Grant and Contract Awards

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NEW & TRANSFER AWARDS

(New grants, funding transferred from a PI’s previous institution, and NIH competitive renewal funding)

Ofer Amram (PI); Glen Duncan – Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine
Oregon State University/National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
“Evaluating and Applying Google Timeline Location Data for Built Environment and Physical Activity Research”
This is a subaward for a project led by Oregon State University that seeks to leverage Google Location History Timeline data collected from Android and Apple smartphones to improve research related to the built environment’s influence on health. The joint research team will develop and evaluate methods to derive built environment exposures (such as air pollution and noise exposure) and assess physical activity levels from Google Timeline data in a way that protects the privacy of study participants. If successful, this project has the potential to revolutionize how built environment influences on human health are studied.

Ofer Amram (PI); Pablo Monsivais; Solmaz Amiri – Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine
Empire Health Foundation/Andy Hill CARE Fund
“COVID-19: Evaluating the impact of deferred cancer preventive care in the era of COVID-19”
This study will evaluate the impact of deferred or missed cancer preventive care during the COVID-19 stay-at-home order in Washington State. The researchers will use de-identified administrative data from MultiCare clinics throughout Washington State to look at the cancellation of screenings or preventative visits, care delays, and the number of positive cervical, breast, or colon cancer cases, comparing data for the period between March and May 2020 with data for the same months in previous years. Findings from this study will provide timely evidence on the unintended consequences of COVID-19-related public health measures and enable decision-makers to better maintain health services for cancer prevention.

Dedra Buchwald (PI); Patrick Johansson; Ka’imi Sinclair; Clemma Muller – Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine/Community Health
University of Washington/National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Aging
“The Native Research and Resource Core and the Outreach, Recruitment, and Education Core to the Biological heterogeneity in ADRD”
This award provides funds for the WSU Partnerships for Native Health research program to establish a Native Research and Resource Core within the University of Washington’s Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (ADRC). The goal of the new core is to determine if, and under what circumstances, American Indian/Alaska Native tribal nations would be willing to allow data on their citizens to be shared with the National Alzheimer’s Coordinating Center. The WSU researchers will achieve this through focus groups and key informant interviews with American  Indian and Alaska Native stakeholders, as well as workshops and interviews with key tribal authorities. As part of the new core, they will also design culturally informed health programming, continue to engage tribal clinics in understanding and addressing dementia, and improve individual knowledge of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias at community events.

Dedra Buchwald (PI); Ka’imi Sinclair; Amanda Boyd – Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine/Community Health, College of Nursing/Community Health; Murrow College of Communication
National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities
“COVID-19: Community Organizations for Natives: COVID-19 Epidemiology, Research, Testing, and Services (CONCERTS)”
COVID-19 disproportionally affects American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) people, who are at highest risk of any US racial or ethnic group for developing severe disease and dying from COVID-19. This NIH award expands the scope of an existing project designed to address health disparities among underserved and especially vulnerable Native populations in urban areas. In collaboration with the University of Colorado and the University of Minnesota, WSU researchers will partner with urban Indian health programs in six major cities with large Native populations, including Seattle, Wash. Together, they will determine testing rates among urban AI/ANs, identify barriers to testing, and implement strategies to increase COVID-19 testing in this population, which represents more than 71 percent of AI/ANs in the United States. Outcomes from the study may also be used in future pandemics and public health efforts to launch vaccination campaigns among urban AI/ANs.

John Clarke (PI) – College of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences
National Institutes of Health; National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health
“Enteric and hepatic transporter mechanisms for pharmacokinetic natural product-drug interactions”
Herbal supplements can be beneficial to patients but also come with a risk that they will interact with other drugs being taken at the same time, which can cause drug toxicities. Herbal supplements can inhibit drug transporter proteins, which can change drug exposures in the body. This research will define the transporter mechanisms behind previously observed natural product-drug interactions between green tea and goldenseal and other drugs.

John Clarke (PI); Mary Paine; John White; Sterling McPherson – College of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences; Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine
National Institutes of Health; National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health
“Risk of xenobiotic-drug interactions in chronic disease”
Milk thistle is a herbal supplement that may interact with many drugs and is widely used by patients with different liver disorders, including nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). This award funds research to determine the risk of milk thistle-drug interactions in healthy study participants and NAFLD patients. The goal of the work is to predict and avoid any drug toxicities that may result from the use of milk thistle in combination with conventional drugs.

