Pictured: External Advisory Council members, RMATRIX-II leaders, staff and research investigators at Hoʻoulu ʻAina in Kalihi Valley.
On February 15-16, 2018, the RMATRIX II External Advisory Council (EAC) went on the road in Hawaiʻi as project leaders gave them an up-close look at how the University of Hawaiʻi (UH) health sciences research is based within island communities. Together, the community and the researchers are trying to improve health.
To provide the EAC with a deeper understanding of RMATRIX II, the meeting was conducted at three sites, including the University of Hawaiʻi John A. Burns School of Medicine, Kōkua Kalihi Valley (KKV) Comprehensive Family Services and a KKV land-based program in Kalihi Valley called “Hoʻoulu ʻAina,” meaning “to grow the land” and “to grow because of the land,” based on the belief that in Native Hawaiian culture, the health of the land and the health of the people are one.
“RMATRIX-II” stands for the second phase of the Research Multidisciplinary And Translational Research Infrastructure Expansion project at the UH John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM).
The aim is to establish the infrastructure needed to build translational research synergy, to foster collaborations and partnerships. Such research infrastructure is invaluable not only for addressing significant existing health disparities, but also for the development of skilled investigators from Hawaiʻi.
The eight members of the EAC are nationally-renowned scholars and policy leaders committed to research aimed at eliminating health disparities. They share the RMATRIX vision of educating the next generation of multidisciplinary and translational researchers trying to improve the health of Hawaiʻi citizens who suffer disproportionately from genetic, environmental and socio-economic-related disparities in health and healthcare access.