024-cohort\/","title":{"rendered":"UH<\/abbr> health students gain research experience outside Hawai\u02bbi"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
\"student
The 2024 cohort of the Minority Health Research Training program.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Editor’s note<\/strong>: The federal government withdrew grant funding for this program in 2025.<\/em><\/p>\n

Enrollment in the Minority Health Research Training<\/a> (MHRT<\/abbr>) program at the John A. Burns School of Medicine<\/a> (JABSOM<\/abbr>) at the University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> at M\u0101noa has doubled since global travel restrictions were lifted, growing from six students in 2023 to 12 this past academic year. These 12 students presented their study abroad research at the program\u2019s 11th E Hoʻoulu<\/span> Haumana on August 15.<\/p>\n

\"Jena
Jena Funakoshi presents her study abroad research.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Since 2014, this National Institutes of Health-funded program offers undergraduate, post-baccalaureate and graduate students from any discipline opportunities to engage in national or international mentored research projects in fields such as tropical medicine, infectious diseases and community research. <\/p>\n

This year, students spent eight to nine weeks conducting research in locations such as Thailand, American Samoa, Guam, and Atlanta, Georgia, directly impacting the communities they served. The MHRT<\/abbr> program spans one academic year and concludes with students presenting their research from these out-of-state experiences.<\/p>\n

“I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to participate in the MHRT<\/abbr> program,” said Jena Funakoshi, who is concurrently pursuing her master’s and PhD in public health. “It has opened numerous doors for research and networking opportunities. My experience in American Samoa taught me invaluable lessons, allowed me to build relationships that will support me throughout my PhD<\/abbr> program, and gave me the chance to learn from a new community and experience a beautiful culture.”<\/p>\n

“The students are exposed to hot topics in their area, and sometimes, we’re seeing global concerns, like long COVID and Alzheimer’s dementia,” said Angela Sy, MHRT<\/abbr> program director. MHRT<\/abbr> also emphasizes the cultural aspects of these regions. “The hope is that this contextualizes life in the places where they’re working,” she added.<\/p>\n

Many students advance to grad, med school<\/h2>\n

MHRT<\/abbr> has a strong track record of students advancing to graduate school. About 25% go on to medical school, with many continuing at JABSOM<\/abbr>. A large portion of those who don’t pursue medical school go on to earn their master’s or PhD<\/abbr>.<\/p>\n

Applications for the 12th year of MHRT<\/abbr> begin in November. The program is open to students from any major, particularly those underrepresented in researc<\/a>h. <\/p>\n

“We don’t just look at academics; we seek qualities that will help students succeed in applying for future graduate or professional schools,” Sy said.<\/p>\n

Read more on the JABSOM<\/abbr> website<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The program has seen increased student interest since global travel restrictions were lifted.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[31,1466,1363,429,9],"class_list":["post-202690","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academic-news","tag-john-a-burns-school-of-medicine","tag-manoa-enhancing-student-success","tag-manoa-research","tag-tropical-medicine-and-medical-microbiology","tag-uh-manoa","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202690","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=202690"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202690\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":217719,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202690\/revisions\/217719"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=202690"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=202690"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=202690"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}