Paul Loprinzi (center), associate professor of health, exercise science and recreation management, celebrates his appointment as primary investigator and administrator for the Jackson Heart Study Vanguard Center at Oxford alongside Tossi Ikuta (left), assistant professor of communication sciences and disorders, who will continue to serve as data curator and Vokay Addoh (right), assistant professor of health, exercise science and recreation management, who will serve as the new director of research engagement. Submitted photo
OXFORD, Miss. – The Oxford-based Jackson Heart Study Vanguard Center that serves as a secondary data repository for the largest single-site, prospective, epidemiologic investigation of cardiovascular disease among African-Americans ever undertaken is under new leadership from the School of Applied Sciences at the University of Mississippi.
Paul Loprinzi, associate professor of health, exercise science and recreation management, has accepted the appointment as primary investigator and administrator. Tossi Ikuta, assistant professor of communication sciences and disorders, will continue to serve as data curator, and Ovuokerie Addoh, assistant professor of health, exercise science and recreation management, will serve as director of research engagement.
“The purpose of JHS is to engage and mentor faculty and graduate students in collaborative research, analysis and ancillary study requests,” said Teresa Carithers, interim dean of applied sciences. “Part of mentorship and capacity-building is to recognize unique potential in early stage investigators.
“Each of these faculty have unique skills and can bring novel approaches to this population-based longitudinal study.”
Teresa Carithers
Carithers was invited in as an investigator with the original JHS exam and wrote the initial diet assessment protocols while serving as co-primary investigator for the diet and physical activity sub-study. The sub-study resulted in the validation and calibration of two culturally sensitive food frequency questionnaires in a successful collaboration with USDA researchers.
Carithers, along with Ben Banahan from the UM School of Pharmacy, submitted the IHL request for the Vanguard Center in Oxford and served as the initial co-primary investigators. Banahan will continue as primary investigator for the School of Pharmacy, and Carithers will continue as an investigator and mentor.
The School of Applied Sciences has been intentional about capacity building among faculty researchers, as current research requires more robust and novel conceptual design, Carithers said.
“I expect great success from the new applied sciences leadership based upon their ability to design and execute innovative research with interdisciplinary collaboration and support of minority investigators, both key elements to the overall Jackson Heart Study’s mission,” she said.
“Dr. Loprinzi is a prolific publisher and highly respected mentor with deep familiarity of the data needed to examine health and physical activity. Dr. Addoh, a new assistant professor, came to UM with a medical background before earning his Ph.D. with us, which will lend a new area of expertise to our team. Dr. Ikuta is a neuroscientist who manages monumental amounts of neuroimaging data in his own research, so he brings both technical skill and unique research interest to this study.”
Ben Banahan
Funded by the National Institute of Health, JHS is a community-based cohort study of risk factors for cardiovascular disease among adult African-American men and women living in the Jackson metropolitan area.
A collaboration among three Jackson-area academic institutions, JHS operates a field center and a coordinating center with the University of Mississippi Medical Center; a community outreach center and graduate training/education center with Jackson State University; and an undergraduate training and education center with Tougaloo College.
JHS is supported by contracts from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, part of the National Institutes of Health.
For more information about Jackson Heart Study or the work done at Vanguard Centers such as the one at UM’s Oxford campus, visit http://www.jacksonheartstudy.org.