University Of Pittsburgh Schools Of The Health Sciences Announce New Research Funding

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 26 Jul 2009 - 0:00 PDT

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Innovative research conducted by faculty of the University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences contributes to a better understanding of the causes and origins of disease and aids in the development of more effective treatment approaches. Government and private-sector funding is critical to this process of scientific inquiry. The following projects recently have been awarded grants that will enable the continuation of existing projects or the pursuit of new areas of investigation:

- Janice Pringle, Ph.D., research assistant professor, School of Pharmacy, and William Johnjulio, M.D., chairman, Department of Family Medicine UPMC Mercy, are co-principal investigators on a five-year, $1.8 million grant from the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration. The grant will be used to develop a statewide training program to educate medical residents about the importance of identifying substance issues with their patient populations. The initiative, SMaRT (Screening, brief intervention and referral to treatment Medical and Residency Training) is a collaborative effort among several institutions including UPMC.

- Eileen R. Chasens, D.S.N., assistant professor, School of Nursing, has been awarded a $416,625 grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. This two-year grant will support Dr. Chasens' research, "Obstructive Sleep Apnea, Sleepiness and Activity in Diabetes Management." Her study will examine whether treatment of obstructive sleep apnea with continuous positive airway pressure results in increased physical activity in people with type 2 diabetes.

-Annette Duensing, M.D., assistant professor of pathology, School of Medicine, has received a $135,000 award from the GIST Cancer Research Fund to support her research with gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs). Dr. Duensing's studies aim to better understand the biology of GIST responses to the drug Gleevec, as well as mechanisms underlying drug resistance, both of which provide the framework for the development of more effective treatment options for GIST patients.

-Yuyan Jin, graduate student, School of Pharmacy, has been awarded a Critical Path Research Grant from the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. This two-year grant of $120,408 will fund Ms. Jin's research on public health policy pertaining to anti-hypertensives use.

-JiYeon Choi, Ph.D., R.N., postdoctoral fellow, School of Nursing, received the Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award from the National Institute of Nursing Research. This two-year, $96,472 grant will support Dr. Choi's research, "Caregivers of Prolonged Mechanical Ventilation: Mind-Body Interaction Model." This study will focus on exploring psychological, behavioral and biological aspects of stress responses in family caregivers of persons on prolonged mechanical ventilation.

-Paul Daniel Patterson, Ph.D., M.P.H., research assistant professor, Department of Emergency Medicine, School of Medicine, received a grant from the American Society for Healthcare Risk Management Foundation. The grant will help fund Dr. Patterson's research proposal, "The Effect of Communication Patterns in the Emergency Department on Quality and Performance."

The University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences include the schools of Medicine, Nursing, Dental Medicine, Pharmacy, Health and Rehabilitation Sciences and the Graduate School of Public Health. The schools serve as the academic partner to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Together, their combined mission is to train tomorrow's health care specialists and biomedical scientists, engage in groundbreaking research that will advance understanding of the causes and treatments of disease and participate in the delivery of outstanding patient care. Since 1997, Pitt and its affiliated university faculty have ranked among the top 10 educational institutions in grant support from the National Institutes of Health.

For additional information about the Schools of the Health Sciences, please visit http://www.health.pitt.edu.

Source
UPMC

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