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Campus Bulletin

Issue 2010-10 (October 20, 2010)

IN THIS ISSUE

 

WSU Researchers Awarded Alzheimer’s Association Grant to Test New Intervention

By Judith Van Dongen

Researchers at Washington State University have received a $320,000 grant from the Alzheimer's Association to test a novel intervention for the treatment of individuals with mild cognitive impairment, a precursor to Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia.

This three-year early intervention study will be the first to examine the effectiveness of a new treatment method that integrates two existing interventions: One is a cognitive rehabilitation method that was built in part on the work of WSU professor of psychology Maureen Schmitter-Edgecombe, the principal investigator of this study. The other is a therapy named multi-family group treatment, which was originally developed to treat schizophrenia. Co-principal investigator and WSU professor of psychology in neurosciences Dennis Dyck successfully adapted this family-based treatment for patients with traumatic brain injury and spinal cord injury, and has been working with researchers from the Veterans Affairs Health Care System to adapt it for traumatic brain injury in returning veterans, specifically.  

The goal of the new intervention is to identify ways to keep people functioning independently for longer, decrease caregiver burden, and increase social support networks for both patients and family.

"We don't have any proven pharmacological interventions right now," said Schmitter-Edgecombe,"and there's not a whole lot out there in terms of education or support for individuals and their families when people do get diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment. So we're hoping that we will be developing something that can be used to help patients and their family members cope and compensate."

Using a randomized controlled study design, the study will look at 40 patient-caregiver “teams," or dyads, half of whom will be included in the intervention. The other half will serve as controls, receiving standard care from their personal physicians and getting tested at the same intervals as the intervention group.

The intervention consists of 10 weeks of twice weekly sessions in multi-family groups of five to seven dyads, led by two clinicians. Sessions alternate between those aimed at teaching cognitive skills and memory strategies, such as the use of a memory notebook to record past actions and plan future ones, and those focused on the problem-solving activities and socialization that are central to the multi-group family treatment method.

"Working with both patient and caregiver is key," said Dyck. "There's a lot of information that a clinician normally doesn't get that can be obtained by including the spouse or caregiver." He also noted that this team approach helps strengthen the mutual understanding of the difficulties being faced.  

The researchers are looking to run intervention groups in Spokane and Pullman, and potentially also in Lewiston, Idaho, starting in late spring or early summer of next year. Study participants will be recruited through multiple methods, including referrals by study collaborator Dr. David Greeley, a neurologist with Northwest Neurological. WSU research associate Diane Norell will train and supervise the clinicians who will be conducting the groups.

Cognitive testing will be done both prior to and following the intervention to determine its effectiveness.

"What we're hoping to see is that patients use the memory techniques and strategies they have been taught and that they will report fewer everyday memory lapses as a result," Schmitter-Edgecombe said. Other anticipated outcomes include less reported distress and enhanced quality of life for both members of the dyad, as well as a strengthening of their relationship.

 
Call for Participants

Individuals interested in participating in this intervention study may call 509-335-4033, extension 1, for additional information. Eligible individuals must be 50 years or older; be experiencing mild memory problems (to be verified
through screening); be able to participate in psychometric testing and groups; and have a spouse or another family
member or friend willing to participate. There is no cost to participate, and each dyad will receive a honorarium.

 

 

 

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Health Risks of Growing Hookah Smoking Trend Explored

By Sarah Robinson, WSU Today Intern

Researchers from WSU's College of Nursing plan to embark on a pilot study on the health and dependency risks of heavy waterpipe smoking for intermittent users, a virtually unexplored topic.

Smoking tobacco through a waterpipe, or hookah, originated in the Middle East and has been a growing trend over the last decade in Europe and the U.S., according to the American Lung Association. Yet there have been few U.S. studies focused on hookah smoking and its effects at the national level.

Assistant professor Kawkab Shishani and assistant research professor Donelle Howell plan to change that. Outside of determining health risks, Shishani said, their main concern is discovering whether or not sporadic but heavy hookah use leads to dependency, or even a transition to cigarette smoking over time.

"There are more hookah bars cropping up all around the country, and there are more stores selling hookahs, which means people are smoking at home," Shishani said. "Now it’s not only a social practice, but has transitioned into individual use. …Does this lead to tobacco dependency? This is what we want to study."

Working with Alan Shihadeh, associate professor of mechanical engineering at The American University of Beirut, and several student assistants, Shishani and Howell will research the physiological and subjective effects of hookah smoking on frequent, nondependent users.

Each week 24 research participants will attend three one-hour sessions, where researchers will measure their blood pressure, heart rate, carbon-monoxide and cotinine levels; cotinine is a metabolite of nicotine. Researchers also will record reported subjective effects of hookah use, including energy level, mood, nausea, dizziness, headaches and other signs of tobacco reinforcing effects and withdrawal.

