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Federal funding allows the college to continue innovative research abroad program, which is one of only two in Florida, to continue through 2013.
2009 MHIRT faculty team and students (caption at end of article)
By Mary Sudasassi
The National Center on Minority Health & Health Disparities (NCMHD) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded $1.2 million to fund the Minority Health & Health Disparities International Research Training (MHIRT) program at FIU’s College of Nursing & Health Sciences (FIU CNHS) for another five student cohorts, from 2009-2013.
The MHIRT program is a component of a NCMHD long-term strategy to establish a cadre of biomedical, behavioral and social science researchers working to reduce the disparate health burdens among underserved populations in the United States. MHIRT awards help U.S. minority students to benefit from intensive, short-term, international research training opportunities as part of their academic learning. These opportunities are for undergraduate and graduate students who are from minority populations, who are usually underrepresented in basic science, biomedical, clinical or behavioral health research career fields.
MHIRT at FIU: one of only two in Florida
FIU is one of only two universities in Florida to offer the MHIRT “research abroad” program, which encourages minority students to pursue careers in health care research to help advocate for minorities and the underserved. FIU’s MHIRT program was established through the efforts of Kathryn Anderson, associate nursing professor and Marie-Luise Friedemann, nursing professor emerita. The research focus of the program’s efforts examines chronic illness and its impact on families and vulnerable populations.
The MHIRT program at FIU CNHS was originally funded from 2005-2009 and available to students from health-related professions. With the new funding, the MHIRT program will be offered to qualified students across all disciplines of the College of Nursing & Health Sciences, to target ,specifically, the college’s health disciplines. Once selected, students take additional applied-research and cultural-immersion courses to prepare them for their study abroad.
Additional funds help expand program enrollment & reach – new partner in Thailand
With the new funding, the MHIRT program can now accommodate 40 additional students and will include an additional research partner site in northern Thailand. Siriporn Chirawatkul, professor of nursing and director of the Centre for Research and Training on Gender and Women’s Health at Khon Kaen University (Khon Kaen, Thailand), joins the nine-person FIU MHIRT faculty mentor team comprised of:
|
University |
Location |
Research Mentor(s) |
| Florida International University | Miami, Florida, USA | Kathryn Anderson, PhD, RN andMarie-Luise Friedemann, PhD, RN |
| Universidad Nacional de Colombia | Bogotá, Colombia | Pilar Amaya-Rey, PhD, RN |
| Private University of Witten/Herdecke | Witten, Germany | Elke Donath, PhD |
| University of Bielefeld | Bielefeld, Germany | Andreas Buescher, PhD, RN |
| Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College | London, England | Nick Bouras, MD andDeborah Robson, MScN, RN |
| University of Rome “La Sapienza” | Rome, Italy | Julita Sansoni, EdD, RN |
| Kohn Kaen University | Khon Kaen, Thailand | Siriporn Chirawatkul, PhD, RN |
According to FIU’s Anderson, the program’s director, the FIU MHIRT faculty mentor team is committed to exploring patient and family dynamics that influence health disparities, individual and family health, health behaviors, health responses and individual and family quality of life, particularly in vulnerable families.
“The purpose of this project is to create an international research collaboration that will focus on cross-cultural research in chronic illness care,” said Anderson. “Under the direction and guidance of these accomplished international research mentors, our students will travel abroad to learn and assist in research on a variety of ethnic- and minority-related health care issues in these different countries.”
MHIRT students are paired with team mentors and preceptors to assist with the work being undertaken on the following research topics:
- Examining the impact of breast cancer on couple interaction and relationships (Anderson)
- Identifying caregiver issues and the role of family dynamics in providing care to the chronically ill elderly (Friedemann)
- Resolving grief issues post cancer surgery and in caregivers coping with Alzheimer’s Disease (Sansoni)
- Studying how a society’s health care structures and financial systems interface and influence cooperation among academia, the health care settings and health disciplines (Donath)
- Assessing the impact of government policies on the experience of family care giving for a chronically ill family member, particularly in home care (Buescher)
- Recognizing the adjustment of families and family caregivers to stressors of poverty and illness while examining family risk and health dynamics in multi-cultural populations in seven Latin American countries (Amaya-Rey)
- Determining the impact of factors affecting physical health, smoking intervention, social isolation and medication adherence on mentally ill and mentally handicapped populations (Robson & Bouras)
- Promoting mental health, gender-responsive health services and prevention of depression in primary care and hospital settings (Chirawatkul)
“Thanks to the MHIRT program, we have seen our students return with a greater understanding of the benefits and importance of health care research in evidence-based standards of care,” said Anderson. “This past year, two undergraduate MHIRT scholars each were co-authors on journal articles developed during their research study abroad.”
CNHS Dean Divina Grossman commented, “The MHIRT program has had a tremendous, life-changing impact on the students involved. Most of these students are the first in their families to go to college. Additionally, their experience in the MHIRT represents the first time they have traveled anywhere outside of Miami.” Grossman congratulated Anderson and Friedemann for bringing the MHIRT program to FIU. “Not only has the project provided our students with new and wonderful opportunities for academic growth, but it has also motivated them to consider careers in health care research as another avenue to meet the health needs of minority and underserved populations in a culturally competent framework.”
CAPTION: 2009 MHIRT Faculty Team & Students. Standing L to R: Nathalie Mendoza, nursing (BSN) student; Anilady Casserino, BSN student; Marie-Luise Friedemann; Maribel Rey, BSN student; Alison Garces, occupational therapy graduate student; Julita Sansoni; T. Dianne Aguilera, BSN student; Kimberly Dizon, BSN student; Pilar Amaya Rey; Elke Donath; Anna Rita Marucci, lecturer, Univ. La Sapienza; Jerica Duverge, BSN student; Johanna Feutchinger, faculty preceptor, Freiburg, Germany. Seated L to R: Kathryn Anderson; Andreas Buescher; and Doris Scheffer, professor/dean of public health and the Institute for Nursing Science, Univ. of Bielefeld.
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