Four early-career researchers have been selected to receive two years of funded translational research training and support in the UAMS Translational Research Institute (TRI) K12 Mentored Research Career Development Scholar Awards Program.
The promising researchers were selected for the 2025-2027 program period through a competitive application process. Beginning July 1, the K12 scholars will receive two years of mentored translational research training, 75% salary support and up to $25,000 a year for research, tuition, travel and education.
The scholars, their project titles and primary mentors are:
Meghan Breckling, Pharm.D., assistant professor, College of Pharmacy Department of Pharmacy Practice and Center for Implementation Research
Project: “Improving Opioid Education and Naloxone Use in Rural Community Pharmacies”
Primary mentor: Benjamin Teeter, Ph.D., Pharm.D., associate professor, College of Pharmacy Department of Pharmacy Practice and Center for Implementation Research
Maegan Calvert, Ph.D., assistant professor, College of Medicine Department of Psychiatry, Brain Imaging Research Center (BIRC)
Project: “Neural Patterns of Affect in Parent-Child Interactions”
Primary mentor: Andrew James, Ph.D., professor, Department of Psychiatry, interim director, BIRC
Mokarram Hossain, Ph.D., assistant professor, College of Pharmacy Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences
Project: “Novel Immunotherapy for Pancreatic Cancer: Extracellular Matrix-Targeting Myeloid Engager”
Primary mentor: Alan Tackett, Ph.D., professor, College of Medicine Department of Biochemistry
Whitney Norris, Ph.D., postdoctoral fellow, College of Nursing Department of Nursing Research
Project: “Multivariate Coherence Neurofeedback for Trauma Treatment: A Mechanistic and Feasibility Pilot Trial Using High-Density EEG”
Primary mentor: Linda Larson-Prior, Ph.D., professor, College of Medicine Department of Neurobiology and Developmental Science
Funding for the K12 scholars program comes from TRI, supported by the NIH National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, Clinical and Translational Science Awards K12 TR004924 and UM1 TR004909, the UAMS College of Medicine, Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, Arkansas Children’s Research Institute, and the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System.