Tatiane Santos earns 5-year K01 grant to support health equity research

Tatiane Santos, Health Policy and Management assistant professor at the Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, has been awarded a Mentored Research Scientist Career Development Award (K01), which is a five-year career development grant administered through the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).

The program helps ensure that a diverse pool of highly trained scientists is available in appropriate scientific disciplines to address the Nation’s health services research needs.

This AHRQ program provides support and “protected time” to individuals with a research doctoral degree for an intensive, supervised research career development experience in health services research.  The K01 award can be used both by individuals who propose to newly embark in health services research training and those who had a hiatus in their research careers because of illness or family circumstances. 

“One of the main reasons I joined the faculty at TUSPHTM was because of the school’s collective expertise and focus on equity,” Santos said. “Moreover, the school’s location in the State of Louisiana constantly reminds me of health inequities and the importance of addressing those problems.”

The nature of her research is focused on furthering health equity at the public health department, primary care, and hospital levels. It’s designed to take advantage of the United States’ incremental approach to healthcare reform at the federal level and the heterogeneity in state policies that support or attenuate federal policies.  

“The research will focus on examining the integration of traditional healthcare providers with public health and social services and the impact on population wellbeing and equity,” Santos added. 

Santos’ mentors as she embarks on work funded by the grant will include Alessandra Bazzano, David Chae and Dean Thomas LaVeist at Tulane SPHTM, along with mentors at other institutions.