USM Nutrition Faculty Assist with $6.9M NIH Grant
Tue, 11/12/2024 - 02:36pm | By: Karelia Pitts
Dr. Holly Huye
Drs. Holly Huye and Alicia Landry of The University of Southern Mississippi (USM) School of Kinesiology and Nutrition will assist with the new Southeast Center for Health Achievement and Growth in Equity (SEACHANGE) grant which was awarded $6.9 million over the next five years from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Common Fund, in collaboration with the National Cancer Institute.
The University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) will lead SEACHANGE, one of five new NIH research hubs across the United States. The other hubs are located at Yale University; the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; the University of Maryland, Baltimore; and the New York University Grossman School of Medicine.
SEACHANGE will function as a health equity research hub, providing localized technical assistance and scientific support for community-led research projects in collaboration with the NIH Common Fund’s Community Partnerships to Advance Science for Society (ComPASS) Coordination Center.
The goals of ComPASS are to:
- Develop, share and evaluate community-led health equity structural interventions that leverage partnerships across multiple sectors to reduce health disparities
- Develop a new health equity research model for community-led, multisectoral structural intervention research
Dr. Alicia Landry
Under this charge, SEACHANGE’s mission will be to promote health equity and reduce the burden of disease in underserved populations. The Hub will harness the expertise of nationally recognized scholars to tailor support services and contextual guidance to build Community-Led, Health Equity Structural Interventions (CHESI) research capacity and develop sustainable interventional models.
The SEACHANGE Hub will consist of four units:
- Administrative and Coordinating Unit
- Research Methods and Data Management Unit
- Research Capacity Building and Training Unit
- Community Engagement and Health Equity (CEEQ) Practice Unit
Dr. Caroline Compretta of UMMC is the principal investigator and unit leader for the grant. USM’s Dr. Huye has been selected as a SEACHANGE Hub Executive Committee member and co-leader of the Community Engagement and Health Equity Practice Unit. Dr. Landry of Southern Miss will be serving on the Multidisciplinary Expert Panel.
“We are thrilled to represent USM through the SEACHANGE Hub and look forward to working with partners across our state and region to improve community practice, collaboration strategies and health outcomes for our communities,” said Dr. Huye.
The CEEQ Practice Unit will:
- Provide tailored support to each of the assigned CHESIs to effectively implement community outreach and engagement strategies; support CHESIs in the development of metrics to measure the impact of community engagement efforts; and provide assistance for culturally sensitive, accessible, and relevant project-related materials
- Design and implement a CEEQ Scholars Program to increase the pipeline of community engagement and health equity scholars and work with the ComPASS Coordination Center and the National Health Equity Research Assembly to participate in its Communities of Practice Program
Click here to learn more about the USM School of Kinesiology and Nutrition. Click here to read UMMC’s announcement regarding grant number 1UC2CA293850-01.