Justin Gatwood, PhD, MPH, assistant professor of Clinical Pharmacy, has been selected as one of two recipients of a UTHSC Translational Research Award funded by Institute for Research Innovation, Synergy, and Health Equity (iRISE) and UTHSC. A total of four faculty in the department of clinical pharmacy applied for the award including Drs. Gatwood, Theodore Cory, Zheyi Hu, and Emma Tillman. Beginning in July 2015 Dr. Gatwood will participate in a iRISE special training program. In addition, Dr. Gatwood will receive funding for his research for a minimum of 18 months, with the opportunity to apply for an additional year if needed
The research supported by this award will be in collaboration with the Veterans Administration, using their national electronic health record database to examine outcomes in veterans with diabetes. The aim is to uncover disparities in outcomes, independent of medication non adherence and other characteristics that may signal the potential for underlying genetic influence on treatment response. The goal is to understand not just if, but where, disparities exist across the country and these differences will be mapped to suggest regional similarities or variations in outcomes. As the Million Veterans Program expands, their results may then be used to direct future efforts to understand genetically-driven treatment response.