The Consortium of Rural States (CORES) Multi-Institutional Pilot Program has awarded funding for four one-year projects beginning July 1, 2025. Each project involves at least two of the nine consortium member sites.
The CORES institutions are funded by the Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) program of the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS). The sites are:
- University of Utah Health Clinical & Translational Science Institute
- University of New Mexico (UNM) Health Sciences Center Clinical and Translational Science Center
- Frontiers Clinical and Translational Science Institute at the University of Kansas (KUMC)
- University of Kentucky (UK) Center for Clinical and Translational Science
- University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Translational Research Institute
- University of Iowa Institute for Clinical and Translational Science
- Dartmouth SYNERGY Clinical and Translational Science Institute
- Penn State University Clinical and Translational Science Institute
- Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) Clinical and Translational Research Institute
MUSC was welcomed to the consortium in June – after the deadline for this year’s CORES pilot grant applications.
The CORES pilots support translational science projects aimed at identifying and overcoming barriers to conducting research in rural settings. Each collaborating site funds up to $25,000 to support the project.
The awarded collaborations are:
Dartmouth (lead), Penn State, Iowa and Utah
- Project title: Enabling Self-Care for Pessary Users in Rural Settings
- Contact Principal Investigator (PI): Kris Strohbehn, M.D., professor of obstetrics and gynecology, Dartmouth
- Site PIs: Jaime Long, M.D., associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology, Penn State; Catherine Bradley, M.D., professor, obstetrics and gynecology, urology and epidemiology, Iowa; Carolyn Swenson, M.D., associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology, Utah
Utah (lead) and UAMS
- Project title: From Heat Maps to OR Outcomes: Leveraging Privacy-Preserving Geospatial Methods to Assess Extreme Heat Impacts on Surgical Complications
- Contact PI: John F. Pearson, M.D., associate professor, Department of Anesthesiology, Utah
- Site PI: Jill Mhyre, M.D., chair, Department of Anesthesiology, UAMS
UK (lead) and Penn State
- Project title: Development of a Virtual Nutrition Lab and Educational Experience: Piloting Immersive Virtual Reality (iVR) with Adolescents Living in Rural Communities
- Contact PI: Sara Maksi, Ph.D., assistant professor of nutritional sciences, UK
- Co-PI: Courtney Luecking, Ph.D., assistant professor and extension specialist for early childhood nutrition, UK
- Site PI: Travis Masterson, Ph.D., assistant professor of nutritional sciences, Penn State
Utah (lead), Dartmouth, Iowa, UNM,
- Project title: The “PlatfoRm clinICal trIal of patientS on ECMO usIng electrONic health record harvested data” (PRECISION)
- Contact PI: Joseph Tonna, M.D., associate professor, Department of Surgery, Utah
- Site PIs: Todd D. Morrell, M.D., assistant professor of emergency medicine, Dartmouth; Elizabeth Moore, RN, BSN, associate director of Clinical Operations, University of Iowa Heart and Vascular Center; Jonathan Marinaro, M.D., professor and chief of Center for Adult Critical Care at UNM. He is founder and director of the Adult ECMO Program and medical director of the Cardiothoracic Vascular ECMO ICU and Sandoval Regional ICU.