Using eight cohorts from mass lung cancer screening trials, Wu will study a new statistical method to provide ideal screening time intervals. She will complete the study thanks to a  three-year, $400,000 grant from the National Cancer Institute.

Other UofL investigators include Shesh Rai, PhD, professor, Department of Bioinformatics and Biostatistics, and Albert Seow, MD, associate professor, Department of Radiology.

“This new method, along with new software we will develop, can be used to make informed decisions regarding future scheduling of screening exams for people with a history of negative screening results,” Wu said.

Wu says another goal is to apply the methods to other types of screening for chronic diseases.

Students benefit by completing six years of study in five years.

“We continue to see a growing demand for a more highly educated workforce throughout the Commonwealth,” said UofL’s Interim President Greg Postel, MD. “This collaborative effort will expose underrepresented groups to graduate education in a degree that will lead to high-demand, high-paying jobs and help Kentucky continue to move forward in an ever more competitive economy.”

“We are pleased to partner with a great institution like the University of Louisville, and I thank the KSU and UofL faculty for their innovative and creative thinking; our aim is to build a strong P-20 pipeline to serve Kentucky and this initiative helps meet that goal,” said KSU Interim President Aaron Thompson, PhD.

Interested students are identified in the early stages of their study at KSU and are mentored for the graduate program. They must take the GRE and apply for admission to UofL. Upon admission, students study the spring semester of their senior year at UofL and take courses that count toward a bachelor’s degree in math at KSU and the master’s degree in biostatistics at UofL. The balance of the master level courses are completed in the fifth year toward the MS degree in biostatistics.

State Senator Gerald A. Neal, 33^rd District, is an alumnus of both KSU and UofL and says the initiative is a significant inter-institutional collaboration.

“This is what Kentucky needs. It not only connects the dots between institutions, but connects a students’ course of study to promising careers. I look forward to assisting this effort, and strongly encourage others to help generate the scholarships that will ensure its success,” Neal said.

“The degree collaborative helps to fulfill the need of quantitatively trained professionals who are always in demand in the pharmaceutical, biomedical and insurance industries, as well as in government and academia,” said Craig Blakely, PhD, MPH, dean of the UofL School of Public Health and Information Sciences. “We plan to connect these students to state industries via practicum and internship opportunities.”

“This partnership provides students opportunities to pursue both research and a high-demand, specialized degree. Not only are we preparing Kentucky State University students for workforce development in the Commonwealth, but we also are preparing our students to compete in a global workforce,” said KSU’s Interim Provost/Vice President for Academic Affairs, Candice Love Jackson, PhD.

Blakely and Love Jackson credit UofL Chair and Professor of the Department of Bioinformatics and Biostatistics K.B. Kulasekera, PhD, and KSU Associate Professor of Mathematics and Chairperson of the Division of Mathematics and Sciences Fariba Bigdeli-Jahed, PhD, for their effort and leadership in developing the program for KSU students.

Kulasekera, who originated the idea, says he hopes to eventually grow the relationship, allowing for teaching and research collaborations between UofL and KSU faculty.

The initiative is pending notification of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS).

This summer, Assistant Director and Clinical Librarian Vida Vaughn attended the Evidence-Based Clinical Practice (EBCP) workshop at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada.  Her main goals were to learn how to assess biostatistics in medical literature, expand her awareness of evidence-based practice, and become a better clinical librarian and teacher.

She soon realized that biostatistics analysis “is a graduate program in itself. But I came away knowing I can look at the literature more competently now.”

Vaughn’s work involves teaching students and clinicians on the Health Sciences Campus in the classroom setting, small groups or one-on-one, and also partnering with other medical educators. She said the workshop has helped her work more effectively, particularly with medical faculty at UofL. Gaining their buy-in and confidence is a constant mission and is based on hard work, she said.

“They have so much advanced medical knowledge and training that it can be challenging,” said Vaughn. “You have to work very hard to prove yourself, to begin to gain a level of trust. But when you help solve someone’s problem for them, they become your best advocate.”

The immersive, week-long workshop is designed to benefit physicians, nurses, dentists, clinical librarians and other health-care professionals who learn more about EBCP – and how to teach it – in a small-group setting. EBCP is a contemporary approach to healthcare practice that “explicitly acknowledges the evidence that bears on each patient management decision, the strength of that evidence, the benefits and risk of alternative management strategies, and the role of patients’ values and preferences in trading off those benefits and risks.”

All attendees work for 10-hour days throughout the week to explore a broad curricula. Vaughn worked alongside three family practice physicians, two naturopath physicians, an optician, a research professor, a mentor in training, and another clinical librarian.