In the first session of every week, participants will use a hookah-like smoking apparatus developed by Shihadeh that measures the volume of smoke inhaled per puff and the total number of puffs per session. Researchers will use this data, along with data collected at the two weekly follow-up sessions, to gauge consumption levels and their consequential health effects.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention deemed tobacco use the single most preventable cause of death in the United States—it kills an estimated 438,000 people each year. The American Cancer Society and American Lung Association have issued warnings that smoking hookahs may be as harmful to personal health as smoking cigarettes.

Shishani said that, despite CDC reports that show a decline in cigarette smoking over the past decade, hookah smoking gains popularity due to its novelty in this country.

"Hookah smoking in the U.S. is fairly new, so there is this misconception that it’s a safer alternative to cigarette smoking," Shishani said. "We need to dispel such myths, not only about hookah, but all tobacco products."

Howell said their ultimate goal is to carry out similar, full-scale studies to find innovative tobacco treatment interventions.

John Roll, a professor and associate dean of research at the College of Nursing and director of the WSU Program of Excellence in the Addictions, said countries where hookah smoking is more prevalent often run public health education campaigns on the issue.

"Studies like this one, which help to better characterize the physiological and subjective effects of hookah smoking, are crucial to developing pharmaceutical and behavioral treatment and prevention strategies," Roll said. "I am confident this will be a pathway for future funding from the National Institutes of Health as well as add to our portfolio of work."

In August, WSU’s Alcohol and Drug Abuse Research Program granted Shishani and Howell $29,311 for this study through the Faculty Seed Grant Program. The research will commence within the next few months.

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Architecture Professor Challenges History through Measurements

By Hannelore Sudermann, Washington State Magazine

Matthew Cohen started wondering if what he knew of Renaissance architecture was true when he stepped into the San Lorenzo Basilica in Florence with a measuring tape.

The Italian city, known as the birthplace of the Renaissance, is home to many of the great works of Filippo Brunelleschi, perhaps the foremost engineer and architect of the period. And San Lorenzo has been studied by generations of architects and historians as one of the earliest examples of Renaissance perfection.

"It is one of the most famous buildings in the world," says Cohen, an architecture instructor at WSU Spokane. He first encountered the church when he was a graduate student visiting Italy. He had been asked by his professor to present a seminar on the Basilica of San Lorenzo. Construction on the church had been started in 1419, on the site of a Romanesque-style church from 1060. The new building, which was funded by the de Medici family, was built right at the threshold of the Renaissance.

Cohen had read about the structure and its proportions—its symmetry and geometry. "I just wasn’t convinced," he says. So he took the tape measure to the church and, with the tourists around him, recorded a few measurements. His hands-on examination suggested the layout was not on a perfect grid, which is the lecture he provided his classmates, much to the chagrin of his professor.

Cohen went on to study architecture at Harvard and Leiden University and then to teaching. All the while, he remembered his experience at San Lorenzo. One of his Harvard professors, a Renaissance expert, encouraged him to continue his inquiry. With a grant in hand, he moved to Italy for a year and set about getting more measurements at both San Lorenzo and its sister structure Santo Spirito, which Brunelleschi designed in 1436.

"I found they had never been fully measured before," he says. Most of what's written about the two buildings is based on documents and plans, not on the actual completed structure, he says. "I wanted to measure every column."

He convinced the Italian antiquities office that his research was important enough for him to be allowed to work inside the churches. "It was great timing because the Italians were just beginning a major conservation treatment of the building (San Lorenzo)." Instead of satisfying his curiosity, the inspection caused him to wonder all the more.

"I figured there would be a few irregularities here and there," he says. "I didn’t expect so many." The bays, which from the ground looked identical, were quite different up close. He also noticed the quality was inconsistent in design and execution.

Cohen realized the irregularities contained historical information. "I was conducting above-ground archeology." Not only above ground, but often high, high in the rafters. Looking at the columns of San Lorenzo, for example, he found the most irregular measurements corresponded to the second phase of the church’s construction." It appears that they were rushing to complete the building."

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Practicing Nursing Without Borders

By Lindsey Friessnig, College of Nursing Communications Intern

Looking past domestic borders to deliver aid, associate professor of nursing Lorna Schumann has organized medical mission trips spanning the globe. Schumann provides students with the opportunity to accompany her on these trips, which benefit communities in impoverished areas. On these medical missions Schumann finds no boundaries to where she and students can help.

Above left: Lorna Schumann (center, with sunglasses) poses with fellow mission volunteers
(including two WSU students) during a trip to the Amazon Basin in Ecuador.
Above right: One happy patient and her mother at a medical camp site in Liberia.
Photos courtesy of Lorna Schumann.

"In the late 1990s I started in Honduras and traveled with a student who was involved with a catholic mission to do her clinical there," Schumann said.

Always a world traveler, Schumann found her two passions of nursing and exploring combined when she was able to offer her nursing students the opportunity to participate in medical missions in distant countries.

