College of Public Health-Carver College of Medicine
New Investigator Research Award
The award recipients' proposed research projects were chosen on the basis of scientific merit, relevance to the College of Public Health mission, and probability of attracting subsequent extramural research funding.
2010-2011 Award Recipient
Neil Segal, M.D., M.S., Associate Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, Epidemiology and Radiology
“Determining Efficacy of a Tolerable Means of Modifying Risk for Knee Osteoarthritis: Partial Blood Flow Restriction Low Intensity Resistance Training”
Osteoarthritis of the knee is the leading cause of disability in American adults. Past research has found that lower strength quadriceps is risk factor for incident symptomatic and progressive knee osteoarthritis in women. In light of these observational findings, there is a need to assess whether intervening to increase quadriceps strength can attenuate worsening of this disease. One barrier to strengthening is that high-intensity resistance training can be poorly tolerated by people with risk factors for symptomatic knee osteoarthritis. In an effort to reduce risk for the disability, this project will assess efficacy of an eight-week, efficient and tolerable, low-intensity resistance-training program with concurrent application of partial blood flow restriction for improving quadriceps strength in women with risk factors for symptomatic knee osteoarthritis.
2009-2010 Award Recipients
Jason Hockenberry, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Health Management and Policy
“The Effects of Temporal Distance on Surgeon Human Capital and the Impact on Surgical Quality”
There is a longstanding hypothesis that the volume of procedures a surgical provider has performed impacts the quality of the procedure, and that this difference in quality is observable through patient health outcomes, the so-called volume-outcome relationship. Recent work examining the performance of surgeons and outcomes of patients in Taiwan has shown that rather than volume itself, the relatively more important factor is how much time has elapsed since the surgeon last performed the procedure. This is referred to as the temporal distance between procedures. This project will investigate whether there is a temporal distance effect observable among surgeons in the United States and the relative magnitude of the effect of temporal distance on quality and efficiency.
George Wehby, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Health Management and Policy
“Genetic Instrumental Variable Studies of the Impacts of Maternal Risk Behaviors on Infant Health”
Birth outcomes, including birth weight, gestational age, and fetal growth, are important predictors of child and adult health, education, and wealth. Improvement in health care over the past several decades has substantially improved the likelihood of survival for preterm and low birth weight (LBW) infants. At the same time, preterm birth and LBW rates have been increasing in the United States and other countries. There has been slow progress in unraveling the determinants of adverse birth outcomes and developing preventive interventions. A complex etiology of behavioral, social, and genetic factors with interactive effects is thought to be involved. This study will examine the “causal” effects of major maternal risk behaviors on birth outcomes using a novel application of genetic instrumental analysis.
2008-2009 Award Recipients
Ryan Carnahan, Pharm.D., Clinical Assistant Professor of Epidemiology
“Anticholinergic Use Among Veterans Affairs Nursing Home
Residents with Dementia: Prevalence, Correlates, and
Relationship to Antipsychotic Prescribing”
Anticholinergic medications can worsen cognition and increase psychotic and aggressive symptoms in Alzheimer’s disease patients, yet they are commonly prescribed. Psychosis and aggression in dementia are often treated with antipsychotics, but the use of these drugs in dementia increases risks of mortality and other adverse effects. One way to reduce antipsychotic use is to eliminate avoidable causes of aggression and psychosis such as anticholinergics. Carnahan’s research will describe anticholinergic use and examine it as a risk factor for antipsychotic prescribing in elders with dementia in hopes that medication safety and outcomes for these patients can be improved.
Dawei Liu, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
of Biostatistics
“A Joint Modeling of Correlated Recurrent and Terminal
Events with Multivariate Frailty in the Analysis of
Driving Safety Data in Patients with Parkinson’s Disease”
Due to the complexity of Parkinson’s disease, it is not clear what and how risk factors affect driving safety. Liu’s project will build on recently completed research to develop a joint modeling framework that simultaneously models potentially correlated driving outcomes among Parkinson’s patients. Under this framework, the analysis will try to explore relationships between crash, citation, and driving cessation and identify risk factors associated with these outcomes.