Congratulations to Asma Ali, PharmD, PhD (Postdoctoral Trainee) and David Mallinson, PhD (Postdoctoral Trainee) on receiving pilot awards from the UW Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (ICTR) Advancing Health Equity and Diversity (AHEAD) program! Ali and Mallinson were each awarded $10,000 in seed funding to support health equity research.
Asma Ali, PharmD, PhD (Left) and David Mallinson, PhD
Developing the RAMADAN Instrument: Recognizing Access and Management Associated Diabetes Adversities in Nationwide Muslims in the US (RAMADAN) – Ali
Over 3.45 million Muslims live in the US. One important pillar of Islam is fasting for a month (Ramadan) every year. From dawn to sunset, Muslims do not take anything by mouth including medications. Previous research in Muslim majority countries showed that Muslims with type 2 diabetes (T2D) who fast during Ramadan experience severe hypoglycemic events more frequently during Ramadan compared to other months of the year. Preliminary findings from our current research with US Muslims with T2D showed that, although patients explicitly communicated their preferences for fasting during Ramadan, participants experienced dismissal of their requests for guidance to safe fasting from clinicians. Participants reported suffering diabetes complications while fasting because they self-adjusted medication regimens and did not know the right way to take medications during Ramadan. To bridge the communication gap between clinicians and patients, we aim to develop a patient-centered assessment instrument. This instrument will help clinicians identify barriers to diabetes self-management during Ramadan. This patient-facing instrument will be used to facilitate patient-clinician communication and problem identification to help clinicians’ ability to strengthen patients’ self-management of their T2D during Ramadan.
Racial and Geographic Disparities of Prenatal Care Coordination in Wisconsin – Mallinson
Prenatal Care Coordination (PNCC) is a Wisconsin Medicaid program that supplements standard prenatal care with tailored medical, educational, and social services to prevent adverse preterm birth and low birth weight. Using a longitudinal cohort that links Wisconsin birth records to Medicaid claims data (2008-2020), this project will investigate two lines of inquiry: whether PNCC assessment and uptake rates vary by race/ethnicity, rurality, and region; and whether PNCC’s effect on gestational age or birth weight varies by race/ethnicity, rurality, and region. These findings will determine if PNCC benefits populations at greatest risk of adverse birth outcomes and, in turn, inform efforts to improve PNCC outreach and impact.
ICTR AHEAD is a mentored professional development program for UW-Madison postdoctoral scholars working in the health sciences that identify as members of groups that have been historically underrepresented in the sciences. The AHEAD program seeks to address gaps in professional support and training often experienced by postdoctoral fellows by providing a cohort experience and supplemental mentoring.
Published: May 2023