Research & Innovation – UHealthy Hawaiʻi

Discover & Innovate to Improve & Extend Lives

Build on UH’s legacy of high-quality, culturally-sensitive, successful research and innovation to improve and extend lives by discovering solutions to locally-relevant and world-changing problems, especially discoveries that aid Hawai‘i’s multi-ethnic population, communities indigenous to the Pacific, and the increasingly multi-cultural population of the continental United States.

Identified numerous potential federal funding opportunities for UH researchers.

The Office of Strategic Health Initiatives culls key relevant daily federal funding opportunities and disseminates these announcements to key stakeholders across the UH System.

Additionally, the Office of Strategic Health Initiatives leads the federal appropriations process for the UH System. Working with Hawaii’s federal delegation and national partners, numerous funding opportunities and policy ideas have been advanced to support UH researchers, innovators, and the state of Hawaii and nation.

Championed Innovative Models of Care Delivery, including through:

Better use of telehealth

The UHealthy Hawaiʻi initiative was a key partner in the Maternal Telehealth Summit hosted by the John A. Burns School of Medicine’s Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Women’s Health, Pacific Basin Telehealth Resource Center, Hawaiʻi Primary Care Association, and University Health Partners on October 9, 2019, which brought in experts from the University of Arkansas Institute for Digital Health and Innovation as well as 75 stakeholders from across the state. The collaborative discussions sparked interest in establishing a UH System Institute for Digital Health and Innovation to expand telehealth services across Hawaiʻi. The UHealthy Hawaiʻi team has also supported the Hawaiʻi Emergency Management Agency (HIEMA) and its Emergency Support Function (ESF)-8, which focuses on medicine and public health, to better understand the state’s telemedicine capacity and gaps.

Clinical pharmacist teams embedded in primary care practices.

The UHealthy Hawaiʻi initiative has catalyzed efforts to expand the reach of clinical pharmacists in primary care practices and improve health outcomes in Hawaii via leveraging the UH Hilo Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy.

This model leverages partnerships between clinical pharmacists and primary care teams to improve the care of patients with high blood pressure and diabetes through state collaborative practice agreements.

UHealthy Hawaiʻi – The University of Hawaiʻi's Commitment to a Healthier Hawaiʻi and Pacific