National Institutes of Health director visits Arkansas health facilities

National Institutes of Health Director Monica Bertagnolli and U.S. Rep. Steve Womack listen to Marshallese Educational Initiative Executive Director Benetick Maddison discuss challenges faced by the Marshallese community during a luncheon at the UAMS Institute for Community Health Innovation in Springdale on Oct. 22, 2024. (Antoinette Grajeda/Arkansas Advocate)

The director of the National Institutes of Health on Tuesday praised the work of Arkansas’ medical community, which she said hasn’t historically received as much funding from her institution as other places. 

Dr. Monica Bertagnolli’s first trip to the Natural State was prompted by an invitation from U.S. Rep. Steve Womack, who led the NIH director on a tour Monday and Tuesday of medical schools and organizations in the River Valley and Northwest Arkansas.

Tuesday’s agenda included a stop at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Institute for Community Health Innovation in Springdale, where Bertagnolli said she was “blown away” by the institute’s work, which focuses on rural communities and the state’s Latino and Marshallese populations. 

“The people here are truly dedicated toward improving health by being deeply part of the culture, the environment and making things better for all people in Arkansas,” she said. 

Institute director Pearl McElfish and her colleagues highlighted UAMS’ work with minority communities, including a program to reduce the high rate of diabetes among the Marshallese population and efforts to increase vaccinations in Latino and Marshallese communities during the COVID-19 pandemic

Although Marshallese and Hispanic residents represented about 19% of Northwest Arkansas’ population in mid-2020, they accounted for about 64% of COVID-19 cases and 57% of associated deaths in the region, according to a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report.

Arkansas is home to the largest Marshallese community in the country, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates. 

UAMS Institute for Community Health Innovation Director Pearl McElfish listens to Dr. Sheldon Riklon discuss health issues in the Marshallese community during a luncheon in Springdale on Oct. 22, 2024. (Antoinette Grajeda/Arkansas Advocate)

McElfish said NIH provides millions of dollars annually to the institute, which supports research projects such as how to bring prenatal care to maternal deserts. 

Arkansas has one of the worst rates of maternal mortality in the country and about half the state’s counties are maternity care deserts, meaning they lack hospitals or birth centers with obstetric care and obstetric providers, according to the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement. 

In addition to the NIH-funded maternal care research, UAMS recently announced Bolni Marius Nagalo as the state’s first NIH Director’s New Innovator Award recipient. Nagalo, an assistant professor in UAMS’ Experimental Pathology Division, will receive a five-year $2.3 million award from the NIH Common Fund to support his research on pancreatic cancer, which has few effective treatment options and extremely low survival rates, according to a UAMS press release. 

While McElfish said she’s thankful for NIH funding, she noted Arkansas receives fewer NIH dollars per capita than most states. It’s important that rural states like Arkansas receive their “fair share” so they can help develop solutions to health issues impacting rural communities, she said. 

“The disparities in funding are complex. On one hand we need more researchers to write NIH grants,” McElfish said. “We also, though, need reviewers to understand that brilliance isn’t just found on the two coasts. It’s not just in New York and California, but there are brilliant innovative ideas right here in Arkansas.”

Research is important for figuring out better ways to improve health, Bertagnolli said. Arkansas’ medical community is on the right track, she said, noting that the institute’s work to improve the health of communities with health disparities will benefit everyone, not just those populations. 

“There’s so many things they’re doing right … all the programs we heard about today are exactly the approach that I think is the most important one to make progress,” Bertagnolli said. “And it’s actually heartwarming and not that common that you see a medical community and research community that is so integrated into the populations that they are serving and so committed to serving the people. I’m really thrilled to have been here to see this.”