Physician associate students from the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences campus are embarking on three-month rotations in rural primary care clinics that integrate mental health services into their practices. The initiative aims to grow the PA workforce across rural Oklahoma and equip them with skills to address mental health concerns before patients ever leave the building.

In 2022, researchers from the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences  and the University of North Texas Health Science Center published findings from a pilot trial of a mobile application to help reduce drinking among adults experiencing homelessness. Now, with funding from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, the team will deploy a field test of the app’s efficacy with 600 participants in Oklahoma City and Dallas/Ft. Worth.

Andrew Jea, M.D., MBA, MHA, FACS, FAAP, has been named chair of the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine and clinical service chief at OU Health. Jea has served as vice chair of the department of neurosurgery at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine; as the residency program director; and has served as interim chair of the department since March 1 after former chair Ian F. Dunn, M.D., FACS, FAANS, assumed the role of executive dean at the OU College of Medicine.

While the overall rate of cigarette smoking has decreased in the United States, the use of menthol cigarettes has risen among young adult smokers. A University of Oklahoma researcher published a study today showing that the addition of menthol flavoring to cigarettes makes them more appealing than non-menthol cigarettes, particularly among racial and ethnic minorities and the LGBTQ population, who have high rates of menthol cigarette use.

A $5.3 million National Institutes of Health grant awarded to the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences will support advanced cancer research in Oklahoma. The Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) grant is designed to build research capacity and help early-career researchers establish independently funded laboratories.