Ohio University Health Collaborative to host research symposium

The Ohio College Well being Collaborative will launch its first official analysis occasion on Nov. 4, the 2022 Well being Students Analysis Symposium which is able to characteristic keynote speaker Maureen Corcoran, director of the Ohio Division of Medicaid. The occasion is free and open to the general public.

The OHIO Well being Collaborative includes the Faculty of Well being Sciences and Professions (CHSP), the Heritage Faculty of Osteopathic Drugs and the Voinovich College for Management and Public Service. The initiative employs cross-college collaborations to assist the well being and wellbeing of communities throughout Ohio, with a give attention to social determinants of well being.  

Whereas the universities have labored collectively on quite a few actions, comparable to administering COVID-19 vaccinations throughout the pandemic, the analysis symposium is the primary joint occasion conceived and arranged by the collaborative.

“Analysis is without doubt one of the most crucial parts wanted for developments in well being care. It’s the important thing to curing illness and evolving the observe of medication,” Ken Johnson, D.O., Heritage Faculty government dean and OHIO’s chief medical affairs officer, stated. “So, it made sense that the collaborative appeared to spotlight progressive pupil analysis, which is addressing probably the most pervasive medical wants of our communities.”

On the symposium, 63 well being analysis research by college students and postdoctoral fellows from Ohio College will likely be offered. The analysis contains matters comparable to suicide prevention, breastfeeding practices, second-hand smoke publicity, kind 1 diabetes, femur fractures, COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy, and far more.

“The purpose of the symposium is to boost consciousness of the analysis being performed by well being students on the college that impacts the state of well being in Ohio and past,” stated Voinovich College Dean Mark Weinberg, Ph.D. “Collectively, our efforts will result in stronger outcomes for public well being, extra sturdy experiences for college kids and elevated alternatives for partnership inside and outdoors the college.”

The analysis symposium will likely be held Friday, Nov. 4 on the Athens, Dublin and Cleveland campuses. In Athens, the occasion will happen in Heritage Corridor with remarks from the deans at 11 a.m. adopted by a poster awards presentation and the keynote speech by Corcoran at midday.

Corcoran was appointed director of Medicaid in 2019. She started her profession as a nurse serving as assistant director of nursing for College Hospitals in Cleveland and a scientific teacher for Case Western Reserve College. She later labored as assistant deputy and performing deputy for Medicaid on the Ohio Division of Jobs and Household Providers. She additionally based and served as president of Vorys Well being Care Advisors, a well being care coverage consulting agency.

“Typically probably the most progressive analysis takes place when completely different fields come collectively. That collaboration is reflective of the interprofessional nature of well being care right this moment,” stated Faculty of Well being Sciences and Professions Interim Dean John McCarthy, Ph.D. “With that mindset, the college of our schools routinely accomplice whether or not it’s within the lab or within the subject exploring progressive interventions centered on social determinants of well being.”