Students Acquire Grant to Study Appalachian Nature, Support Diabetes Care in Local Community and More

A Grant That Opens Doors

On a sunny Sunday afternoon, the team at Touro University California College of Osteopathic Medicine (TUCOM) gathered around the Mobile Diabetes Education Center (MOBEC), a familiar sight in Vallejo, California, and surrounding communities. There was a sense of celebration in the air, a recognition that the work TUCOM has been doing for years to fight diabetes was about to reach even more people who need it most.

Sun Life U.S. and DentaQuest presented a $50,000 Health Access Hero Award grant to Breakthrough T1D, the leading global organization focused on type 1 diabetes research and advocacy. Through this grant, TUCOM’s MOBEC will expand type 1 diabetes services, bringing hope and knowledge directly to neighborhoods where healthcare access is limited. This grant promises to be a lifeline for families who might never know they’re at risk until it’s too late.

Read more about what the partnership means for future diabetes healthcare in the community.

Researchers Tap into Appalachian Nature for Possible Medical Remedies

What if the natural environment offered by the Appalachian Mountains—plants native to the region and waterways flowing through West Virginia towns—proved to be a source of medicinal value?

That is what faculty and student researchers at the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine (WVSOM) are studying through a $300,000-plus grant funded by a West Virginia IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence NIH grant.

Matthew Williams, PhD, an associate professor in WVSOM’s Department of Biomedical Sciences, began preliminary research on the concept in 2018, but received grant support from the state in 2024.

Read more about how the research is blending modern microbiology with historical wisdom.

VCOM-Carolinas Outreach Trip to Dominican Republic

A team of Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine Carolinas Campus (VCOM-Carolinas) students, faculty and staff recently returned from an international medical outreach trip to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. Together with local partners, they provided compassionate care to more than 650 patients in underserved communities—offering everything from pediatric and family medicine to osteopathic manipulative treatment. For the students who served, the experience was both hands-on training and a powerful reminder of why they chose medicine: to help, to heal and to connect.

Read more stories of VCOM-Carolinas’ student doctors on VCOM-Carolinas’ Facebook.

Veteran Trades Military Intelligence for Medicine at Kansas College of Osteopathic Medicine

Major Carolyn Gill, a veteran with a background in military intelligence and as a medic, is studying at the Kansas Health Science University-Kansas College of Osteopathic Medicine (KansasCOM) and doing training at the Robert J. Dole VA Medical Center to learn about working at a VA hospital.

"It's just such an honor to be able to give back, to be able to just provide them the care that they deserve and that they've really earned," Carolyn said.

Read more about Major Gill’s journey to studying at KansasCOM.

Arkansas Ranks 5th Nationally for Diabetes Diagnoses

Shane Speights, DO, site dean for the New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine at Arkansas State (NYITCOM-Arkansas), says diet and activity are major factors in Arkansas' status as the state with the fifth-highest rate of diabetes diagnoses in the country.

Read more coverage on K8 News.