Janessa Graves (PI) – College of Nursing
University of Washington/National Institutes of Health, National Library of Medicine
“Increasing access to internet-based mental health resources for public school counselors in rural Washington”
The goal of this project is to improve access to wellness and mental health resources available through the National Library of Medicine (NLM). In partnership with the Network of the National Library of Medicine for the Pacific Northwest Region, the WSU team will provide instruction on NLM resources to public school counselors to improve their ability to locate high-quality, evidence-based resources. They will also provide internet hotspots to public school counselors and high-risk students to enable improved communication and access to online resources.

Janessa Graves (PI) – College of Nursing
University of Washington/National Institutes of Health, National Library of Medicine
“Improving Mental Health Literacy in Rural Northeastern Washington”
This award provides funding for a project aimed at improving mental health literacy and increasing access to National Library of Medicine (NLM) resources on mental illness for adolescents and adults in rural Northeast Washington. This project will use the NLM “Graphic Medicine and Mental Health” curriculum and creative, reflective journaling workshops to promote self-care and reflection alongside education and access to NLM resources.

Katherine Hirchak (PI); Michael McDonell – Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine
National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
“Culturally Re-Centering Contingency Management and Behavioral Economics to Increase Engagement with American Indian Young Adults”
This NIH Mentored Research Scientist Development award funds a research project focused on the development and implementation of alcohol misuse interventions for American Indian young adults. In partnership with a rural reservation community, Hirchak will use community-based participatory research to culturally re-center a contingency management alcohol intervention that pairs smartphone engagement strategies with monetary rewards to increase participation and alcohol abstinence among American Indian emerging adults aged 18-29. The re-centered contingency management plus intervention will be designed based on input from focus groups and interviews with young adults, providers, and cultural leaders and will be tested in a 12-week controlled trial. The trial will compare outcomes from a group of American Indian young adults engaging in risky drinking receiving the enhanced intervention to those receiving standard contingency management. The award will also fund professional development activities to enable Hirchak to become an independent investigator.

Darrell Jackson (PI) – College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences
National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
“Phospho-Regulated AMPAR Trafficking by Oxidative Stress in the Aged Brain”
More than 70 percent of all strokes occur in individuals over the age of 65. The most common form of stroke—ischemic stroke, which is caused by the blockage of an artery that supplies blood to the brain—results in delayed neuronal death of a specific type of neurons in the hippocampus due to lack of oxygen and nutrients. As part of this study, the researchers will use an animal model to try to unravel the potential mechanisms by which glutamatergic AMPA receptors (AMPARs) play a role in delayed neuronal death following ischemic stroke. This work may lead to the identification of potential molecular targets that could be used to ease the devastating effects of delayed neuronal death after ischemic stroke.

Patrik Johansson (PI) – Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine
Empire Health Foundation/Andy Hill CARE Fund
“COVID-19: Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the well-being of rural and American Indian cancer patients in Washington State”
This research project involves studying the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the perceived health and well-being of cancer patients living in rural and tribal communities in Washington State. The research team will analyze data from patients in 15 clinics throughout the state that have affiliation agreements with the WSU Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine. Outcomes they will examine as part of the study include selected measures of health, healthcare, and socioeconomic outcomes. Findings from this study will highlight any cancer-related health disparities experienced by rural and American Indian communities as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Philip Lazarus (PI); Yadira Perez-Paramo – College of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences
Tecnológico de Monterrey/Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología
“Multivariate Studies for Tobacco, Genetic Variants Related to Addiction and Urinary Levels of Derivatives of the Nicotine”
This award funds a study to examine the potential relationship of genetic variation in enzymes important in nicotine metabolism with the levels of nicotine metabolites found in the urine of smokers. The research team will use measure cotinine and 3’-hydroxycotinine and their glucuronides, among other urinary nicotine metabolites.

Sterling McPherson (PI); Matthew Layton; Michael McDonell; John Roll; Ekaterina Burduli – Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine
National Institutes of Health/National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
“Zonisamide for the Treatment of Alcohol Use Disorder in the Addiction Neuroclinical Assessment Framework”
This study will test an anticonvulsant medication named Zonisamide—which has shown promise in earlier studies—as a potential treatment for alcohol use disorder. A public health issue that costs the US an estimated $249 billion each year, alcohol use disorder increases the risk of a variety of negative health outcomes, such as high blood pressure, liver disease, Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, and cognitive dysfunction. This new study will be a randomized controlled trial that will use Zonisamide in combination with contingency management—a rewards-based behavioral intervention—to try to reduce alcohol use in patients with alcohol use disorder in a primary care setting. The researchers will monitor participants’ medication adherence and test and compare their alcohol use during the treatment period. The goal of the study is to determine the effectiveness of Zonisamide versus placebo at decreasing alcohol use among treatment-seeking adults with alcohol use disorder.

