Tagged: National Institutes of Health

Virginia Commonwealth University psychology professor Cecelia Valrie was honored by the National Institutes of Health's HEAL Initiative for her collaborative research into improving pain management for pediatric patients with sickle cell disease.

The partnership program aims to help junior faculty acquire the requisite skill sets to procure external grants and enhance scholarly productivity. It will also facilitate mentoring opportunities, lecture exchanges, shared equipment, and student training initiatives in biomedical research.

A JBHE analysis of the list of the 75 members of the latest cohort elected into the National Academy of Medicine finds that it appears that seven, or 9 percent, are Black. Most have current affiliations with academic institutions in the United States.

Sharon Jones-Eversley, an assistant professor of family studies, has been honored with the distinguished PRIDE Award. PRIDE is an acronym for the Program to Increase Diversity Among Individuals Engaged in Health-Related Research.

The study found that mentoring program for science faculty at these institutions resulted in an increase in the number of published articles in peer-reviewed journals, an increase in grants won, and an increase in professional and career activities.

In 1951 Henrietta Lacks' cancer cells were extracted for research without her knowledge. Researchers were able to keep her cancer cells alive and they continued to replicate in the laboratory. The so-called HeLa cells are still used in research today and have been used to make important scientific advances.

A 2011 paper hinted that Black scholars faced racial bias in grant approvals from the National Institutes of Health. But a new study finds that when the total dollar value of the grants and the total number of programs funded are compared, there is no evidence of racial bias.

The university will receive more than $8 million in research grants over the next five years.