The Arkansas Center for Health Disparities T-32 (ARCHD T-32) is a research training grant for Ph.D. students funded by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities through the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR) at NIH. This cutting-edge program trains PhD students to critically address the severe health inequalities in the state through advanced data analytics.
ARCHD-T32 recruits students from five Ph.D. programs at UAMS.
- Epidemiology
- Health Promotion and Prevention Research
- Health Systems and Services Research
- Nursing
- Pharmaceutical Evaluation and Policy
Trainees are selected competitively through a peer-reviewed process. As part of an NIH-T32 program, students must be US citizens or permanent residents of the United States.
ARCHD-T32 is part of the NIH-supported program: Training in Advanced Data Analytics for Behavioral and Social Science (TADA-BSSR) housed within OBSSR. It is a national network of esteemed universities, including Arizona State, Johns Hopkins University, Stanford University, University of California at Berkeley, University of California at San Francisco, and the University of Washington.
The T32 program supports the development of a cohort of specialized predoctoral candidates who possess advanced competencies in data science and analytics to apply to an increasingly complex landscape of behavioral and social health-related big data. Our trainees actively participate with students and mentors from the institutions described above. In addition, program staff from five NIH institutes and the Office of Behavioral and Social Science Research (OBSSR) participate in shared activities to develop state-of-the-art training programs for incorporating advanced analytic techniques into Ph.D. programs in the social sciences.
Learn more about TADA-BSSR through these links:
- OBSSR Launches the Training in Advanced Data and Analytics for Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (TADA-BSSR) Program | Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (nih.gov)
- OBSSR Connector Monthly Newsletter
- TADA-BSSR Webinar: Integrating Data Analytics into the Social, Behavioral Science Research Lifecycle – YouTube
Meet our Trainees
Carson Beeching, MPH, is a doctoral student in the Health Promotion and Prevention Research (HPPR) doctoral degree program in the Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. She earned a Master of Public Health degree in Health Behavior and Health Education from UAMS. Her research interests include substance use disorders, treatment seeking and recovery, prescription drug misuse, mental health, and religiosity and spirituality. Her goal for the T32 program is to develop advanced data science skills, including natural language processing, multilevel modeling, longitudinal analysis, and causal inference, to support her career as a mixed-methods researcher investigating pathways to treatment and prevention success and to advance research at the intersection of religion and health.
Olabowale Olola, MPH, BS is a doctoral candidate in the Epidemiology doctoral degree program at the Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health. She graduated with a Master of Public Health degree in Epidemiology and an Advanced Certificate in Sustainability Leadership from the University at Buffalo, SUNY. Her research interests include maternal and child health, environmental risk factors, birth defects, racial disparities, and causal/mediation analysis. She is a research assistant for the Arkansas Center for Excellence in Birth Defects Research and Prevention and the college's Center for the Study of Obesity. Olabowale’s career goal is to apply advanced analytical methods to identify and mitigate exposures, such as racial, social, and environmental drivers, that contribute to advanced perinatal outcomes and birth defects.
Titilayo James, MBBS, MPH is a doctoral student in the Health Systems and Services Research degree program at the Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health. She earned her medical degree from the University of Lagos, Nigeria, and her Master of Public Health degree from East Tennessee State University. Her research interests include substance use, health disparities, chronic disease outcomes, health systems and care delivery, implementation science, and causal inference. Her goal for the ARCHD-T32 is to develop advanced analytic skills that she will use to examine complex health outcomes, identify disparities in care, and inform scalable, equity-focused interventions.
Toni Wall Jaudon, Ph.D. (English), MA is a doctoral student in the Health Systems and Services Research degree program in the Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health. Her research interests include methods for causal inference, quantitative approaches to problems in implementation science, and health disparities affecting women, LGBTQ+ populations, and persons with disabilities and chronic illnesses. Her goal for the T32 is to develop skills in advanced analytic methods and quasi-experimental study design, which she will use in studies of policy implementation that amplify or reduce health disparities.
Benefits of becoming an ARCHD-T32 Trainee
- Stipends of $35,000 a year, covering university fees and health insurance
- Collaboration with a national network of T32 sites, including an annual TADA-BSSR summit
- Access to travel & research funds
- Externship opportunities at collaborating programs
- Advanced training in data analytics and informatics
- Multidisciplinary mentorship
- A significant training accomplishment for your CV
Join Us
How to Apply
If you are enrolled or plan to enroll in one of our participating Ph.D. programs (Epidemiology, Health Promotion and Prevention Research, Health Systems and Services Research, Nursing, or Pharmaceutical Evaluation and Policy) we’d like to hear from you. Ph.D. students with an interest in disparities research and with the quantitative skills for conducting advanced analytics research are strongly encouraged to apply.
Application Requirements:
To apply, please email the following materials to our Program Coordinator, Shawna Grisham at sgrisham@uams.edu.
- Resume or CV
- Transcripts (unofficial)
- Letter of Recommendation from PhD Program Director
- Research Statement: see directions below.
- Please note, ARCHD-T32 assistantships are limited to U.S. citizens and permanent residents of the United States.
Please describe how learning advanced analytics will help you reach a better understanding of healthcare disparities; how you plan to use training in advanced analytics and healthcare disparities in your research goals; and where you would like to see your career in five years following training in the ARCHD-T32 program.
Questions?
For more information, please contact our Principal Investigators below or the Director of the Ph.D. program in which you are enrolled.
J. Mick Tilford, PhD
Professor
Health Policy & Management
tilfordmickj@uams.edu
Jonathan Bona, PhD
Associate Professor
Biomedical Informatics
jpbona@uams.edu