Senthil Natesan (PI); Santanu Bose –  College of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences
National Institutes of Health/National Institute of General Medical Sciences
“Molecular biophysics of integrin activation by oxysterols and rational discovery of small molecular modulators”
Oxysterols—which are derivatives of cholesterol–are involved in many processes in the human body, such as lipid metabolism, inflammation, innate and adaptive immunity, cancer, and degenerative brain diseases. Scientists have identified an oxysterol known as 25-hydroxycholesterol (25HC) as an important regulator of the immune system that is produced by immune cells in response to viral infection. The goal of this study is to unravel the molecular mechanisms by which 25HC and other oxysterols activate proteins known as integrins that help them bind to tissues and organs where they worsen inflammation. The researchers will also try to identify one or more molecules that can modify interactions between integrins and 25HC, which could potentially serve as a basis for future potential anti-inflammatory therapies for immune and infectious diseases.

April Needham (PI, new)/Michael Ebinger (PI, retired) – WSU Spokane
U.S. Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration
“COVID-19: COVID-19 Innovation Challenge: CARES Act Recovery Assistance to Support the Design, Manufacturing, and Deployment of Advanced Technology for Improved Safety after COVID-19”
This award funds the COVID-19 Innovation Challenge, a competition organized by the University Center for Innovation. The competition challenges entrepreneurs in the Inland Northwest to develop innovative products to address issues arising from the current and future pandemics, such as solutions to inhibit the spread of infection, overcome supply chain disruptions, and support tasks of daily living. The top three ideas selected will be awarded $25,000 for product and prototype development and provided with mentorship across all phases of bringing the product to the market.

Mary Paine (PI); John Clarke; John White; Matthew Layton; Bruce Pinkleton – College of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences; Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine; Murrow College of Communication
National Institutes of Health; National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health
“Natural Product-Drug Interaction Research: The Roadmap to Best Practices”
This award provides five years of additional funding to advance the mission of the multidisciplinary Center of Excellence for Natural Product-Drug Interactions Research. Led by WSU in collaboration with three other institutions, the center was established in collaboration with the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) to create a roadmap for best research practices for the study of potential unwanted interactions between natural products and conventional medications. Activities funded by this award include new studies of potential natural product-drug interactions and their mechanisms, work to expand and optimize the functionality of the center’s website and data repository, and efforts to broaden the dissemination of knowledge to national and international research communities and the public.

Bhagwat Prasad (PI) – College of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences
Thomas Jefferson University/National institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute
“Multifunctional Regulation of Prostate Cancer Metabolism by Sigma1 Modulators”
This study will look at the role of a protein known as Sigma1 in the development of prostate cancer. The goal is to define the mechanisms by which Sigma1 regulates pathways and signals involved in advanced prostate cancer and evaluate how Sigma1 activity can be modulated, or altered, pharmacologically to disrupt the development and progression of prostate tumors. If Sigma1 can be successfully modulated, this could offer new possibilities for combination treatment strategies to enhance treatment efficacy and bypass drug resistance mechanisms that lead to treatment-resistent cancer.

Bhagwat Prasad (PI) – College of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences
Children’s Research Institute
“Proteomics quantification of AKR enzymes in human liver cytosol”
This project involves the development of a proteomics method and absolute peptide quantification of six aldoketoreductases in 160 human liver sample duplicates.

Katrina Rogers (PI); Gregg Godsey – College of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences; WSU Spokane
Washington State Employment Security Department
“Establish a Bioanalytical Assistant Credential with Cross Credit in Spokane”
This project creates a career launch program that provides Eastern Washington students in Project Lead The Way’s (PLTW) biomedical science preparatory pathway a chance to engage with local bioscience industries. The program will strengthen and expand existing partnerships with bioscience industries, cultivate new partnerships, vet an industry-recognized certification for students entering bioscience career fields, enhance PLTW biomedical science courses to meet OSPI/Career and Technical Education criteria as “preparatory,” and articulate dual credit and post-secondary credit agreements between school districts and colleges in Washington State. This new program will help prepare K-12 students to enter careers in biomedicine, health care, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, and biomanufacturing and related field, ensuring that the future workforce is strong and sustainable in this high-need industry.

