Research
Research is an essential component of the John A. Burns School of Medicine accreditation.
It addresses the critical need for the translation of research findings into medical practice to improve health outcomes for our local community. With strong research areas, we also help in facilitating the direct accredited residency and fellowship programs to train specialists in clinical shortage areas for Hawaiʻi.
Key research areas include: Health Disparities, Infectious Diseases, Heart Disease, Metabolic Diseases, Neurological Disorders, Aging, Mental Health, and HIV/AIDS.
PARTNERSHIPS
As a community-based medical school, we focus on centers of excellence with collaborative partnerships to address diseases that disproportionately affect our local community.

Through collaboration with stakeholders we pursue research excellence to enhance diversity and achieve equity in our JABSOM ‘Ohana and communities we serve. We actively seek new knowledge to improve health outcomes for the people of Hawaii.”
Dr. Lee Buenconsejo-Lum JABSOM Associate Dean for Academic Affairs & Designated Institutional Official
Our team leads projects to improve the quality of care in our partnering clinical settings. Here are some of our projects and research highlights:

Youping Deng, MD, PhD
(Quantitative Health Sciences) increased JABSOM’s number of top-tier R01 grants with two awards investigating biomarkers in human blood for the early detection of lung cancer and breast cancer.

Axel Lehrer, PhD
(Tropical Medicine) successfully demonstrated that his team’s proposed Ebola vaccine is heat- resistant, a plus in delivering the vaccine to rural arid Africa.

Marjorie Mau, MD (Native Hawaiian Health) specializing in Endocrinology and Diabetes, is Director of the Center for Native & Pacific Health Disparities Research. She has sustained independent funding for over 20 years and passionately mentors clinical researchers dedicated to improving the health of Native Hawaiians.

Jesse Owens, PhD
(Anatomy, Biochemistry, & Physiology) is an early career stage investigator studying therapeutic gene delivery to the human genome awarded top tier funding for scientific discoveries from NIH. As a Hilo High School graduate, we are deeply proud of “growing our own” nationally spectacular scientists in Hawaiʻi.

Michelle Tallquist, PhD
(Medicine) and her team in the Center for Cardiovascular Research aim to repair fibrosis in the heart. The ability to repair damaged organs is improved through her team’s focus on the fibroblast populations present within the heart.

Monika Ward, PhD
Breakthrough research in assisted reproduction by Monika Ward, PhD (Anatomy) and her team in the JABSOM Institute for Biogenesis Research demonstrated assisted reproduction of mice is possible without a Y chromosome gene.
Our residents and fellows additionally lead projects:
Residency Programs
Family Medicine Internal Medicine Obstetrics & Gynecology Orthopaedic Surgery Pathology
Pediatrics
Psychiatry
Surgery
Fellowship Programs
Addiction Medicine
& Addiction Psychiatry
Cardiovascular Disease
Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Geriatric Medicine
Geriatric Psychiatry Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine Psychiatry
Sports Medicine
Surgical Critical Care
CONNECT WITH THE TOP UHP DOCTORS
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808-469-4982