Integrating Special Populations

The NIH Clinical and Translational Science Award aims to accelerate health discoveries and improve health outcomes for all people. Minority and rural populations have not always benefited from medical advances as much as other groups, and pediatric and geriatric populations are often left out of clinical studies. Led by Pilar Sanjuan, PhD, CTSC’s Integrating Special Populations (ISP) is working to enhance opportunities for underserved and special populations across the lifespan to participate in and benefit from clinical and translational research.

The ISP team helps researchers consider various research methods and unique therapies, practices, or interventions that may be needed to reach these populations. Other activities include outreach to clinicians and community stakeholders, clinical research education for non-experts and underserved communities, and training for investigators on creating more inclusive protocols and recruitment strategies.

ISP Committee

The CTSC ISP committee is made up of experienced UNM HSC investigators and staff in community and clinical research. Committee members have expertise in recruiting and retaining special populations, and have an understanding of cross-sectional and longitudinal differences across special populations.

RESPONSE Team

The RESPONSE team consists of experienced faculty and staff with mixed-methods expertise that provide pre-proposal consultations for local investigators and cross-hub collaborators. Consultations will focus on best practices and considerations in New Mexico’s special populations, and identify and connect investigators to potential engagement partners, collaborators, and UNM CTSC resources and services. We coordinate closely with other CTSC cores such as the Community Engagement and Research Core and Participant and Clinical Interactions. Consults currently are occurring via web-based technology. To request a consultation, please click here.

Community Health Network

The Community Health Network serves as a bridge between UNM investigators and community members around New Mexico, with an emphasis on including underrepresented populations in health research. For more information, please visit the Community Health Network webpage.

Health Experiences Research Network

The Health Experience Research Network (HERN) brings patients’ voices to American health care. HERN uses the specific qualitative research methodology Database of Individual Patient Experience (DIPEx) developed by Oxford University and now established in 14 countries. A particular emphasis is engaging the voices of those seldom heard. This rigorous team science approach uses dialogue, consumer engagement, and well-established theoretical methods to gather, analyze, and disseminate patients' diverse experiences with healthcare.

Launched in 2014, HERN is the United States chapter of DIPEx International and is a partnership among researchers at the University of New Mexico, Oregon Health and Science University, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Johns Hopkins University, Yale University, the University of Utah-Salt Lake City, and the Veterans Administration.

For more information about HERN, visit healthexperiencesusa.org. At UNM, this effort is led by Nancy Pandhi, MD, MPH, PhD. For more information about HERN at UNM, please contact our CTSC HERN Lead Heidi Rishel Brakey.

Resources

• Best practices for integrating special populations in grant submissions with a short cycle deadline. Integrating Special Populations Committee, University of New Mexico Clinical and Translational Science Center.
• Checklist for Best Practices in Community Engaged Research: Community Engagement and Research Core, University of New Mexico Clinical and Translational Science Center.
• Evaluating sources of health information in an effort to stop the spread of misinformation: Questions to ask yourself. In English, Spanish, Navajo, Vietnamese, and Arabic. Community Health Network, University of New Mexico Clinical and Translational Science Center; the Health Sciences Library and Informatics Center, University of New Mexico Clinical and Translational Science Center; New Mexico Department of Health.
• Ways to Engage with New Mexico Health Councils
  Ways to Engage with New Mexico Health Councils is a document geared towards researchers, clinicians, academics, etc. to help guide and orient towards attending, presenting, and creating meaningful relationships with New Mexico Health Councils.

• Community Conversations about Health Research
  In 2023 a series of community conversations took place with different health council members from around the state of New Mexico. The conversations centered around what individuals and communities need in order to make an informed decision about participating in health research and projects. A two-page summary with invaluable key points was created to share with researchers and community members.

  Northwest Community Conversation	Northeast Community Conversation	Overall Community Conversation
  Southwest Community Conversation	Southeast Community Conversation

Please follow this link to find various other resources related to integrating special populations in health research. These include resources and best practices related to inclusion and equity, ethics, community engagement, doing research in a pandemic, qualitative research, as well as ISP-related opportunities (e.g., funding). Please email us with any additional resources you think would be helpful for this site.