"We go slum to slum, village to village, a different place every night. We set up a medical camp for about eight days; whoever comes from the area for medical attention will be helped. In India we saw about 4,000 patients and in Ecuador about 2,300," Schumann said.

Through different grants and programs, students are able to travel with Schumann on organized trips to experience how practicing medicine varies greatly outside of the United States.

"Seeing each culture and their different ways of treatments is interesting," said Schumann. She noted that students who go on these trips get to observe things that they wouldn't see in the United States.

"In India there is a slum that is truly the worst of the worst, and that is how the community even describes it," Schumann said. "Typhoid fever, yellow fever, things I hadn’t seen in the U.S. infect many there. They just do not have access to care." The silver lining in seeing all of the illness in these slums is the culture and the attitude of the people who live there. "They are always so thankful," she said.

These missions are time intensive and involve Schumann's expertise in transporting medical equipment and medicine to foreign destinations. Schumann's passion for these programs is seen through the countless trips she has organized and her enthusiasm for the experience.

"I enjoy it. I would go this minute if I could."

 
You, too, can help! Schumann has tentatively planned a trip to Ecuador for March and is looking
for faculty members willing to lead a team. And for those who want to help but like to stay closer
to home: donations of over-the-counter medicines and blankets are welcomed.

 
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Recruiting Rural Health Care Providers

By Larry Clark ’94, Washington State Magazine

On the quirky comedy Northern Exposure, an isolated Alaskan town—played by Roslyn, Washington—enticed a New York City doctor to become the community’s physician. While the city doc's angst and the eccentric residents, including a moose from WSU, drew laughs, the show highlighted a real challenge faced by many small towns and rural areas: recruiting and retaining doctors and nurses.

"There's a shortage of all health care providers: physicians, nurses, all of the technical programs," says Gary Smith, a senior project associate with the Area Health Education Center (AHEC) of eastern Washington. "The demand will increase even more when the economy turns around and people want to retire."

AHEC, a division of WSU Extension that works on outreach with the health science programs at WSU Spokane, helps recruit health care providers for rural and underserved populations.

Their mission is increasingly critical. A 2008 University of Missouri study estimated a shortage of 44,000 general practitioners in less than 20 years, a crisis that hits rural areas even harder with their aging population and difficulties in drawing in new health care workers.

Over the last 20 years, the number of health care students in the United States choosing primary care careers in rural areas has declined precipitously due to a number of factors: lower compensation for primary care, professional isolation, limited time off, less specialty support (especially for mental health services), and lack of respect and prestige among peers.

"I think there's a perception sometimes that the health care you receive in a small community isn’t on a par with a bigger city," says AHEC project associate Bettie Rundlett. "That's absolutely not true from my perspective. A family practice doc who’s out in Grand Coulee or Republic has to deal with everything,"

Changing demographics in rural Washington add cultural and linguistic challenges to recruitment of doctors and nurses. Despite very good clinical outcomes in rural hospitals, there are still huge health disparities documented within increasing Latino and other ethnically diverse populations.

Rundlett says, 'If they don't have a provider from their same population, they're less likely to go. That's one of the things that we try to work on, talking to students from an ethnic minority background to get them better represented in the health care workforce."

To recruit doctors, nurses, and other health care professionals to rural areas, AHEC's staff—with state agencies, WSU and other universities, and the communities themselves—use several innovative programs.

Smith says three things are most important in recruiting to rural areas: if the individual is born and raised in a rural community, if any of the practitioners in their internships or residencies spent time in a rural community, and if the community helps to fund some of the education.

One program that covers all three factors enables health care workers to pursue an associate degree in nursing in their home communities. Rural Outreach Nursing Program students study through a combination of distance education and on-site clinical educators, while their employer pays for some of their education. The program started in 2009 at four different sites throughout the state with plans to expand to Davenport, Grand Coulee, and other communities.

Educating students from elementary school and up about health care job possibilities is crucial. "Health care is competing against manufacturing and other industries that require less education and get folks into the workforce sooner for a lot of times the same pay," says AHEC project associate Bonnie Wagner. Project Hope, an education program specifically aimed at Latino and other underserved populations, offers paid high school internships in clinics or hospitals in students' own communities.

Federal health care reforms also factor into recruitment for rural areas. In the legislation, primary care receives a higher Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement rate for a few years. The reforms also boost the National Health Service Corps, a loan repayment program for health care providers who agree to work in underserved and rural areas.

The exposure to the benefits of practice in a rural area can also help retain doctors and nurses. As Smith says, "Getting people out there is the biggest recruitment. Communities have to look good."

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Riverpoint Campus Health Fair—Small Steps to a Healthy Future

Students from Washington State University's Program in Nutrition and Exercise Physiology (NEP) invite you to join them in taking some small steps to a healthy future. This Thursday, October 21, come to Health Fair 2010, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Academic Center atrium.