John Roll (PI); Sterling McPherson; Celestina Barbosa-Leiker – Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine; College of Nursing
National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Drug Abuse
“Clinical Trials Network: Pacific Northwest Node”
This award is a five-year competitive renewal of funding for WSU’s role in supporting the Pacific Northwest Node of the National Institute on Drug Abuse Clinical Trials Network (CTN). The Pacific Northwest Node is a multi-institution, multiple principal investigator effort to continue CTN’s mission to improve the quality of drug abuse treatment throughout the country through science.

Astrid Suchy-Dicey (PI); Dedra Buchwald; Celestina Barbosa-Leiker; Paul Whitney – Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine/Community Health; College of Nursing; College of Arts & Sciences
National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Aging
“Resilience, cultural alignment, and social support in brain aging: Data from the Strong Heart Study”
Many American Indians experience trauma and disparities in environmental and socioeconomic conditions that can worsen daily stresses and contribute to health risks. This new study will explore associations between resilience, cultural alignment, and social support in Native people and whether these factors can mediate chronic stress and the potential that this chronic stress results in neurodegenerative conditions, such as Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. This award provides funding for the addition of several psychosocial and neuropsychological instruments on resilience, social support, cultural identity and alignment, and cognition to the existing study protocol for the Strong Heart Study, a longitudinal cohort of American Indian adults from 13 tribal communities across the US. The researchers will study 3,000 participants who will be recruited between 2022 and 2024. Findings from the study will offer a clearer picture of the relative contributions of psychosocial, behavioral, interpersonal, and socioeconomic factors related to Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.

Jeffrey Walls (PI) – College of Education
American Educational Research Association
“A Web of Support for All Students: Building Capacity for District-level Strengthening of Caring Schools”
Although schools are expected to be sites of caring, there is substantial evidence that they fall short of this aim in practice, with negative consequences for students’ mental health and emotional well-being. This project serves to support the development of caring schools in Eastern Washington school districts. The researcher will interview leaders in specific school districts to document current practices and will share them with other districts. The project will result in a rubric and toolkit to help district leaders assess their current strengths and weaknesses in supporting caring schools, as well as recommendations and organizational development activities to address identified weaknesses.

Marian Wilson (PI); Barbara Richardson; Connie Remsberg; Brenda Bray; Dawn DeWitt; Tracy Klein – College of Nursing; College of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences; Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine
US Department of Health & Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
“Rethinking Education on Substance Use with Inter-Professional Education and  Collaborative Teams using Medication-Assisted Treatment (RESPECT-MAT)”
This is funding for a two-year project to improve an existing substance use disorder curriculum by expanding its content to include medications for addiction treatment. The curriculum will be used in an interprofessional education course that will focus on future prescribing practitioners (medical and nurse practitioner students) who are preparing to enter the experiential phase of their education in Washington State, as well as the team that surrounds them (e.g. students of pharmacy, social work, and addiction studies). The existing curriculum includes a patient case that focuses on screening and assessment of an adult with chronic pain and potential opioid use disorder through a team approach that integrates behavioral health into primary care practices. As part of this project, the project team will modify the patient case to include evidence-based treatment principles that apply to all substance use disorders and develop new content specifically targeting medications for opioid and alcohol use disorders. Based on data collected to evaluate the modified patient case and progress toward student learning objectives, the team will then modify the training and provide it to 500 health sciences students in Washington State.

AWARDS FOR ONGOING WORK

(Renewal, continued, and supplemental funding for projects awarded previously)

Salah-Uddin Ahmed (PI) – College of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences
National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases
“MicroRNA-based therapy for rheumatoid arthritis”
There is evidence that MicroRNAs (miRNAs) regulate disease progression in rheumatoid arthritis. At the same time, recent studies suggest that in diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and cancer there is a reduction in miRNA expression. In this continuing study, the research team will attempt to identify the mechanisms that underlie altered miRNA production in rheumatoid arthritis. In addition, they will use rodent models to determine the potential value of miRNA replacement therapy in treating rheumatoid arthritis. The researchers will specifically look at a family of miRNAs known as miR-17, as recent studies have provided evidence that miR-17 expression was significantly low in serum and joint cells and tissues of rheumatoid arthritis patients, as well as rats with a similar condition.

