UAMS Invites Public to First Community Scientist Academy

By David Robinson

Sponsored by the UAMS Translational Research Institute, the Community Scientist Academy will be every Thursday in September, beginning Sept. 1, from 5 – 7:30 p.m., on the UAMS campus in Little Rock, Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health building, room G228. The Academy is being offered at no cost to participants. Validated parking is available in Parking 2.

For questions and to RSVP, contact Nicki Spencer at ndspencer@uams.edu, or (501) 526-6629.

Participants in the Community Scientist Academy will interact with UAMS researchers and community members involved in research in small roundtable discussions and other interactive sessions. They will learn:

  • How researchers decide what health issues to study
  • The research process
  • The benefits of individual and community organizations’ involvement in research
  • Ways they can volunteer to help with research such as serving on community advisory boards, community review boards for individual studies, as a community grant reviewer and as a research participant
  • How a volunteer organization can become involved

“The Academy will create a group of community members who can influence research by serving on steering committees, mentoring committees, review committees, and research projects, and in other leadership roles,” said Kate Stewart, M.D., M.P.H., whose research is conducted in partnership with Arkansas communities.

UAMS researchers conduct clinical studies and community-based studies. Its clinical studies are conducted at UAMS Medical Center and in clinics across the state, including at its main campus in Little Rock, Northwest Campus, eight Regional Centers, Arkansas Children’s Research Institute, and at the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System.

“We hope the Community Scientist Academy can help demystify the research we do at UAMS,” said Stewart, who leads the Translational Research Institute’s Community Engagement program. “It’s critically important that people understand what we do because we can’t improve health without their help.”

UAMS is the state’s only comprehensive academic health center, with colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Professions and Public Health; a graduate school; a hospital; a northwest Arkansas regional campus; a statewide network of regional centers; and seven institutes: the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, the Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, the Myeloma Institute, the Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, the Psychiatric Research Institute, the Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging and the Translational Research Institute. It is the only adult Level 1 trauma center in the state. UAMS has 3,021 students, 789 medical residents and five dental residents. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 10,000 employees, including about 1,000 physicians and other professionals who provide care to patients at UAMS, Arkansas Children’s Hospital, the VA Medical Center and UAMS regional centers throughout the state. Visit www.uams.edu or www.uamshealth.com. Find us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or Instagram.