# PATHS

> **NIH NIH R25** · VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY · 2022 · $268,463

## Abstract

Pathways for Authentic Teaching of Health Sciences (PATHS) is a five year project
designed to build health literacy knowledge and skills supported by a culturally responsive lens.
PATHS will provide teachers and students in historically underserved rural and urban Virgnia
communities with career awareness for the various educational trajectories and opportunities
provided by health professions (Medical Lab Sciences, PT and OT, Radiation Science, and
Dental Hygiene). PATHS will engage 60 secondary teachers (grades 7 through 12) over four
years in a model program that provides curriculum and pedagogical support (professional
development) guided by culturally responsive practices. Our aim is to support teachers and
ultimately students in learning about the skills and content of health professions, the impact of
social determinants of health (SDH), and to develop their ability to work with large data sets
through medical tools related to precision health. The curriculum tools will be web-based
modularized units to address five areas of health professions, SDH, and precision health and
will provide content-rich and inquiry-based exposure to careers and skills necessary for health
professions that are applicable to science, health/physical education, and career and technology
education classrooms. Teachers will participate in two summer institutes with support during
school-year follow-up sessions and virtual coaching. The project team along with the Virginia
Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) will support teachers and their students with sharing
their learning at Community Health Fairs, STEM Fairs, and other student research conferences.
 PATHS will include both formative and summative evaluation. The formative evaluation
will use a treatment-group-only approach to gauge the development and implementation of the
summer institute and curricular tools. The summative evaluation will involve a
quasi-experimental design to compare treatment and control teachers. Teachers will be
matched using propensity score matching to increase the design rigor. Surveys and focus group
interviews will be used to measure teacher and student learning and development of new skills.
If the PATHS program is successful in accomplishing these aims and increasing awareness and
understanding among students and teachers, we anticipate increased enrollment in programs in
STEM-H and an improved understanding of health care issues.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10450523
- **Project number:** 1R25GM142033-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Lisa M Abrams
- **Activity code:** R25 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $268,463
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-09-21 → 2027-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10450523

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10450523, PATHS (1R25GM142033-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10450523. Licensed CC0.

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