Service, outreach, & educational programs

Many ATSU grant projects aim to advance the use of innovative health professions teaching methods or care delivery strategies to improve outcomes for students, patients, faculty, and practicing providers. A sampling of such projects includes:

• Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services awarded $1.8 million over 3 years to Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine (ATSU-KCOM). The funding supports the launch and operation of a statewide Graduate Medical Education (GME) Technical Assistance Center offering expertise and strategic guidance to strengthen and expand Missouri’s GME community
• U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) – Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) awarded the Arizona School of Health Sciences (ATSU-ASHS) physician assistant (PA) program three multiyear grants:
  • $3 million in scholarships for Recruiting, Retaining, and Placing Disadvantaged Students as Primary Care PAs in Underserved Communities.
  • $1.4 million for Primary Care Training and Enhancement (PCTE)—funding Primary Care Physician Assistants as Change Leaders: Improving Access to Quality Behavioral and Mental Health for the Nation's Rural and Underserved.
  • $1.4 million for PCTE Addressing Rural Health Disparities: Transformative Primary Care PA Education and Preceptor Development.
• Delta Dental of Arizona awarded $401,826 over 10 years to Arizona School of Dentistry & Oral Health (ATSU-ASDOH) for the Smiles Across Pinal County Sealant Program. This initiative provides sealants, fluoride varnish, oral health education, and dental referrals to thousands of children from low-income families in the Apache Junction Unified School District.
• HHS - HRSA has awarded 36 years of continuous funding to ATSU-KCOM to advance statewide Area Health Education Center (AHEC) activity focused on transforming the state's primary care workforce and improving access to care.
• St. Louis City Senior Fund awarded Missouri School of Dentistry & Oral Health (ATSU-MOSDOH) $1.7+ million for Improving Quality of Life: Oral Care for STL Older Adults (OCOA) to support comprehensive dental care, transportation assistance, and patient navigation support to low-income seniors.
• Vitalyst Health Foundation awarded ATSU-ASHS Audiology $256,242 over 6 years for the Maricopa County Hearing Screening & Assistance Project to expand availability of affordable hearing services to low-income, uninsured, and underserved populations.
• The ATSU Interdisciplinary Research Committee awarded $30,000 to ATSU-MOSDOH for Student-Doctor Translators at its St. Louis Dental Education and Oral Health Center

Basic science research

Through basic science research, ATSU faculty investigate observable phenomena to understand the causal mechanisms underlying human body function in both health and disease. These studies often involve laboratory experiments using cell cultures, animal models, or physiological systems, with faculty testing hypotheses across various scientific disciplines. A sampling of ATSU’s sponsored basic science research includes:

• National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) and University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio awarded $92,393 to Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine (ATSU-KCOM) Pharmacology to study Autonomic PASC Syndromes Arising from Functional Autoantibodies against G-Protein Coupled Receptors.
• NIH National Institute on Aging awarded $387,403 to ATSU-KCOM Physiology through the R15 grant mechanism to study Respiratory Dysfunction in Alzheimer’s Disease and its Link to Oxidative Damage within the Brain Stem.
• NIH National Institute of General Medical Sciences awarded $366,532 to ATSU-KCOM Physiology through the R15 mechanism to study Atomic-scale Refinement of CFTR and TAAR1 Molecular Models for the Study of Drug Binding.
• The ATSU Interdisciplinary Research Committee awarded $30,000 to ATSU-KCOM for Investigating the Role of Homocysteine in Age-related Macular Degeneration: Evaluation of Coenzyme Q10 as a Potential Therapeutic Intervention.

Clinical science research

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) define clinical science research as a branch of healthcare science that determines the safety and efficacy of medications, devices, diagnostics, and treatment regimens intended for human use. These undertakings may include therapeutic interventions, clinical trials, and development of innovative technologies. Examples of ATSU's funded clinical science research include:

• National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Cancer Institute and Arizona State University awarded $859,359 to Arizona School of Dentistry & Oral Health (ATSU-ASDOH) for the U01 research project, Southwest EDRN Clinical Validation Center for Head and Neck Cancer. The project aims to develop and validate non-invasive, home-based screening for early-stage human papillomavirus (HPV)-related head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.
• Viome Life Sciences, Inc., awarded $100,000 to Missouri School of Dentistry & Oral Health (ATSU-MOSDOH) for a clinical trial assessing the Validity of CancerDetect for Oral and Throat among Patients with a Suspicion of Cancer
• The American Association of Orthodontists Foundation (AAOF) awarded $30,000 to ATSU-ASDOH for Accuracy, Reliability and Clinical Feasibility of AI-assisted Remote Orthodontic Tooth Movement Monitoring Technology.
• The National Athletic Trainers' Association (NATA) awarded Arizona School of Health Sciences (ATSU-ASHS) Athletic Training $25,000 for Former Residents' and Employers' Perceptions of the Impact of Residency Training in Athletic Training, which explores perceptions regarding the impact of residency training among athletic trainers and their employers.
• The ATSU Interdisciplinary Research Committee awarded $9,732 to ATSU-ASDOH to compare Efficacy in Correcting Tooth Rotations and Patient's Adaptation Between Traditional Aligners and Graphy Direct-Printed Aligners.

Educational research

As an institution of higher education, ATSU is building capacity to study the pedagogical processes, human factors, interactions, and institutional influences that shape educational outcomes. Educational research scholarship seeks to describe, understand, and explain how learning occurs and how formal and informal contexts impact learning outcomes. Examples of ATSU’s funded educational research include:

• The American Medical Association (AMA) awarded $30,000 to the School of Osteopathic Medicine in Arizona (ATSU-SOMA) for Professional Development and Scholarly Activity Weeks to Enhance the Master Adaptive Learning Curriculum, which evaluates students’ progression as they become Master Adaptive Learners following four weeks of unique case-based curriculum.
• The American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM) awarded $10,000 to ATSU-SOMA for Development of Chatbox Website for On-Call Nurse Messaging Simulation, supporting innovation in clinical communication training.
• The ATSU Interdisciplinary Research Committee awarded $9,835 to Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine (ATSU-KCOM) for Integrating Predictive and Generative AI into Basic Sciences Medical Education: A Pilot Study, exploring the use of artificial intelligence in enhancing medical education.