# Translational Approaches to Health Disparities in Lung, Sleep, and Pandemics

> **NIH NIH R25** · UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA · 2024 · $341,521

## Abstract

The nation, including the state of Arizona with a population that is 38.5% Latino and Native American, suffers
from tremendous health disparities contributed to, in part, by the absence of a diverse biomedical research and
healthcare workforce. Never has there been a greater need for health equity that needs to be addressed by a
diverse research workforce and infrastructure than during and following the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19)
pandemic during which time our minority communities were disproportionately affected by the pandemic due to
respiratory failure and pulmonary-sleep manifestations of post-acute sequelae of COVID (PASC). In this
renewal application, we propose to build upon our past successes with innovative approaches and best
practices to advance research education tailored for qualified PRIDE trainees. The overarching goal of our
program is to provide advanced research training experiences and long-term mentoring in an interprofessional
environment to qualified candidates -- junior faculty and transitioning postdoctoral scientists from diverse
backgrounds, including those from groups that are underrepresented in the biomedical sciences -- who are
committed to investigating the factors responsible for differences in health among populations as they pertain
to lung, sleep-related breathing disorders, and the consequences of the pandemic to these systems. Our
proposal is to redesign, organize, and implement a NHLBI mission-focused Summer Institute program that will
support AiRE and program faculty to nationally recruit eligible and highly-qualified individuals in order to
provide advanced training experiences and long-term mentoring that will enable them to develop a research
program and work with their home institution to obtain NIH funding and develop their career and gain
leadership skills. The research training experiences will be tailored to the trainee and designed to enhance
their research skills, experiences, and knowledge base in lung and sleep-related breathing disorders research
with attention to the specific scientific area of infectious and immunobiological consequences of the pandemic
on lung and sleep using cross-cutting methodological approaches. The broader goal of the AiRE training
program is to create a rigorous interprofessional research training program that attracts highly-qualified early
career faculty and transitioning post-doctoral scientists, offering them the academic and collaborative research
experience that supports a successful and productive career in the study of disparities in lung, sleep-related
breathing disorders, and their pandemic-related consequences. The impact would be to engender a diverse
biomedical research workforce in lung, sleep, and their pandemic-related consequences that can help us better
understand health disparities and promote health equity.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10805714
- **Project number:** 2R25HL126140-10
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA
- **Principal Investigator:** FRANCISCO A MORENO
- **Activity code:** R25 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $341,521
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 2014-09-15 → 2028-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10805714

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10805714, Translational Approaches to Health Disparities in Lung, Sleep, and Pandemics (2R25HL126140-10). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-04 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10805714. Licensed CC0.

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