The NEP students have partnered with the Riverpoint Campus Wellness Collaborative to host this free annual event, which is designed to educate and involve the campus and surrounding community in exploring healthy lifestyle choices. The fair features various local vendors who represent recreation, healthy living, nutrition, health care organizations, fitness organizations, and more.

Enter the drawing for some fantastic door prizes, and bring $4 and a plain t-shirt—the Wellness Collaborative has something special in store for you. In addition to the vendors and information booths, a variety of health screenings will be available. NEP students will be offering the following health screenings free of charge: 

  • blood pressure
  • body mass index
  • waist circumference
  • body composition/body fat analysis
  • Rockport One Mile Fitness Test

Students from the College of Pharmacy will be offering seasonal flu vaccines for $25 for healthy people ages 18 and older who are not pregnant. You will also have the opportunity to donate blood as the Inland Northwest Blood Center will be doing the fall campus blood drive as well. (Please note that you can donate blood and receive your flu shot on the same day.)

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Community Health Expert to Speak at WSU Spokane Oct. 28

By Becki Meehan        

Nationally known community health expert Julie Willems Van Dijk will present "How Healthy Is My County and What Do We Do Next?" on October 28 on the Riverpoint Campus in the Academic Center Auditorium (room 20) from noon to 1 p.m. Hosted by WSU Spokane, this lecture presentation and a subsequent question-and-answer period are free and open to the public.

Her presentation will discuss the County Health Rankings released in each of the 50 states this past February, and which were prepared by the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute with funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The health of a community depends on many different factors – ranging from the quality of health care, to individual behavior, to education and jobs, to the environment.  The session will review how these different factors are included in the rankings process, the Washington results, and how the Rankings can be used to stimulate action in communities to improve health. 

Willems Van Dijk is an associate scientist and the community engagement lead for the Mobilizing Action Toward Community Health (MATCH) project at the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute. She brings more than 20 years of local public health leadership experience and service in many different sectors of her community to the discussion of action steps to create healthier communities. 

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Central City Mobility Open House Planned for October 26

The City of Spokane, Spokane Transit Authority, and the University District have combined efforts to host the Central City Mobility Open House. The goal of the event is to provide a convenient opportunity for citizens to learn about and provide feedback on the city's University District Pedestrian/Bicycle Bridge, the East Sprague Redevelopment Study, and the STA‐led Central City Transit Alternatives Analysis.

 

In addition to these three major transportation‐related projects, representatives from SRTC Transportation Vision, Smart Routes and Pedestrian Plan, Complete Streets Coalition, Spokane UCommute, and other mobility projects will be available to provide information and answer questions. Mayor Mary Verner will open the event with welcoming remarks at 3:30 p.m.

"This is a great one‐stop opportunity for citizens to learn how Spokane is creating a transportation network, connecting mobility projects that serve multiple users," said Mayor Verner.

The Open House will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 26, from 3:30 to 7 p.m. at the South Campus Facility (412 E. Spokane Falls Blvd.) on the Riverpoint Campus. A short program from 3:30 to 3:45 p.m. will feature Mayor Verner and facilitators from each of the three projects.

For more information about the Central City Mobility Open House and its three featured projects, please visit each study's respective site: www.developingspokane.org; www.connectspokane.org; www.spokaneuniversitydistrict.com.

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Grant and Contract Award Summary - July 1 through September 30, 2010

 

FACULTY MEMBER
(PI / CO-PI)

DEPARTMENT

RESEARCH TITLE/
FUNDING SOURCE

RESEARCH SUMMARY

Sandra Benavides-Vaello

College of Nursing

Food Ways and Other Psychosocial Influences of Mexican American Women with Diabetes

WSU Office of Research, Spokane

This faculty seed grant funds an exploratory descriptive study that will examine the food habits and life quality of Mexican American women with type 2 diabetes. It is estimated that nearly 12% of Mexican Americans in the U.S. have the disease, and that Mexican American women born within the last 10 years have a likelihood of more than 50 percent of developing diabetes in their lifetime. The study will look at differences in life quality in low-income Mexican American women with type 2 diabetes who are either novice or experienced (those with diabetes for at least 10 years). It will also explore the psychosocial intersections of culture, food habits, and type 2 diabetes as experienced by low-income Mexican American women who are novice in their disease trajectory; and will examine how trying to adhere to the American Diabetes Association (ADA) dietary guidelines impacts the relationship between food and culture of low-income Mexican American women with type 2 diabetes. The outcome of this study will form the basis for future interventional studies.

Patricia Butterfield/
Cindy Fitzgerald

College of Nursing

Meeting Nursing Workforce Challenges through Academic and Community Engagement

US Department of Health and Human Services-Health Resources and Services Administration (Bureau of Health Professions)

This grant provides funding to help the College of Nursing address nursing workforce issues by strengthening the nursing curriculum, enhancing faculty expertise, and supporting strategic clinical and research collaboration with community partners. The specific aims defined for this grant include transforming the undergraduate and graduate nursing curriculum; strengthening the college’s relationship with hospitals and health care organizations; strengthening the college’s infrastructure to support faculty engaged in curriculum revision efforts; and enhancing opportunities for interprofessional collaboration among faculty and students in nursing, pharmacy, and medicine.

