More than $58 million in new federal grant funding over the next seven years will allow the Avera Research Institute to expand its unique community research program to benefit mothers and children.
“These are the largest grants that Avera has ever received,” said Amy Elliott, PhD, Chief Clinical Research Officer at Avera Research Institute, a department of Avera McKennan Hospital & University Health Center in Sioux Falls.
“Our goal is simple: improving health for mothers and their children. The complex part is reaching all of our different populations, as we never want anyone’s ZIP code to determine their maternal or pediatric health,” Elliott said. “Significant funding for these initiatives allows us to build upon our extensive research that’s underway and will effect real change for the populations we serve.
The largest grant provides a continuation of the Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) grant, and the second grant will create the Maternal American Indian Rural Community Health Research (MARCH) Center of Excellence – one of only 10 Centers of Excellence funded nationwide.
Taking Research to the Prairie
Research conducted by Elliott’s team is not the typical laboratory-based research or clinical trials that people often picture. “We take research to the people, with interventions to improve lives as we go along,” Elliott said. “Our mantra is bringing cutting-edge research to the prairie.”
For example, through ECHO, Elliott’s team has enrolled some 3,500 children, who are now age 5-14. “We follow them throughout childhood.” ECHO looks at five outcomes including neurodevelopment with a particular focus on autism; airways and asthma; childhood obesity; positive health (healthy habits like getting enough sleep); and delivery outcomes.
“We gather lots of data that will impact children of the future. But we also engage with these families to encourage a healthier future for them,” Elliott said. This program has offices not only in Sioux Falls, but also Rapid City and Pine Ridge.
In addition to these offices, the group uses a mobile research unit that houses two clinic rooms. “We can do physical exams, developmental assessments and collect blood samples without patients having to come to us,” Elliott said.
The van can be set up at health fairs, and the team brings along child-sized white research coats that kids can wear. “It’s been fun to watch the kids be interested. We help promote that when you’re participating in a research study, you’re doing science and you’re helping others,” Elliott said. “It all has to do with engagement and helping to influence the better health of generations of kids.”
What Makes Avera Research Institute Different?
The program is unique. “A lot of health systems have a research and innovation arm that does industry clinical trials, especially in the oncology space. Avera has a wonderful team that does this work. This is a way to give patients access to cutting-edge drugs,” Elliott said.
What’s not as common is having infrastructure that includes investigator initiated studies, working within a community-based system and involvement in community networks. This environmental piece is how researchers look into whether it’s nature or nurture that causes diseases and outcomes.
Since late 2017, when Elliott’s team joined Avera, they have grown from 16 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees to 80. That growth is all supported by grant awards. “We’re quite large in terms of a research institute for these types of awards. It’s uncommon for a health system to receive these large federal grant awards; it’s much more common for a university or research center,” Elliott said. “But we’re set up for this type of research and conduct it successfully, providing insight on the diverse populations of South Dakota including American Indians.”
Avera Research Institute also does other non-cancer research and was involved in several COVID studies, including one that’s ongoing to study long COVID in kids and young adults.
More About ECHO
The new $47 million grant over seven years for ECHO Cycle 2 is a continuation of previous ECHO work. ECHO is a large national research network launched and supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). ECHO focuses on how early environmental influences affect child outcomes. The first two years of $12.5 million have been awarded with the next five years to be contingent on meeting milestones as the grant progresses.
“With over 3,500 enrollees we are one of the largest ECHO research cohorts in the nation,” Elliott said. “At the same time we gather data, our team loves the opportunity to work with kids to help improve their health and lives,” Elliott said. “The hope is that this work will lead to a healthier future for each child.”
MARCH Center of Excellence
The second grant is $11 million over seven years awarded by the National Institutes of Health. Avera is one of only 10 research centers nationwide to receive $24 million in first-year funding to establish Maternal Health Research Centers of Excellence. The grants are expected to last seven years for a total of $168 million for all 10 centers nationwide.
Through this grant funding, Avera Research Institute will create the Maternal American Indian Rural Community Health Research (MARCH) Center of Excellence. “Overall, our center is looking into how to reduce maternal mortality and severe health conditions as well as improving accessibility of care,” Elliott said.
“Avera has many exciting initiatives in women’s health, including the HRSA-funded RMOMS program. MARCH will work to integrate service programs, women’s caregivers and research studies to foster great synergies to promote change,” Elliott said. The Rural Maternity and Obstetrics Management Strategies Program (RMOMS) grant, awarded by the federal Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), provides $1 million per year over four years for a total of $4 million to help increase access to obstetrics services and improve outcomes such as pre-term labor, low birthweight, infant mortality and more in South Dakota.
“Receiving this funding is a moment to celebrate for our team. But what’s important is what we actually do with it, turning it into real action and real change. The real moment to celebrate is when the positive outcomes and results start to roll in,” Elliott said.
Learn more about innovative community research at Avera.
RMOMS-SD is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of an award totaling $4,000,000 over 4 years with 0% financed with non-governmental sources. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by HRSA, HHS, or the U.S. Government. For more information, please visit HRSA.gov.