“It was extremely extensive, very intense. Everyone leaves completely exhausted,” she said. 

What surprised her most was how clinicians view her work as a librarian.

“I learned how much physicians crave the assistance of a librarian. When they heard what I do for UofL Physicians, they were just amazed and wanted to know how to get something similar started in their organizations. The type of embeddedness and buy-in that exists at our institution is not readily available to many clinicians around the country.  At UofL, our clinical librarian team has made a concerted effort to be accepted as part of the medical teams. With some departments, I’m embedded to the point of being considered part of the furniture,” she said.

Vaughn, who is president of the Kentucky Medical Library Association, spoke about the workshop at a recent KMLA meeting.

“Now that we have made this investment in my learning, it’s my turn to come back and teach my staff and colleagues and impart the things I’ve learned,” she said. 

The institute, established in 2015 with initial funding from KentuckyOne Health, recently named 18 researchers inaugural Commonwealth Scholars, from academic areas ranging from health promotion, economics, medicine and urban affairs to health policy.

The first CIK Scholars include:

• Joseph Benitez, Ph.D., assistant professor, Department of Health Management and Systems Sciences, UofL School of Public Health and Information Sciences
• Craig Blakely, Ph.D., M.P.H., dean, UofL School of Public Health and Information Sciences
• Susan Buchino, Ph.D., OTR/L, senior research manager, UofL School of Public Health and Information Sciences
• Ryan Combs, Ph.D., M.A., assistant professor, Department of Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences, UofL School of Public Health and Information Sciences
• Liza Creel, Ph.D., M.P.H., assistant professor, Department of Health Management and Systems Sciences, UofL School of Public Health and Information Sciences
• Robert Esterhay, M.D., associate professor, Department of Health Management and Systems Sciences, UofL School of Public Health and Information Sciences
• José Fernandez, Ph.D., associate professor, Department of Economics, UofL College of Business
• Jeremy Gaskins, Ph.D., assistant professor, Department of Bioinformatics and Biostatistics, UofL School of Public Health and Information Sciences
• J’Aime Jennings, Ph.D., M.P.A., assistant professor, Department of Health Management and Systems Sciences, UofL School of Public Health and Information Sciences
• Christopher Johnson, Ph.D., professor and chair, Department of Health Management and Systems Sciences, UofL School of Public Health and Information Sciences
• Brandy Kelly Pryor, Ph.D., director, Center for Health Equity at the Louisville Metro Department of Public Health and Wellness; assistant professor, Department of Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences, UofL School of Public Health and Information Sciences
• Jelani Kerr, Ph.D., M.S.P.H., assistant professor, Department of Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences, UofL School of Public Health and Information Sciences
• Bert Little, Ph.D., professor, Department of Health Management and Systems Sciences, UofL School of Public Health and Information Sciences
• Gilbert Liu, M.D., professor and Director of General Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics, UofL School of Medicine
• Paul McKinney, M.D., associate dean for research; professor, Department of Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences, UofL School of Public Health and Information Sciences
• Elizabeth Munnich, Ph.D., assistant professor, Department of Economics, UofL College of Business
• Matthew Ruther, Ph.D., director of the Kentucky State Data Center; assistant professor, Department of Urban and Public Affairs, UofL College of Arts and Sciences
• Monica Wendel, Dr.P.H., M.A., associate dean for public health practice; acting director, Commonwealth Institute of Kentucky; associate professor, Department of Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences, UofL School of Public Health and Information Sciences

“The complex health issues facing our communities such as poverty and preventable health disparities, require individual scholars to recognize the valuable knowledge and methods of other disciplines,” said Craig Blakely, dean of the UofL School of Public Health and Information Science and CIK Executive Committee member. “We are convening researchers from across the globe with wide-ranging expertise to improve population health and affect health policy.”

The primary operations of the CIK involve community-based research, health policy support, data analytics, and education. Commonwealth Scholars are able to access a variety of national data sets. Researchers also benefit from infrastructure support, such as financial management and biostatisticians, as well as connections to CIK community partners to develop new research.

Initial CIK projects underway include the development and pilot of neighborhood-focused health literacy interventions and a mentoring program for justice involved youth. An experiential study of LGBTQ Kentuckians enrolling in and using health insurance and an evaluation of health care access and utilization in Louisville Metro are among the completed projects.

Interested researchers should submit a short statement and current CV to sherry.duffy@louisville.edu. Applications will be reviewed by the CIK Executive Committee and applicants will be notified of their acceptance as a Commonwealth Scholar.