![The new TRI External Advisory Council State and Community Stakeholders are (l-r) Michael Knox, Executive Director, Arkansas Minority Health Commission; Ray Montgomery, President/CEO, White County Hospital; William Tsutsui, President, Hendrix College; Michael Moore, Vice President, Academic Affairs, University of Arkansas System Office; Jerry Adams, President/CEO, Arkansas Research Alliance; Nicole Hart, CEO, ARVets Inc., and State Senator Jonathan Dismang, Dismang Consulting Services.](https://tri.uams.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/TRI-Stakeholder-group525.jpg)
TRI was excited to welcome its new External Advisory Council – State and Community Stakeholders in June.
The State and Community Stakeholders are an addition to TRI’s External Advisory Council, which has always included NIH National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) leaders from large and small institutions across the United States.
The External Advisory Council helps shape TRI’s course by providing input regarding TRI programs and services and their impact on the state. TRI benefits from the breadth and depth of knowledge represented by leaders from other CTSA sites, local business and higher education leaders, health care providers and advocates, and health care policy organizations. The council has been directly involved in TRI “moving the needle” on issues of access to research and supporting the next generation of researchers in our state.