NACDS Foundation today announced its Request for Proposals (RFP) awardees. Each award recipient submitted community impact project proposals that seek to address at least one of the following issues: enhancing access to mental health screening and support; implementing innovative approaches to chronic disease prevention and management; and preventing and reducing impact from infectious diseases.
In total, the NACDS Foundation is awarding $1 million in grants in support of the two innovative research projects.
The first awardee — Loma Linda University School of Pharmacy — will receive a prospective research grant in the amount of $750,000. The project will establish a partnership between the Loma Linda University School of Pharmacy research team, the Loma Linda University School of Behavioral Health, the University of California Los Angeles Center for HIV Identification, Prevention, and Treatment Services (UCLA CHIPTS) and local community pharmacies. Specifically, the research project, “Implementation of HIV Screening, Prevention and Harm Reduction for Vulnerable Populations,” will aim to improve access to HIV screening, pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and relevant wraparound interventions through community pharmacies — with a particular focus on reaching vulnerable, at-risk minority populations in California.
The second awardee — the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Eshelman School of Pharmacy — will receive a retrospective research grant in the amount of $250,000. The UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy will work together with community pharmacy partners to document improved patient outcomes when pharmacies help to ensure children’s access to vaccinations, with emphasis on rural communities. Specifically, the research – “Evaluating Access to Childhood Vaccines Through Rural Community Pharmacies” – aims to estimate the health and broad economic outcomes associated with community pharmacy administration of COVID-19 vaccines to children in rural North Carolina, and to assess the patient and publich health successes and challenges when utilizing community pharmacies to administer all childhood vaccines to rural North Carolina populations.
“Last fall, the NACDS Foundation released a Request for Proposals opportunity to help spark the next chapter of innovative research,” said NACDS Foundation President Sara Roszak. “We were seeking forward-thinking, community-centered projects that would explore creative solutions to some of the most pressing public health problems facing diverse and underserved communities across the U.S. The project proposals by the Loma Linda University School of Pharmacy and the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy – selected through a rigorous merit-based review process – aim to do just that. We are thrilled to partner with each of these institutions to help launch this groundbreaking research – and to strengthen access to needed community care.”
Importantly, the NACDS Foundation is committed to fostering health equity and addressing disparities. The RFP research projects emphasize the importance of addressing social determinants of health and recognizing the major role they play in the health of communities. In particular, access to healthcare and nutritious foods has a strong impact on the health and wellbeing of individuals.
The NACDS Foundation views its pursuit and support of research as an example of alignment with its support of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Foundation’s efforts to end hunger and increase healthy eating and physical activity across the U.S. by 2030. The NACDS Foundation notes that independent and objective research can help to explore the implementation of innovative approaches to the prevention and management of diet-related chronic disease in community pharmacies and in retail health settings.
