Educational and medical partnership to research health needs of Idahoans

Three of Idaho’s universities and a medical center are joining forces to research the immediate health needs of the state’s populace.

A five-year health initiative to transform laboratory findings into practical health care solutions is being conducted through a partnership of Boise Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Idaho State University, Boise State University and University of Idaho.

The Healthy Idaho Clinical and Translational Research Development (CTR-D) Program, with an Institutional Development Award (IDeA) from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), will be pursuing three goals. The program will look to increase collaborative and multidisciplinary research across institutions, expand the clinical and translational research workforce with mentorship and training, and develop the needed infrastructure for such research.

“Currently, Idaho’s universities have extensive interaction with health care systems through placement of student trainees and clinical faculty affiliated with health care-related degree programs, but produce graduates with minimal experience in clinical research,” said Karl Madaras-Kelly, professor at ISU’s College of Pharmacy. “Most of Idaho’s universities conduct research in basic biomedical sciences in benchtop laboratories with limited clinical context. Building collaborations and research infrastructure across academic and health care systems is essential to translate basic discoveries in Idaho’s universities into the health care practices of tomorrow.”

BSU is the lead applicant institution on the initiative, while ISU holds a co-lead role, the university stated. Four core working groups will include professional development, community engagement and outreach, research design and data compliance, and health research.

According to a release from ISU, “core services will include training and mentoring faculty to strengthen future grant proposals, collaboration with local community leaders to identify and develop pilot solutions for pressing health priorities, assistance in designing future research studies, and evaluation and improvement of health research projects to meet Idaho’s needs.”

ISU stated that its College of Pharmacy associate professors John Holmes, Elaine Nguyen and Youssef Roman will lead or co-lead the majority of the core services.

“The Healthy Idaho CTR-D Program is a game-changer for our state, creating a unified research ecosystem that directly connects the scientific expertise at our universities with the critical health needs of Idaho communities,” said Martin Blair, ISU vice president for research and economic development. “It is a major step forward in translating discoveries into real-world health improvements for Idahoans.”

Along with the Veterans Affairs Medical Center, other health institutions will be affiliated with the initiative, including St. Luke’s Health System, Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center, Kootenai Health and the Idaho Community Health Center Association, which represents 15 health centers in the state.

Students from the Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine and the WWAMI medical education program will also be involved.