By Pareasa Rahimi
University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing Associate Professor and Interim Assistant Dean for Research and Scholarship Edwin Aroke, PhD, CRNA, FADLN, FAANA, FAAN, has received the 2024 International Society of Nurses in Genetics Founders’ Award. This award recognizes ISONG members who have demonstrated excellence in genomic nursing education, research or service. Aroke is one of three award recipients and was honored at the 2024 ISONG Annual World Congress in November.
Aroke leads an interdisciplinary program of research promoting equity in pain management and has several funded projects. Supported by a four-year, $1.7 million R01 grant from the National Institutes of Health, his work investigates social determinants of pain and systems that cause and sustain pain disparities. Findings from his research suggest that epigenetic changes in genes responsible for regulating stress and neuroinflammatory processes play an essential role in chronic pain disparities. His team also has reported that individuals with chronic low back pain have a faster pace of biological aging, which may explain the relationship between stigma and pain, as well as insomnia and pain.
“I am deeply humbled and honored to receive this prestigious award,” Aroke said. “This award underscores the importance of genomic nursing research in improving our understanding of the mechanisms that sustain pain disparities. My team is committed to translating our findings into real-world benefits to foster equity in pain outcomes.”
Aroke is a member of the leadership team and a scientist at the UAB Center for Addiction and Pain Prevention and Intervention, which is recognized as a University-Wide Interdisciplinary Research Centers Program. In 2024, he was named to the American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology Foundation Board of Trustees. He served as President of the Association of Cameroonian Nurse Anesthetists in America from 2021-2023. Aroke also received the Friends of the National Institute of Nursing Research 2022 Protégé Award and the 2022 Mitchell Max Award for Research Excellence from the National Institutes of Health Pain Consortium.