{"id":216213,"date":"2025-05-19T13:32:39","date_gmt":"2025-05-19T23:32:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=216213"},"modified":"2025-06-27T09:37:34","modified_gmt":"2025-06-27T19:37:34","slug":"jabsom-research-training-programs-end","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2025\/05\/19\/jabsom-research-training-programs-end\/","title":{"rendered":"JABSOM<\/abbr> research training programs end after decades of impact"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 3<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
\"student
The 2024 cohort of the Minority Health Research Training program.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Decades of support for underrepresented students in Hawaiʻi<\/span> and the Pacific has been shut down due to federal budget cuts. Two student research programs run by the University of Hawaiʻi<\/span> at M\u0101noa\u2019s John A. Burns School of Medicine<\/a> (JABSOM<\/abbr>) have been ended by the National Institutes of Health (NIH<\/abbr>). <\/p>\n

If the decision stands, we\u2019ll feel the void in five to 10 years\u2014in our classrooms, our clinics and our communities
—Angela Sy<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The unexpected termination of the Pacific Short-Term Research Experience Program to Unlock Potential<\/a> (STEP-UP<\/abbr>) and the Minority Health Research Training (MHRT<\/abbr>) Program<\/a> is anticipated to have lasting effects on local students and the state\u2019s ability to grow its own biomedical workforce.<\/p>\n

Pathways cut short<\/h2>\n

Pacific STEP-UP<\/abbr>, a high school research pathway program active since 2002, has served more than 445 students directly and hundreds more through laboratory education. Its director, George Hui, explained that the program trained underserved students, often from rural or isolated communities in the Pacific, to conduct research relevant to their communities.<\/p>\n

“From studying taro farming in the presence of global warming and sea level rising, to investigating pollution in the Marshall Islands, students tackled real-world, locally rooted problems,” Hui said.<\/p>\n

\"George
George Hui, director of Pacific STEP-UP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

NIH<\/abbr> recently and unexpectedly ended funding for the program. “They said we were engaged in DEI<\/abbr> activities that are not aligned with the current administration,” Hui said.<\/p>\n

The cut came despite Pacific STEP-UP<\/abbr> changing its eligibility rules in March 2024 to include everyone in the Pacific, removing race, ethnicity or sex as criteria for application reviews or funding decisions.<\/p>\n

“We were confident we wouldn\u2019t be affected,” Hui said. “We adjusted a year ago. And we had more applications than ever, over 500 this cycle. Now, we\u2019re telling kids they can\u2019t participate. There\u2019s no time, no backup plan, and no comparable alternative.”<\/p>\n

Over the last two decades, Pacific STEP-UP<\/abbr> was a proven success with students launching successful careers in STEM<\/abbr>. Most recently, Nichelle Torcelino from Guam was accepted to Yale, Columbia, and the University of Pennsylvania. Others from American Samoa have gone to Harvard and claim advanced degrees in public health.<\/p>\n

Programs offered more than research experience<\/h2>\n

“We don\u2019t just give our students lab time,” Hui added. &dquo;We help them believe they belong in science and research. Without programs like this, that path disappears for many.”<\/p>\n

\"Sy
Angela Sy and Vivek Nerurkar, JABSOM<\/abbr> MHRT<\/abbr> Program<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The MHRT<\/abbr> program, launched in 2013 by Vivek Nerurkar, and now led by Angela Sy, both from the Department of Tropical Medicine, Medical Microbiology and Pharmacology, sent underrepresented undergraduate and graduate students to conduct mentored research in places such as Thailand, India, American Samoa, Guam, Cameroon and Liberia.<\/p>\n

“These students often had never traveled beyond the state. They return transformed\u2014not just as budding scientists, but as global citizens,” said Sy.<\/p>\n

More than 123 students participated, with 66% pursuing graduate degrees and many now working in medicine, research, and academia.<\/p>\n

Sakaria Laisene Auelua-Toomey a MHRT<\/abbr> 2015 alumni who graduated from ÌÇÐÄVlog¹Ù·½<\/abbr> M\u0101noa in 2016 earned a PhD<\/abbr> in psychology from Stanford University in 2024 and is now a faculty at ÌÇÐÄVlog¹Ù·½<\/abbr> M\u0101noa. <\/p>\n

Impact on Hawaiʻi<\/span>\u2019s research future<\/h2>\n

Program leaders say the cuts hurt Hawaiʻi<\/span>\u2019s ability to build a local workforce. “These are resource-limited areas,” Hui said. “Without exposure to science, there\u2019s no pipeline.”<\/p>\n

JABSOM<\/abbr> officials are hoping for a legal reprieve. The termination is being challenged as part of a multistate lawsuit against NIH<\/abbr>\u2019s rollback of DEI<\/abbr> programs.<\/p>\n

“If the decision stands, we\u2019ll feel the void in five to 10 years\u2014in our classrooms, our clinics and our communities,” said Sy.<\/p>\n

Read more at JABSOM<\/abbr><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The terminated programs raise concerns about long-term impacts on Hawaiʻi<\/span>\u2019s biomedical workforce.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[1040,1674,1698,31,1467,1363,313,9],"class_list":["post-216213","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research","tag-biomedical-science","tag-executive-orders","tag-grant-termination","tag-john-a-burns-school-of-medicine","tag-manoa-excellence-in-research","tag-manoa-research","tag-stem","tag-uh-manoa","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216213","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=216213"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216213\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":218044,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216213\/revisions\/218044"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=216213"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=216213"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=216213"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}