Kerry Brooks

Interdisciplinary Design Institute

Spokane Regional Site Selector

Spokane Regional Site Selector Consortium

This is renewal funding for a project that involved establishing a GIS-based Site Selector Web site to  allow citizens as well as local and imported businesses access to information on available commercial properties and business locations, land-based GIS information, and demographic and market information. The project leverages the communities' existing investments in GIS to foster economic development, empower developers and investors with information, and improve regional economic development capacity.

Weihang Chai

WWAMI Spokane

Mechanism of CDK1-Regulated Telomere Synthesis

WSU Office of Research, Spokane

This faculty seed grant funds a study aimed at determining the molecular mechanism of C-strand synthesis. Inhibiting C-strand synthesis—a special DNA maintenance step that is unique to telomeres—may disrupt telomere maintenance in cancer cells. Telomeres are the physical ends of chromosomes that protect genome stability by preventing chromosomes from being damaged. While normal cells have limited lifespan due to progressive shortening of telomere DNA during each cell division, tumor cells achieve their unlimited growth capability by maintaining the stability of their telomeres. The disruption of telomere maintenance may induce events that halt cancer cell growth or trigger cell death, thereby stopping tumor growth. An increased understanding of the mechanism regulating C-strand synthesis and what factors are required for this process would aid in the design of a new treatment that specifically targets telomere maintenance.

Anne Hirsch/
Marian McDonnell Horton

College of Nursing/
College of Pharmacy

2010 Scholarships for Disadvantaged Students

US Department of Health and Human Services-Health Resources and Services Administration (Bureau of Health Professions)

This grant provides scholarships to undergraduate and graduate students who have demonstrated economic or environmental circumstances that place them at a disadvantage to successfully complete their degrees in the WSU Colleges of Nursing and Pharmacy.

Shigeko Izumi/
Catherine Van Son

College of Nursing

End-of-life decision-making trajectory of older adults: Family members' perspectives

American Nurses Foundation

Many older adults experience repeated emergency visits and hospital admissions for acute illness exacerbations without clear treatment goals or prospective end-of-life (EOL) care planning A broad range of literature exists related to  EOL decision-making; however, most studies focus on choices made at one time point (e.g., to conduct cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment, or filing an advanced directive), rather than longitudinally following the decision-making process throughout the patient’s EOL trajectory.

This grant provides funding for the researchers to improve knowledge about the longitudinal process of EOL for older adults with multiple advanced chronic illnesses. Specifically, they will be identifying decision points in a chronic illness trajectory leading up to EOL care; describing how older adults and their families make decisions at each decision point identified; and describe their experiences with healthcare providers at each decision point.

Shigeko Izumi

College of Nursing

Psychometric Assessment of the Quality of Nursing Care Index for Patients with Advanced Illness (QNCI-PAI)

WSU Office of Research, Spokane

This faculty seed grant provides funding for a study to examine the reliability and validity of the Quality of Nursing Care Index for Patients with Advanced Illness (QNCI-PAI) through a series of psychometric tests. THE QNCI-PAI measures the quality of care nurses provide to hospitalized patients from the patient’s perspective. The expected outcome of the study is a psychometrically reliable and conceptually valid instrument to measure the quality of nursing care. Such an instrument will complement conventional quality indices focusing on hospital care, and more importantly, offer direction for nurses as to how to improve quality care for the patients with advanced illness.

Casey Jackson

WIMHRT

Motivational Interview Training

Washington Department of Social and Health Services

This contract provides funding for WIMHRT faculty to give motivational interviewing and proficiency training to Department of Vocational Rehabilitation mental health provider network staff throughout the state of Washington.

Suzan Kardong-Edgren

College of Nursing

WWAMI Nursing Technology Collaborative

University of Washington-HHS

This is third-year renewal funding for a five-year grant project to create a regional multi-institutional nursing collaborative to develop faculty expertise in using simulation, clinical informatics, telehealth, and distance learning technologies to enhance educational opportunities for students and practicing nurses.

Janet Katz/
Sandra Benavides-Vaello/
Anne Hirsch/
Renee Hoeksel/
Phyllis Morris

College of Nursing

Creating a New Path: Preparing Disadvantaged Students for Nursing Careers

US Department of Health and Human Services-Health Resources and Services Administration (Bureau of Health Professions)

The grant provides funding to increase the number of disadvantaged graduates from the baccalaureate-nursing program at the WSU College of Nursing who are prepared to pass Registered Nurse licensure examinations and practice in rural and federally designated underserved areas. Strategies include structured activities to increase GPA and interview skills to prepare disadvantaged high school and pre-nursing students for applying to the Bachelor of Science in Nursing program; providing culturally appropriate mentors, aggressive advising and tutoring, and licensure exam preparation to disadvantaged BSN student; and awarding stipends and scholarships to bridge significant financial barriers faced by the target population. The program builds on existing partnerships with the Yakima and TriCities School Districts, Northwest Indian College, Yakima Valley and Columbia Basin Community Colleges, Heritage College, Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic, and the Yakama Nation. 