Celestina Barbosa-Leiker (PI); Ekaterina Burduli; Crystal Smith – College of Nursing/Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine
Office of Research, Alcohol and Drug Abuse Research Program
“Perceptions of risks and benefits of marijuana use during pregnancy in urban and reservation-based American Indian women”
This award provides continued internal funding for a research project that examines the experiences of both urban- and reservation-based American Indian women who use marijuana during pregnancy and breastfeeding. The goal is to describe women’s perceptions of risks and benefits of marijuana use, perceptions of stigma, changes in marijuana use during pregnancy, and changes in access due to changes in state law. The results of this study will help better educate pregnant women on the possible risks of marijuana use during pregnancy and breastfeeding and will inform maternal and infant health policy and standards of care in this understudied and underserved population.

Dedra Buchwald (PI); Ka’imi Sinclair; Lonnie Nelson; Maureen Schmitter-Edgecombe; Clemma Muller; Astrid Suchy-Dicey; Celestina Barbosa-Leiker; Ekaterina Burduli; Cara Carty – Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine/College of Nursing/Community Health/College of Arts & Sciences
National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Aging
“Native Alzheimer’s Disease Resource Center for Minority Aging Research (NAD-RCMAR) Research Education Component”
This award provides continued funding for the operation of a Native Alzheimer’s Disease-Related Resource Center in Minority Aging Research based at WSU, in collaboration with the University of Colorado Denver and Stanford University. The center was established with the goal of better understanding and mitigating Alzheimer’s disease-related health disparities in American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders. This is done by building infrastructure, bringing together resources, and recruiting and mentoring promising junior- and mid-level scientists from underrepresented minority groups to conduct Alzheimer’s disease research in Native populations.

Travis Denton (PI) – College of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences
Washington Research Foundation
“Pre-Clinical Evaluation of Novel Autophagy Stimulators as Treatments for Neurodegenerative Diseases”
The goal of this research project is to develop a drug that could treat multiple neurodegenerative diseases, such as ALS, Parkinson’s disease, and Alzheimer’s disease. This drug would attack these diseases by increasing autophagy, the body’s way of cleaning out damaged cells, as a way to combat the disease before it has had a chance to take over the body. The drug would be based on a class of novel chemical compounds known as lanthionineketenamine (ester) phosphonate (ester)s—or LK(E)-P(E)s—that were developed by the researcher. The lead compounds, LK and LKE, have shown a neuroprotective effect that is believed to come from their autophagy stimulation and/or antioxidant activity. As part of this project, the researcher will test the compounds on human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from donors with the disease.

Dawn Dewitt (PI); Barbara Richardson; Brenda Bray; Jennifer Miller; Marian Wilson; Tracy Klein; Connie Remsberg; Janet Purath – Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine/College of Nursing/College of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences
US Department of Health Resources & Services Administration, Bureau of Health Workforce
“Cornerstone: Rethinking Education on Substance use through inter-Professional Education and Rural Community Training (RESPECT)”
This award continues funding for a five-year project to train faculty, students, and rural primary care providers in Washington State on interprofessional education approaches to caring for patients at risk for opioid use disorder. The program will build on an interprofessional curriculum that was previously created and piloted by the core WSU project team. The curriculum is a team-based facilitated interprofessional education simulation that uses standardized patients to enhance student learning about providing care to patients taking opioids. It will be used to train faculty and students in a variety of health professions disciplines—including medicine, nursing, physician assistant, pharmacy, social work, and chemical dependency—as well primary practice teams at rural clinic sites across Washington State. The curriculum will be tailored, implemented, and continuously evaluated across five years’ time with an active examination of changing policies and best practices on opioid use for pain and opioid use disorder.

Amber Fyfe-Johnson (PI) – Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine/Community Health
National Institutes of Health; National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
“Health outcomes in preschool; INnovations for obesity prevention. (HOP-IN)”
This continuation award funds a study of children’s health outcomes in an outdoor preschool model. The ultimate goal is to determine the model’s capacity for the prevention of childhood obesity, which disproportionally impacts underserved and minority populations and is a critical public health threat and a major risk factor for heart disease later in life. The study is being conducted in partnership with Tiny Trees, an outdoor preschool in Seattle, Washington, that reserves half of its enrollment capacity for children who are eligible for free or reduced tuition based on family income. The WSU team will recruit 100 children ages 3-5 who attend Tiny Trees and 100 children from the Tiny Trees waitlist who are currently attending a traditional indoor preschool. They will collect data on physical activity, sleep, body mass index, gut microbiome, and academic performance over the course of the three-year study period and compare findings across the two groups. In addition, they will perform a cost-benefit analysis to evaluate the short- and long-term cost-benefit of the Tiny Trees outdoor preschool model.

