The Arizona Biomedical Research Centre (ABRC) within ADHS was created to use tobacco taxes and Arizona State Lottery proceeds to identify and support innovative biomedical research that improves the health of all Arizonans. Its outreach includes workshops and other educational activities across Arizona.
For the seventh year, ARBC this summer supported an educational series to develop regional and statewide engagement in health and health equity research. The series, which attracted more than 400 participants, included the following programs:
The Power and Promise of the Community Health Worker: More than 175 people from across Arizona and throughout the nation gathered both online and at Northern Arizona University to discuss the future of community health workers, trusted community members who serve vulnerable populations with whom they share ethnicity, language, and life experiences. The event explored key legislation that will impact their financing and sustainability, discussed how health centers can integrate and finance community health workers and examined how they can address social determinants of health and meet key health care accreditation milestones.
Incarceration and COVID-19: COVID-19 has had a high impact on jails and prisons. This workshop discussed the impact on correctional facilities at a local, tribal, and national level and how different players and institutions have attempted to combat COVID-19 through practice and research. The workshop was held as a collaboration of the centre, The Center for Health Equity Research, and The Covid Prison Project.
Adolescent Health: This workshop, with about half of the participants taking part remotely, focused on best practices to support Arizona youth. In addition to academic leadership from Northern Arizona University, the event included a youth panel involving an Arizona State University pre-med student and high school students from Flagstaff and Phoenix.
Resilient Communities and Sustainable Health: The fourth annual Yuma Forum: Resilient Communities and Sustainable Health Equity was sponsored by the centre and the Center for Health Equity Research. The workshop included three breakout discussions that had decisionmakers, health officials, educators, and researchers focusing on reducing health inequities through collective community engagement and health research capacity in the Yuma/Sonora border region.
Lived Black Experience: How does racism embedded in policies, practices and interpersonal interactions influence the well-being of Black Arizonans? A workshop in Flagstaff brought together community leaders, faculty, students, and community members from across the state to examine health equity issues that have historically and currently affected Arizonans who are Black.
The Arizona Biomedical Research Centre provides direct grants to biomedical researchers. It also supports researchers to become successful and globally competitive. The centre also supports the collection and public banking of donated umbilical cord blood and other birth tissue for use in research and lifesaving treatments.
