A systemwide collaborative grant program led by the UT Health Science Center College of Medicine in Knoxville is supporting research and scholarly activities to pursue discoveries addressing health issues across Tennessee and beyond.

The program will fund six awards totaling more than $450,000 to support teams of clinicians, faculty, and researchers from across the state to innovate in the field of medicine and biomedical research.

Robert Craft, MD, dean of the College of Medicine in Knoxville, expressed enthusiasm for the program and the awards. "The problems we face in medicine and the effective treatment of patients are complex and multifaceted," he said. "By leveraging the strengths of each campus, we can achieve breakthroughs that would be impossible to accomplish in isolation. This funding represents our commitment to fostering biomedical and clinical innovation through collaboration."

The research grants will support a range of projects, from developing new approaches to health disparities in rural communities to understanding how information shared between clinicians and patients can be used to create personalized approaches for improving health and wellness. By working together, the teams will be well positioned to make significant strides in improving how translational research, new technologies, and health information converge to create improved outcomes for patients across Tennessee and beyond.

"By leveraging the strengths of each campus, we can achieve breakthroughs that would be impossible to accomplish in isolation"

Robert Craft, MD

"We are excited to see the transdisciplinary innovations that will emerge from these collaborations," said Brad Day, associate vice chancellor for research at UT Knoxville. "The diversity of expertise represented on these teams, coupled with the breadth of health challenges across the state, means our combined efforts will not only advance scientific knowledge but also translate into tangible benefits for patients."

The projects and campus collaborators are:

A project using machine learning-based processes to improve disease management through personalized evidence-based recommendations, reducing disparities in treatment and outcomes. Bob Davis, MD, director of the Center for Biomedical Informatics in the Department of Pediatrics at UT Health Science Center in Memphis; Qing Charles Cao, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at UT Knoxville; Angela Pfammatter, PhD, senior methodologist in the Department of Public Health, UT Knoxville; Matthew Mihelic, MD, associate professor in the Department of Family Medicine at UT Health Science Center College of Medicine in Knoxville; Agricola Odoi, PhD, professor, and Jennifer Lord, PhD, assistant professor, both at the UT College of Veterinary Medicine in Knoxville; and Wenjun Zhou, PhD, professor in the Department of Business Analytics and Statistics at UT Knoxville.

A project using personalized postoperative pain therapy to reduce opiate-related adverse events and total morphine milligram equivalents needed to relieve pain. Bob Davis, MD, director, and Akram Mohammed, PhD, bioinformatics scientist, both at the Center for Biomedical Informatics at UT Health Science Center in Memphis; Paul Allen, DSc, professor in the Department of Anesthesiology at UT Health Science Center College of Medicine in Knoxville.

A study of the impact of periodontal treatment on rheumatoid arthritis outcomes to improve the quality of life for patients with those comorbidities. Anastasios Karydis, PhD, and Douglas Dixon, DMD, PhD, associate professors with the Department of Periodontology at UT Health Science Center in Memphis; Syed Hasan Raza, MD, associate professor in the Department of Rheumatology at UT Health Science Center in Memphis; Paul Terry, PhD, professor in the Department of Medicine at the UT Health Science Center College of Medicine in Knoxville.

An investigation of the geographic, sociodemographic, and clinical barriers rural patients face during cardiac rehabilitation. R. Eric Heidel, PhD, professor in the Department of Surgery, and Raj Baljepally, PhD, cardiologist in the Department of Cardiology, both at UT Health Science Center College of Medicine in Knoxville; and Phoebe Tran, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Public Health at UT Knoxville.

A study of a novel adipose-derived stem cell tissue system for studying the complexities of human cytomegalovirus latency. Tom Masi, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Surgery at UT Health Science Center College of Medicine in Knoxville; and Tim Sparer, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Microbiology at UT Knoxville.

An examination of the association between the incidence of ventilator-assisted pneumonia and the complex microbiome associated with environmental endotracheal tube contamination. Rajiv Dhand, MD, professor in the Department of Medicine at UT Health Science Center College of Medicine in Knoxville; Qiang He, PhD, professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at UT Knoxville.

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