Photo by Sarah Stallings, PhD
Pictured from left to right at the 100-Day Meeting are Roy E. Weiss, MD, PhD; Nancy J. Cox PhD; Consuelo H. Wilkins, MD, MSCI; and Maria F. Lima, PhD.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. Leadership, investigators, and operations staff for the Vanderbilt-Miami-Meharry Center of Excellence in Precision Medicine and Population Health gathered at the University of Miami on Nov. 6-7 for a 100-Day Meeting to discuss the center’s progress since its kickoff in July and best next steps for achieving its goals.
Keynote speakers — Marisel Losa, MHSA, President and CEO of the Health Council of South Florida, Inc., and Juan Carlos Arriola, PRC, Chief Strategy and Research Officer of Latinvisa Interamericas, LLC — represented communities, principal collaborative stakeholders in the center’s mission focus and research approach. The multi-institutional center team reviewed progress on first 100-day deliverables, generated evaluative metrics, and strategized around inter-center information, process, and activity distribution. The first 100-day tasks included:
- characterizing clinical data across institutions
- identifying resources to aid geocoding efforts
- assessing availability of Vanderbilt University Medical Center BioVU protocol for dissemination
- exploring ways to leverage grant research projects to drive socioeconomic phenotype discovery
Teams met throughout the day to promote cross-center collaborations and plan next steps for individual cores and research projects. It was determined that further characterization of clinical data across institutions was needed, as well as finalization of a data use agreement. PIs also felt they needed to assess the feasibility of geocoding at each institution and asses the feasibility of linking clinical records with prospective DNA sample collection.
The new center – which will enable research using approaches to precision medicine to eradicate health disparities, specifically those among African Americans and Latinos – is the result of a five-year, $11.6 million grant from the National Institutes of Health.
About the Meharry-Vanderbilt Alliance
Founded in 1999, the Alliance bridges the institutions of Meharry Medical College and Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Its mission is to enrich learning and advance clinical research in three primary areas -- community engagement, interprofessional education and research -- by developing and supporting mutually beneficial partnerships between Meharry Medical College, Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the communities they serve. Through community engagement, the Alliance serves a large community of stakeholders including surrounding universities and colleges, community organizations, faith-based outlets and community health centers. Its interprofessional education enhances students' interdisciplinary understanding and improves patient outcomes through integrated care. The research conducted provides access to experienced grant writers and materials supporting the grant application process and facilitates grant-writing workshops.