Janessa Graves (PI); Tracy Klein – College of Nursing
WSU Office of Research, Alcohol and Drug Abuse Research Program
“Unintentional Marijuana Exposures among Children: A National Policy Evaluation”
This award provides continued internal WSU funding for a study on the impact of state public policies on unintentional marijuana poisoning among younger children. The goal is to evaluate the association between the incidence of unintentional pediatric marijuana exposure and marijuana policies in states with different levels of liberalization of marijuana policies. The researchers will examine state policies regarding the packaging and labeling of marijuana products in states with legalized retail marijuana. Using national poison center data, they will also test the association between policy content and strength and unintentional pediatric marijuana exposure. Finally, they will examine the relationship between marijuana legalization and drugs that may be affected by increased access to marijuana, such as opioids, synthetic cannabinoids, and other emerging drugs of abuse. Study findings will be of value to regulators and legislators seeking to establish the safest approach to new, retail marijuana markets.

Lois James (PI); Stephen James – College of Nursing/Sleep and Performance Research Center
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety
“Online Training for Law Enforcement to Reduce Risks Associated with Shift Work and Long Work Hours”
This grant provides renewal funding for WSU researchers to create an online training for law enforcement officers related to the health and safety risks of shift work and long hours. As part of this project, the researchers will review an existing online training program for nurses and make recommendations for tailoring its content for law enforcement; produce audio/video segments and photographic images to incorporate into the program; provide narration for selected parts of the program; and conduct two focus groups in California to solicit feedback from law enforcement on the draft training content.

Patrik Johansson (PI); Ofer Amram; Solmaz Amiri – Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine/Community Health
Wabanaki Public Health
“COVID-19: Wabanaki Surveillance Project”
This grant provides supplemental funding for WSU to conduct planning processes to create a data surveillance system for data related to adult and youth substance use, mental health, suicide-related data, and COVID-19 transmission for tribal communities in Maine. The team will work with Wabanaki Public Health data staff to assess currently available datasets; review data collection policies and data sharing agreements; establish tribally informed IRB procedures for data requests; and identify current data sources for accurate and reliable data. WSU will also create an implementation plan to implement the designed surveillance system in Fall 2020.

Jae Kennedy (PI); Elizabeth Wood – Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine
Administration for Community Living; National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research
“Collaborative On Health Reform and Independent Living Fellowship (CHRIL-F)”
This award continues funding for a fellowship program that complements and extends the work of the Collaborative on Health Reform and Independent Living (CHRIL), a multisite Disability and Rehabilitation Research Project funded by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research. The program funds three postdoctoral research positions for individuals with disabilities who are personally committed to understanding and improving health policies and services for disabled Americans. The goal is to have these postdocs go on to faculty positions at major universities or leadership roles in federal research agencies and nonprofit foundations.

Michael McDonell (PI); Oladunni Oluwoye – Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine
National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Addiction
“Novel EtG Based Contingency Management for Alcohol in the Severely Mentally Ill”
This award represents continued funding for a diversity supplement for a project to determine whether modifications to an intervention known as contingency management—which uses incentives to reward positive behavior—can improve outcomes and reduce costs in heavy drinkers with serious mental illness. The supplement provides funding to support two years of research and career development and training for research assistant professor Oladunni Oluwoye. As part of her training plan, she will expand her knowledge of web development, with the goal of developing a prototype for a comprehensive web-based contingency management tool that includes an interactive training guide for clinicians.

Michael McDonell (PI); Sterling McPherson – Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine/Community Health
National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
“Peth-Based Contingency Management to Reduce Alcohol Use and Improve Housing Outcomes”
Most homeless people must refrain from using alcohol to obtain and maintain housing. This award continues funding for a study to test the feasibility and efficacy of using a novel alcohol use detection method based on phosphatidyl ethanol (PEth) as part of a contingency management intervention to reduce alcohol use in formerly homeless individuals who are now housed. The ultimate goal is to see whether PEth-based contingency management could prevent alcohol-associated homelessness in these individuals. PEth can detect alcohol use for up to 28 days, allows for the development of a contingency management intervention that can reinforce maintenance of long-term abstinence. Currently used contingency management interventions for alcohol use are based on urine ethyl glucuronide tests (uEtG), which detect alcohol use in the past two to five days only.

