# HAWAII CLINICAL RESEARCH NETWORK FOR HEALTH EQUITY

> **NIH NIH UG3** · UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII AT MANOA · 2023 · $1,493,500

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
The overall goal of this application is to organize a local consortia of ambulatory primary care settings in Hawaii
to form the Hawaii Clinical Research Network for Health Equity (HICRN-HE). The clinical research network will
focus on the health disparity needs of the Indigenous Pacific People (IPP)–defined as Native Hawaiians, other
Pacific Islanders, and Filipinos. The 2 largest health systems in Hawaii providing primary care to a substantial
number of IPP [the Queen’s Health System (QHS) and Hawaii Pacific Health (HPH)] and Federally Qualified
Health Centers on Oahu will be invited to join the HICRN-HE. The UG3 (first 2 years of the grant) phase will be
devoted to developing the infrastructure for HICRN-HE. A secure analyzable and regularly updated patient
data repository derived from electronic health records from QHS and HPH will be established to support
database analyses of health disparity issues. A Clinical and Translational Research Registry will be created
and maintained to link interested local researchers and their research capabilities with those seeking
researchers for clinical research/trials. The HICRN-HE will develop a framework for monitoring the
implementation phase of HICRN-HE clinical studies to ensure patient safety, adherence to study protocol, and
ability to meet recruitment goals. The UH3 phase (years 3-5 of the grant) will be devoted to implementing 2
projects under the thematic health disparity problem of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD). Project 1
will focus on NAFLD over the Lifespan in Hawaii and assess the prevalence, risk, co-morbidities, and age at
onset of NAFLD in IPP. Project 2 will focus on rates and risks of NAFLD among our sexual and gender minority
groups living with HIV to uncover the HIV-specific factors that may contribute to risk above and beyond those
in the general population.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10709897
- **Project number:** 5UG3MD018358-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII AT MANOA
- **Principal Investigator:** Venkataraman Balaraman
- **Activity code:** UG3 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2023
- **Award amount:** $1,493,500
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2022-09-24 → 2024-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10709897

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10709897, HAWAII CLINICAL RESEARCH NETWORK FOR HEALTH EQUITY (5UG3MD018358-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10709897. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*