Kirsten Eom, PhD, MPH Receives Shine Academy Small Grant to Advance Health Services Research Training

The UT Shine Academy Awards and Grants Committee has announced that Kirsten Eom, PhD, MPH, faculty in the Department of Health Policy and Health Services Administration at the Kate Marmion School of Public Health, has been selected to receive a 2025–2026 Shine Academy Small Grant for a project designed to bridge a critical gap in public health research education.

Entitled “Bridging the Analytic Gap: An Innovative Health Services Research Curriculum to Drive Data-Driven System Change in South Texas – A UT San Antonio System Collaboration,” Eom’s project targets the need for hands-on training in Health Services Research (HSR) methods, specifically regarding system-level policy analysis using complex claims data. This initiative addresses the urgent need to equip graduates with the skills to tackle regional public health crises, such as the high prevalence of diabetes in South Texas. The study team includes Eom as the principal investigator and Dajung Jun, PhD, MA, a faculty member in the Department of Health Policy and Health Services Administration, as co-principal investigator. Jeffrey Howard, PhD, a professor of public health at the University of Texas at San Antonio's College of Health, Community and Policy, is a collaborator.

Eom will be formally recognized at the 2026 Shine Academy Innovations Conference, scheduled for February 26–27, 2026, themed "Flourishing on the Shifting Sands of Changing Educational Landscapes." The project's findings will be presented at the 2027 conference.

The Shine Academy Small Grants Program supports faculty across UT System institutions in developing innovative educational programs in health sciences.