Dr. Aryana Sepassi has been chosen for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Loan Repayment Program.
The NIH Loan Repayment Program is an initiative in which NIH repays the student debt of health professionals who commit to conducting research that is relevant to the organization’s mission. To qualify for the NIH Loan Repayment Program, applicants must present NIH with a research plan that exemplifies their work.
“My overall research focus is to improve healthcare accessibility by identifying socioeconomic disparities that prevent access to high-quality healthcare,” Dr. Sepassi shared. “The proposal for this award was focused on a research plan that intends to investigate how socioeconomic difficulties can change a Medicare beneficiary’s mind when it comes to starting or continuing a potentially expensive chemotherapeutic medication — for example, if I have fewer resources, would I be less likely to want to start an expensive medication?”
The highly competitive program aims to foster the careers of those doing valuable work in the field of biomedical/biobehavioral research.
“The program selects based on the quality of the research plan, but more importantly, it selects based on the promise of the principal investigator,” said Dr. Jonathan Watanabe, who served as a mentor on Dr. Sepassi’s proposal. “I am an alum from this program, so I can say that it’s truly transformative in terms of financial assistance and the doors it opens at NIH.”
With the support of the NIH Loan Repayment Program, Dr. Sepassi can further her efforts to make quality healthcare available to all.
“This program will be critical in ensuring I have the resources I need to be successful in my research. I’d like to thank Dr. Jonathan Watanabe, Dr. Dana B. Mukamel, Dr. Jason A. Zell, and Dr. Inmaculada Hernandez for their help and mentorship in achieving this milestone,” Dr. Sepassi said. “I am grateful to NIH and their reviewers for placing their trust in me. Being selected gives me confidence that socioeconomic disparities and financial barriers to medication access are also at the forefront of NIH’s mind. This motivates me even further to accomplish my research goals and objectives. If this research plan can help out even one person in affording their medication, then it will have been 100% worthwhile in the end.”