Matt Layton

WWAMI Spokane

Neuroactive Steroid Blood Levels During Smoking Cessation

WSU Office of Research, Spokane

This faculty seed grant funds a project that examines neuroactive steroid levels during smoking cessation. Neuroactive steroids are naturally occurring hormones that have direct effects on the brain. They are very closely related to familiar sex steroid hormones such as estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone, and they circulate widely throughout the body to produce a variety of biological effects. In addition to measuring blood levels of neuroactive steroids, this study also involves assessing psychological indicators of anxiety, irritability, perceived stress, and depressive symptoms over the same time frame to explore possible correlations with neurosteroid levels. The goal is to determine whether those who successfully quit smoking have significantly different neurosteroid profiles or psychological differences in mood and emotional state indicators than those who are unable to quit or those who relapse.

John Roll/
Merry Armstrong/
Donelle Howell/
Janet Katz/
Matt Layton/
Robbie Paul

College of Nursing

Clinical Trials Network: Pacific Northwest Node

University of Washington/US Department of Health and Human Services

This grant renews funding for the Pacific Northwest Node of the NIDA Clinical Trials Network(CTN). It supports the CTN’s mission to improve the quality of drug abuse treatment throughout the country using science as the vehicle; to conduct studies of the effectiveness of behavioral, pharmacological, and combined/integrated treatment interventions in rigorous, multi-site clinical trials; and to ensure the transfer of research results to physicians, clinicians, providers, and patients.

John Roll

College of Nursing

Washington State University Center for the Study of Addiction:  Methamphetamine, Prescription, and Other Drugs of Abuse

US Department of Justice/Office of Justice Programs

This grant was given to the Program of Excellence in Addictions at WSU to expand its focus to include the increasing problem of opiate prescription misuse, which is associated with increased rates of morbidity, mortality, hospitalization, and drug-related crime. It funds a series of pilot studies into this area that will be identified with input from community partners. Findings from the pilot studies will be used to assist in the development of new or refined treatment strategies and prevention efforts that will result in decreased prescription opiate use.

Kawkab Shishani/
Donelle Howell

College of Nursing

Physiological and subjective affects associated with nicotine containing hookah smoking

WSU Office of Research, Spokane

This faculty seed grant project involves conducting a pilot test of the physiological and subjective effects related to hookah (waterpipe) smoking in frequent, non-dependent hookah users. The most common form of tobacco smoking after cigarettes in the United States, hookah smoking is experiencing rapid growth and is especially popular among young adults. One concern is that intermittent but heavy hookah use may lead to dependent use over time (through increased hookah use or the transition to cigarette smoking) or be associated with other significant health risks. Very few studies have been conducted on hookah smoking, and the majority of these studies were conducted in foreign countries and no studies have evaluated intermittent hookah users. Results from this pilot study will be an important first step in furthering research efforts examining the risks of hookah smoking.  

Bob Short

WIMHRT

Family Liaison

Washington Department of Social and Health Services

The purpose of this contract is to provide parent and family expertise to the Division of Behavioral Health and Recovery (DBHR) to ensure quality services and support for families served under DBHR contracts and those contacting the division for assistance in supporting a family member's behavioral health.

Bob Short

WIMHRT

Spokane Consumer Leadership Project for Education, Advocacy, and Leadership

Spokane County

WIMHRT is the fiscal agent for this grant and will provide technical assistance and collaborate and assist to provide trainings, peer specialist support, educational meetings, and newsletters for the Greater Spokane Regional Organizing Initiatives. These initiatives were started by the Mental Health Transformation State Incentive program, an infrastructure program that helped to build a solid foundation of delivering and sustaining effective mental health and related services throughout the state.

Eva Széntirmai

WWAMI Spokane

Characterization of Brown Adipose Tissue Function in Preproghrelin Knockout Mice

WSU Office of Research, Spokane

This faculty seed grant funds a study that seeks to determine the mechanism responsible for a sleep/thermoregulatory deficiency discovered in mice lacking the preproghrelin gene. In a previous study, the researcher found that the ability of these mice to maintain normal body temperature and sleep-wake activity in response to food deprivation in a cold environment is greatly impaired. This study will look at brown adipose tissue as the possible source of this deficiency. The study looks at the relationship between sleep and metabolism from a new angle—the hypothesis is that an optimal metabolic environment supports the manifestation of normal sleep and that the preproghrelin gene plays an integral role in providing this environment by maintaining the integrity of normal brown adipose tissue function.

