PATIENTS Program receives $9.4 Million grant to start health equity research hub at UMB

By Emily Parks
University of Maryland School of Pharmacy

The University of Maryland School of Pharmacy (UMSOP) has received nearly $10 million in federal funding to work in partnership — both with other schools at the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) including the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) and the University of Maryland School of Social Work, as well as external community organizations — to improve health equity in Baltimore and beyond.

Through the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) Common Fund Community Partnerships to Advance Science for Society (ComPASS) program, the PATIENTS Program has been awarded $9.4 million to serve as a health equity research hub.

The Hub, using the extensive expertise at and resources from UMB, will provide technical assistance and scientific support to several NIH-funded Community-Led, Health Equity Structural Interventions (CHESIs) nationwide. The grant is led by C. Daniel Mullins, Ph. D, executive director of the PATIENTS Program and a professor of practice in sciences and health outcomes research at UMSOP.

The goal of the Health Equity Research Hub at UMB is to provide resources and expertise to help the CHESIs achieve the goals of their ComPASS funded awards. The Hub also will guide the evaluation and reporting of community-led health equity research.

“This is a wonderful opportunity to support CHESIs while modeling our longstanding community-academic partnership approaches,” says Mullins. “We can simultaneously achieve the overarching goal to serve as a catalyst for CHESIs to complete their ComPASS projects in a rigorously scientific manner, while supporting community-led health equity research. All CHESI projects address social determinants of health to advance health equity.”

Rev. Franklin Lance, DMin, senior pastor at Mount Lebanon Baptist Church and community co-lead for the award, added, “We are the right team at the right place because we do this work already. We believe in this work and know how to let communities take the lead. We believe in equity and the shifting of power that needs to take place, and how, with authentic collaboration, research is better.”

The hub structure consists of three units. Each of these units is co-led and supported by a community partner and a UMB expert:

• Research Capacity Building and Training Unit
  • Community Co-Lead: Dwyan Monroe, BA, Training Manager, Institute for Public Health Innovation
  • UMB Co-Lead: Hillary Edwards, Ph. D, Director of Methodological Research and Evaluation, the PATIENTS Program, University of Maryland School of Pharmacy
  • Support team members: Dan Frye, JD, Director of Employment and Professional Development and Patient Advocate, National Federation of the Blind and Jay Unick, MSW, Ph. D, Assistant Professor, Institute for Innovation and Implementation, University of Maryland School of Social Work
• Research Methods and Data Management Unit
  • Community Co-Lead: Randal Pinkett, Ph. D, Founder, Chairman, CEO, and Managing Partner, BCT Partners
  • UMB Co-Lead: Brad Maron, MD, Executive Co-Director, University of Maryland Institute for Health Computing and professor of medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine
  • Support team members: DeJuan Patterson, CEO, Bridge Advisory Group, LLC and Timothy O’Connor, Ph. D, Co-Director, The Program in Health Equity and Population Health (HEPH) at the University of Maryland School of Medicine
• Community Engagement and Health Equity Practice Unit
  • Community Co-Lead: Frances “Toni” Draper, MBA, MEd, DMin, CEO, and Publisher, The AFRO American Newspapers
  • UMB Co-Lead: Claudia Baquet, MD, MPH, Affiliate Professor of Practice, Sciences, and Health Outcomes Research, University of Maryland School of Pharmacy
  • Support team members: Joy Bramble, Owner and Publisher, The Baltimore Times, and Esa Davis, MD, Ph. D, Associate Vice President for Community Health and Lead Strategist for Health Equity, UM Institute of Health Computing at UMSOM

All three units work with the co-leads in the Administrative and Coordinating Unit:

• Community Co-Lead: Rev. Franklin Lance, DMin, Senior Pastor, Mount Lebanon Baptist Church
• UMB Co-Lead: C. Daniel Mullins, Ph. D, Executive Director, The PATIENTS Program, University of Maryland School of Pharmacy

The CHESIs served by UMB’s Health Equity Research Hub will be named this fall.

About the PATIENTS Program

The Patient-Centered Involvement in Evaluating the Effectiveness of Treatments (PATIENTS) Program is an interdisciplinary research team of community partners and researchers housed at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy that works to change the way we think about research by creating a path for health equity. We engage people from all communities, especially those from underserved and minority populations, in every step of the patient and community-engaged research process. Through our collective efforts and expertise in continuous engagement science, we create an effective learning health care community. The ComPASS Health Equity Research Hub at UMB Award 1UC2CA293782-01 is funded by the NIH Common Fund.

About the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy

Established in 1841, the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy is ranked 15th out of more than 140 schools of pharmacy by U.S. News & World Report. The School is a thriving center for professional and graduate education, pharmaceutical care, research, and community service. Its faculty create the future of pharmacy by pioneering new roles for pharmacists in advanced clinical practice and conducting cutting-edge research in drug discovery and development, comparative effectiveness and patient-centered outcomes, and disease management. A contemporary curriculum, innovative educational experiences, and strategic professional relationships help to inspire excellence in the School’s more than 1,000 students, residents, and postdoctoral fellows. The School offers 10 academic programs: Doctor of Pharmacy; PhD programs in Palliative Care, Pharmaceutical Health Services Research, and Pharmaceutical Sciences; and MS programs in Medical Cannabis Science and Therapeutics, Palliative Care, Pharmaceutical Health Services Research, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Pharmacometrics, and Regulatory Science. With a research portfolio of more than $38.5 million in grants and contracts, the School is ranked 9th by the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy amongst schools of pharmacy. In 2017, the School launched its exclusive Pharmapreneurship program, which describes the School’s commitment to supporting and best positioning both faculty and students to achieve their career aspirations and address our nation’s health care challenges.