James Mohr (PI) – WSU Spokane; Office of Student Affairs
U.S. Dept. of Education; Office of Postsecondary Education
“TRIO: Washington State University Spokane Stevens County Upward Bound (WSUSSCUB)”
This grant provides continued funding from the federal TRIO programs for the Upward Bound program. Upward Bound is designed to generate the skills and motivation necessary for success in education beyond high school among young people from low‐income families and families where neither parent has acquired a bachelor’s degree. Upward Bound provides program participants with fundamental support in their preparation for college entrance. This Upward Bound project housed at WSU Spokane focuses on four small high schools in Ferry and Stevens Counties.

April Needham (PI, new)/Michael Ebinger (PI, retired) – WSU Spokane
U.S. Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration
“Washington State University Continuing EDA University Center Yr 4”
This award funds the continued operation of an Economic Development Administration (EDA) University Center at WSU. Based in Spokane, the WSU University Center for Innovation makes available university resources to the public to promote economic development in Washington State, North Idaho, and northern Oregon. It cultivates innovation and supports commercialization by providing technical assistance to small businesses and startups; conducting applied research on the market viability of products and services that drive small businesses; and assisting distressed areas within its region by identifying areas of potential economic development and helping to develop that potential into sustainable jobs.

Lonnie Nelson (PI); Clemma Muller – College of Nursing/Community Health
National Institutes of Health; National Institute on Drug Abuse
“Counseling for Harm Reduction and Retention in Medication-assisted treatment – Cherokee Nation (CHaRRM-CN)”
This is a continuation award that funds a project aimed at culturally adapting an existing harm-reduction substance use counseling approach focused on improving retention of medication-assisted treatment (MAT) in American Indians with opioid use disorder. MAT is the use of FDA-approved medications—such as buprenorphine and naloxone—in combination with counseling and behavioral therapies to treat substance use disorders, such as opioid use disorder. The culturally adapted approach will be implemented within the Cherokee National Health System, with the goal of testing its efficacy at improving 6-month MAT retention, reducing substance-related harm and illicit opioid use, and increasing Native enculturation compared to a control group who will receive treatment that uses the standard substance use counseling approach.

Oladunni Oluwoye (PI) – Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine
National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Mental Health
“Improving Engagement among Families Experiencing First-Episode Psychosis”
This award funds continued career development and training activities to enhance the investigator’s expertise in the development, implementation, and evaluation of engagement interventions to improve family engagement in coordinated specialty care programs that address first-episode psychosis. The first episode of psychosis is a critical point to initiate mental health care among individuals over the course of their illness, and family members play a key role in facilitating care. However, coordinated specialty care programs that address first-episode psychosis generally report low levels of family engagement, and this indicates an urgent need for effective interventions to improve family engagement.

Bhagwat Prasad (PI) – College of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences
University of Washington/National Institutes of Health, National Institute of General Medical Sciences
“Program on Genetic and Dietary Predictors of Drug Response in Rural and AI/AN Populations”
The subaward provides continued funds for the PI’s bioanalytical support of a program of study to identify the causes of interindividual differences in drug response. Specifically, the researchers will look for gene-environment-drug and polygenic-drug interactions in the treatment of heart disease with blood thinners and antiplatelet medicines in American Indian and Alaska Native populations. This work may eventually lead to safer and more effective drug therapies for the treatment of heart diseases in American Indian and Alaska Native populations, as well as in the general population.

Janet Purath (PI); Dawn DePriest; Louise Kaplan; Tracy Klein; Anne Mason, Tamara Odom-Maryon, Marian Wilson – College of Nursing
US Department of Health & Human Services; Health Resources & Services Administration
“Washington State University-Advanced Nursing practice for rural, underserved in Eastern Washington (WSU-ANEW)”
These funds continue a project aimed at building expanded capacity for training family nurse practitioners and psychiatric mental heal nurse practitioners to serve in rural and underserved areas in Eastern Washington. It builds on a partnership with the Community Health Association of Spokane that includes a joint appointment of a Nurse Practitioner Faculty in Residence. The program will provide traineeships to 39 full-time nurse practitioner students, who will complete longitudinal clinical training in clinics that provide care to underserved and rural populations in Eastern Washington. It will also provide an expanded preceptor education program, as well as a marketing program that connects graduates to primary care employment in rural and underserved areas. Finally, the project will take on the challenges of substance use disorders with educational strategies to improve student, graduate, and community providers’ knowledge and confidence in caring for persons with substance use disorders.