Hans Van Dongen/
Jonathan Wisor

Sleep and Performance Research Center/WWAMI Spokane

Biomarkers of Vulnerability to Sleep Loss

Sleep Research Society Foundation

This project examines the role of genetics in determining vulnerability to performance degradation after sleep loss. Specifically, the researchers will determine the extent to which a panel of genetic markers previously linked to the biochemical regulation of sleep predicts observed performance degradation in research subjects who participated in previously conducted sleep deprivation studies.

Hans Van Dongen/
Gregory Belenky/
Peter McCauley

Sleep and Performance Research Center

Washington State University Sleep and Performance Research Center Support of Boeing - Pilot Fatigue Project

The Boeing Company

This project contributes to the development of the Boeing Alertness Model, a science-based fatigue prediction model that may be evaluate the fatigue-friendliness of flight crew schedules. As part of this contract, the Sleep and Performance Research Center will provide mathematical support, model prediction comparisons, and validation in a field study of sleep and fatigue in on-duty flight crew.

 

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In the News

  • The Spokesman-Review published an article on Spokane County's first-ever drive-through flu vaccination clinic, which was staffed in part by students from the WSU Colleges of Pharmacy and Nursing. Read the article.
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Milestones

  • Professor of pharmacotherapy Lawrence J. Cohen is the new president-elect of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP), a professional and scientific society that provides leadership, education, advocacy and resources for more than 10,000 clinical pharmacists nationwide. He will be installed at the ACCP's annual meeting this month in Austin, Texas. Cohen will serve for one year as president-elect, followed by one year as president, and then a final year as past president. He previously served the ACCP as  a Board of Regents member and as chair of the Central Nervous System Practice and Research Network.
  • Elizabeth Kurtz, an office assistant in the College of Nursing, has been appointed to the President's Commission on Gender Expression/Identity and Sexual Orientation as the representative for WSU Spokane. As an advocate for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and allies (LGBTA) students, Kurtz's role will be to offer support to anyone on the WSU Spokane campus and, with permission, represent their voice to the commission. In the past, Kurtz served as co-chair for the Eastern Washington University Student Alliance for Equality (S.A.F.E.) and was a member of the Spokane Chapter of Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG).
  • Stephen Setter, an associate professor with the College of Pharmacy, has been selected to participate in the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's Comparative Effectiveness Research (CER) Pharmacy Workgroup. The workgroup will help the agency move the use of evidence-based patient-centered care further into pharmacy practice and policy, and members will serve as constructive critics and ambassadors of the agency's Effective Health Care program.
  • WSU Spokane MESA teacher Jamie Smith of Sacajawea Middle School was the recipient of the 2010 Mona Bailey Teacher Leadership Award. Sponsored by Washington MESA (Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement), the award recognizes teacher leadership in mathematics, engineering or science and a dedication to K-12 students who are underrepresented in those areas, including African American, Native American, Latino, and female students. Bailey was nominated for the award by MESA middle school coordinator Bethany Coupens.
  • Interior design student Hiroki Usui was the first place winner in the 2010 International Student Store Design Competition. Usui earned $500 after designing the best "convenience store with gas station," the chosen category for this year's competition. Convenience stores are a hot topic in the retail design industry, as many operators are currently redesigning, rebranding and rolling out new prototypes and are for the most part immune to economic slowdowns.
  • The Nursing Building was among three winning projects at the recently held biennial American Institute of Architects Spokane Design Awards. The building design, by Integrus Architecture, was selected from 22 Spokane area projects that were judged by a jury composed of four architects from the AIA Minneapolis chapter.

If you or one of your colleagues or students has received a special honor or award, or reached another professional milestone, please e-mail the information to Judith Van Dongen at jcvd@wsu.edu.

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Community Connections

  • Sunday, October 24 - OPEN YOUR MIND: a celebration of Mental Health Awareness
    This month is Mental Illness Awareness Month, and the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Spokane will host a fundraising and information event at Northern Quest Resort and Casino, from 2 to 5 p.m. on Sunday, October 24. Open to the public, this event will feature live music from the Bruce Davis Quintet, an enticing array of free appetizers and no-host bar, a mental health resource fair, local art exhibit,  and a raffle and silent auction. A suggested entry donation of $5 is requested. Parking is free. All proceeds will go directly to NAMI Spokane to improve the lives of people living wilth mental illness and their families through awareness, education, and advocacy.
  • Saturday, November 6 - KPBX Kids' Concert: Songs from the sea featuring Tom Lewis
    Quintessential performer Tom Lewis returns to Spokane to deliver one of the station's most memorable family concerts from 1 to 2 p.m. at the Spokane Masonic Center auditorium. Tom will once again mesmerize young ones and charm the older set with traditional shanties, as well as songs fashioned from his own seafaring background. Now a resident in Canada's Rocky Mountains, Tom was born in Northern Ireland and later became a member of the British Royal Navy. His Celtic heritage is obvious in his clear, strong voice, which can turn out a shanty "to be heard above the gales." Lewis accompanies himself on button accordion and ukulele, but it's his powerful vocal style and infectious humour that
    keeps audiences coming back again and again. For more information, see the KPBX event Web page.
  • Tuesday, November 9 - Science on Tap Coeur D'Alene
    In this month's Science on Tap Coeur D'Alene, Dr. Dennis Geist from the University of Idaho will give the audience a look at the Yellowstone volcanic system through time. Geist is a professor of geology who specializes in the study of volcanoes and volcanic rocks, especially those found in the Galapagos Islands and right here in the Inland Northwest. This even starts at 5:30p.m. Note that the new location for this event is the Fort Ground Grill at 705 River Avenue in Coeur d'Alene. Free admission. For more information, see the Science on Tap Web site.

