Community Voices Shaping Rural Health Research: CAB Updates, Kerns Scholar Defines Medical Boarding

Sep 17 2:25pm | Jasmine Souers | @jasminesouers

The Center for Clinical and Translational Science (CCaTS) Midwest Rural Health Research (MWRHR) Community Advisory Board (CAB) brings community voices into rural health care research. Meeting quarterly, CAB members share lived experiences, local knowledge and insights that help researchers strengthen their studies and better respond to rural communities’ needs. In its fourth year, the CAB serves as a trusted space for two-way learning, with researchers returning to share updates and seeking additional guidance as their work evolves.

In July 2026, the CAB welcomed Tufia Haddad, M.D., and her colleagues back to share an update following publication of their work on Clinical Trials Beyond Walls. Early in this study, the research team brought the project to the CAB for their input. The recent publication highlights how the input of people from the community shaped the project specifically around access to technology, educating communities about clinical research, ensuring outreach is available to all, and the value of collaborating with local leaders and established organizations to create a warm, trusted link between large medical centers and community-based health systems.

Earlier in the year, CAB members heard from Chung Wi, M.D., and Trent Anderson, D.O., recent awardees of the CCaTS Community Health: Assessment and Improvement Measurement Program (CHAMP). Their project, Enhancing Rural Preventive Health Through Data-Driven Mobile Health Unit Deployment and Community Engagement, is bringing Mayo Clinic Health System's Mobile Health Units to underserved areas of Wisconsin and Minnesota. By using data and community feedback, the team aims to make preventative care easier to reach for rural residents. In partnership with WellShare of Minnesota, the team has already co-hosted three events in 2025, offering education, A1C testing, pap smears and research opportunities to nearly 100 rural residents. As the team shared their work, CAB feedback raised safety and security concerns that had not been previously explored and helped the team think more deeply about how to create a welcoming, trusted experience for rural residents.

CAB members also heard from Dmitri Esterov, D.O., who leads Building a Community-Academic Partnership to Advance Traumatic Brain Injury-Related Health Equity in Red Lake Nation, a CHAMP Partnership Development award project. The project focuses on strengthening partnerships with Red Lake Nation and Red Lake Comprehensive Health Services of Red Lake, Minnesota, while learning more about understanding community needs and priorities related to traumatic brain injury and associated mental health and substance use. As Dr. Esterov shared early directions of the work, CAB members shared ideas on developing connections in the community to further future collaboration.

Other research presented to the Midwest Rural Health Research CAB is led by investigators who work closely with the Rural Health Research Core. Pravesh Sharma, M.D., for example, leads the Women PALS project, a study on social media communities for alcohol use. He and his team brought sample social media posts with text and images to the CAB. Members provided feedback to help the team create content that would feel relevant, respectful, and relatable to women in small towns and rural communities.

Together, these examples show how CAB members help make rural health research more grounded in community experience. Their input helps researchers ask better questions, anticipate real-world challenges, and design programs that are more accessible, trusted, and useful for rural communities. CAB members report that these presentations are one aspect of the work they like best, and they also value learning from one another as they share their insights with researchers.

Kern Scholar Elizabeth Bermudez, M.D.

The Kern Scholars program trains practicing clinicians to lead practice-based healthcare delivery projects at Mayo Clinic through protected time, expert mentorship, a supportive cohort, and Kern Center resources. The Kern Center established this program in 2010 to transform healthcare delivery for improved patient-centered outcomes. This competitive program is available to current clinically trained doctoral-level faculty at Mayo Clinic with an academic rank of associate professor or below. There is also a one-year fellow program available, requiring at least 50% protected FTE. Today, there are 60 graduates of the program. Successful Kern Scholars projects address healthcare delivery problems that have a direct impact on the current Mayo Clinic Practice and can be implemented immediately.

The Rural Health Research Core has supported Kern Scholars who have a focus in rural healthcare delivery. Elizabeth Bermudez, M.D., Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine, is one such scholar. Her mentor is Molly Jeffery, Ph.D., and her Clinical mentor is Nicole Varela, M.D.

According to The American College of Emergency Physicians, a “boarded patient is as one who remains in the emergency department after being admitted or placed in observation status but not yet transferred to an inpatient or observation unit, without specifying a time threshold." Dr. Bermudez's project establishes a standardized definition of medical boarders and investigates factors associated with Emergency Department (ED) medical boarding in Mayo Clinic Health System, evaluates its impact on patient safety and financial outcomes, and models the predicted financial benefits of implementing a telehospitalist role for managing ED medical boarders.

To date, she and her team have created a standardized definition of ED medical boarder that considers the unique operational differences in rural health systems. They have also examined regional and national trends in ED boarding and interfacility transfers by rurality, and this manuscript is currently under journal review. She and her project team are currently working closely with Mayo Clinic Health System Quality to evaluate the most pertinent patient safety outcomes of ED medical boarding.

Dr. Bermudez is scheduled to meet with the Midwest Rural Health Research Community Advisory Board for the first time this fall to introduce her work and invite community perspective. The conversation is an opportunity to hear directly from CAB members about how ED boarding affects patients, families, and rural health systems, helping ensure the study reflects real-world experiences and identifies solutions that matter to the community the project is intended to help.

Research supported by the Rural Health Research Core 

Improving breast cancer screening and research participation requires more than education alone. Mayo Clinic researchers, with support from the Rural Health Research Core, partnered with members of the impacted group to co-design the Mayo Clinic Health System WeCARE (Women’s Engagement for Cancer Awareness, Resources, and Education) intervention, ensuring the program reflects the real needs, concerns, and experiences of the communities it serves. A recent publication shares how community voices shaped every aspect of the initiative, from forum content and location to language access and ongoing support, creating a more trusted and accessible approach to cancer prevention and research engagement.