Ruby Siegel (PI); Salah-Uddin Ahmed – College of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences
National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Arthritis & Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases
“Elucidating the Role of Sulfatase-2 in RA Pathogenesis”
The cytokine tumor necrosis factor-a (TNF-a) has been shown to play a dominant role in driving synovial hyperplasia and the progressive destruction of cartilage and bone in rheumatoid arthritis. This award funds the continuation of a study to test the hypothesis that the extracellular enzyme Sulfatase-2 (Sulf-2) mediates TNF-a signaling in rheumatoid arthritis RA synovial fibroblasts—specialized cells that make up the lining of your joints—promoting synovial hyperplasia, proliferation, invasion, and tissue destruction in rheumatoid arthritis. The researchers will look for the mechanism of Sulf-2 participation in TNF-a signaling and investigate the potential therapeutic value of inhibiting Sulf-2-dependent pathways to treat rheumatoid arthritis.

Jingru Sun (PI) – Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine
National Institutes of Health, National Institute for General Medical Sciences
“Neuronal and molecular mechanisms underlying neural regulation of innate immunity”
This award continues funding for a research study aimed at describing the relationship between the nervous system and the innate immune system in response to pathogen infection. The study uses a model organism known as C. elegans, a roundworm that has a simple, well-defined nervous system and an immune system that resembles that of humans in key respects. Earlier work completed by the principal investigator in this area has found that a neurotransmitter known as octopamine works with specific proteins and neurons to suppress the innate immune response. This project will try to dissect the neuronal and molecular mechanisms that make up this immuno-inhibitory pathway. This work could lay the groundwork for new treatments for human health conditions linked to excessive immune responses, such as Crohn’s disease, rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s disease.

Natalie Turner (PI) – WSU Extension, Child and Family Research Unit
US Department of Health and Human Services; Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
“CLEAR Trauma-Informed Schools Network”
As many as 20 percent of school-age children are estimated to have two or more adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) by the time they begin school, increasing their risk for trauma symptoms and developmental problems. This award provides continued funding for the nationwide dissemination of the Collaborative Learning for Educational Achievement and Resilience (CLEAR) trauma-informed school response model— developed by the WSU Child and Family Research Unit (CAFRU)—to help educators and other school professionals recognize, understand, and deal with the effects of children’s exposure to ACEs. The goal is to help schools reduce the impact of early trauma. The project will establish a CLEAR network consisting of five regional partner centers across the United States that will support the dissemination of the CLEAR model in a network of voluntary schools—it will use two current regional CLEAR partner centers at the University of California San Francisco and Public Health Seattle-King County, as well as establish three additional centers in other regions of the country. CLEAR is implemented through coaching by trauma specialists who work with school staff and leadership for two days per month over a period of three years.

Natalie Turner (PI) – WSU Extension, Child and Family Research Unit
Westside Infant-Family Network/LA County Department of Mental Health
“Trauma Resilient Communities: Community Capacity Building”
Trauma from early life adversity is a public health challenge with a broad impact across the general population and a particular impact on children and adults with social, health, and emotional challenges. This award provides the WSU Child and Family Research Unit with renewal funding for a training contract. The contract has WSU providing training to support the adoption or expansion of trauma-informed principles in organizational practices and services at multiple health, education, and social service agencies in westside Los Angeles.

Mark VanDam (PI); Nancy Potter – Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine/Dept. of Speech & Hearing Sciences
Arizona State University/ National Institutes of Health, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development
“Preventing speech and language disorders in infants with classic galactosemia”
Children with classic galactosemia—a rare genetic metabolic condition—are at high risk for severe speech and language disorders and typically start receiving lengthy courses of therapy at ages 2 to 3 years, only after communication difficulties have become evident. Given that classic galactosemia is diagnosed via newborn screening, the risk for communication disorders is known at birth. This award continues funding for a pilot study to evaluate the effectiveness of providing infants with classic galactosemia with a bundle of preventative speech and language services during the first two years of life, as compared to traditional therapy later on. The study will look for improvements in speech, language, and quality of life outcomes.

Marian Wilson (PI) – College of Nursing
University of Cincinnati/National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Drug Abuse
“EMPOWER”
These are continued funds for WSU’s participation in the EMPOWER study led by the University of Cincinnati. EMPOWER is a five-year study of 400 non-cancer patients who are being treated with long-term opioid therapy at the University of Cincinnati Health and Duke Health. The study will look at whether the use of an online pain management program, the Goalistics Chronic Pain Management Program, could help these patients reduce the amount of prescription opioids they take. The study will compare opioid use and pain outcomes between program participants and a control group who receive treatment as usual.