 

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Personnel and Staffing Changes
     

Comings:

  • Gary Smith, Extension Coordinator Senior (50%), AHEC, effective September 16, 2010.
  • Nicolaas Patel, Extension Coordinator, AHEC, effective September 16, 2010.
  • Barb Richardson, Director (Riverpoint Interprofessional Education Programs), College of Nursing, effective September 21, 2010.
  • Annette Jenkins, Preceptor, College of Nursing, effective October 7, 2010.
  • Amanda Smith, Information Technology Specialist 3, College of Nursing with the National Children's Study in Grant Country (Moses Lake), effective October 8, 2010.
  • Elaine Jones, Business Advisor, Small Business Development Center (SBDC), effective October 11, 2010.
  • Russell Matheson, Instruction & Classroom Support Technician 3, WWAMI, effective October 15, 2010.
  • Odelia Martinez, Office Assistant 3, College of Nursing with the National Children's Study in Grant Country (Moses Lake), effective October 19, 2010.
  • Patricia McAfee, Office Assistant 3, College of Nursing with the National Children's Study in Grant Country (Moses Lake), effective October 19, 2010.
     

Transitions:

  • Glynis Hull, Coordinator, Office of Research to the Sleep and Performance Center, effective August 16, 2010.
     

Goings:

  • Laura Manson, Secretary Senior, Health Policy Administration, effective September 20, 2010.
  • Julie Stalley, Research Intern, Sleep and Performance Center, effective October 12, 2010.

 

Recruitment & Searches:

  • Assistant/Associate Professor Educational Leadership and Counseling Psychology (position may be in Spokane or Pullman), screening of applicants begins immediately, with an August 15, 2010 deadline.
  • Coordinator (Clinic Liaison and Research Assistant) with the National Children's Study in Grant Country (Moses Lake) for the College of Nursing, screening applicants.
  • Coordinator (Provider Liaison) with the National Children's Study in Grant Country (Moses Lake) for the College of Nursing, position is open until filled.
  • Manager, (Research Study Manager), College of Nursing with the National Children’s Study in Grant Country (Moses Lake), reviewing applications.
  • Research Study Assistant (Home Interviewer) with the National Children's Study in Grant Country (Moses Lake) for the College of Nursing, selections pending approval.
  • Research Study Coordinator Lead (Field Staff Supervisor) with the National Children's Study in Grant Country (Moses Lake) for the College of Nursing, selection pending approval.
  • Student Services Specialist, College of Nursing (Tri-Cities), closed October 10, 2010, applications under review.
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Way to Go!

MESA would like to express thanks to Parking, Facility Operations, Student Affairs, and our neighbors at the South Campus Facility for helping us welcome six MESA middle school classes (approximately 180 students) to campus as part of their visit to the Seattle Children’s Hospital mobile lab, October 12 through 14.
(from Joanna Moznette, MESA)

"Way to Go" to the following Riverpoint Campus Commute Trip Reduction members, who were selected as “Most Valuable Commuter” during the past three months: carpooler Patti Petersen, administration (July), bicyclist Bonnie Wagner, Extension (August), and bus rider Terri Rothwell, pharmacy (September).
(from the Riverpoint Campus Commute Trip Reduction Committee)

Here's where you make someone's day a little brighter by extending your thanks for a job well done. Send your “Way to Go!” comments to Judith Van Dongen and watch for your thanks to be published in an upcoming issue of the Campus Bulletin!

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The Bulletin is a monthly publication that is usually published on the second Wednesday of each month. The exact publication date may shift due to holidays. If you have an item that you'd like us to include, send it to us by Friday in the week before publication.
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The Bulletin covers news of interest to the faculty, staff, and friends of Washington State University Spokane, and associates on other WSU campuses and on the Riverpoint Campus.

Regular columns cover professional accomplishments, opportunities for involvement in the campus community and the Spokane community, notices of new developments on campus, upcoming events, personnel changes, and other news.

The Bulletin also serves as a source of information for external communications directed to alumni, future and current students, and friends of Washington State University Spokane. You'll read it here first!

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