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Washington State University Health Sciences Spokane

Grant and Contract Awards

FY2022, 1st Quarter Summary
(July 1 – September 30, 2021)

Scroll down to read, or use these links to jump directly to a section/principal investigator (PI):

NEW & TRANSFER AWARDS

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

Dedra Buchwald (PI); Clemma Muller; Ka’imi Sinclair; Patrik Johansson – Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine/College of Nursing/Community Health
National Institutes of Health; National Institute on Aging
“Natives Engaged in Alzheimer’s Research”
This grant funds the creation of the Natives Engaged in Alzheimer’s Research (NEAR) Center, an innovative program to better understand and mitigate health disparities related to Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) experienced by US Native populations. American Indians and Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders are known to have a high prevalence of ADRD risk factors, including hypertension and type 2 diabetes. At the same time, improved life expectancies have resulted in a tripling of their populations’ share of people aged 65 or older over the last 50 years. Together, these two factors are expected to have a major impact on Native communities and the healthcare systems that serve them. Led by WSU, the NEAR project will bring together six major universities, 11 tribes, and 12 Native partner organizations to engage in research to reduce the clinical, social, and economic burdens associated with ADRD in US Native populations. The project will also engage a nationwide network of eight satellite centers directed by researchers who are members of the Native communities being studied.

Janessa Graves (PI); Anne Mason – College of Nursing
The Rural Alliance/Innovia Foundation
“COVID-19: Community-Academic Partnerships to Provide Telemental Health in Rural Schools during COVID-19”
As part of this project, the WSU College of Nursing will help the Rural Alliance implement telemedicine mental health therapy services—also known as telemental health—for youth at rural eastern Washington school districts without access to mental healthcare services. The project will meet a significant need in communities where few mental health resources exist and needs are increasing due to COVID-19. Mental health services will be provided by WSU nursing student trainees as part of their clinical rotations.

Jeff Haney (PI); Jaime Bowman – Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine
University of Washington
“Washington State University/Family Medicine Residency Network”
This subaward provides funding for the WSU College of Medicine’s role in the Family Medicine Residency Network, a collaboration with the University of Washington and Pacific Northwest University to increase the family physician workforce in shortage areas in the state. This funding pays for WSU to provide technical and organizational assistance to the Family Medicine Residency Network Rural Programs.

Devon Hansen (PI) – Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine/Sleep and Performance Research Center
Jazz Pharmaceuticals
“Solriamfetol’s effect on cognitive health in apnea participants during a randomized placebo-controlled study (SHARP): A 5-week double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized, crossover, multicenter study of Solriamfetol in improving cognitive function in participants with excessive daytime sleepiness associated with obstructive sleep apnea plus impaired cognitive function”
This award provides funding for WSU to be part of a phase 4 clinical trial involving the drug solriamfetol. The goal of the five-week trial is to determine whether solriamfetol is effective at improving cognitive function in participants with excessive daytime sleepiness associated with obstructive sleep apnea, a sleep disorder that involves intermittent blockage of the airway during sleep. The human sleep laboratory on the WSU Health Sciences Spokane campus will serve as a site for the multisite trial, which will test whether solriamfetol improves participants’ performance on a cognitive performance task after two weeks of treatment, as compared to placebo. The trial will also measure how long any effect lasts after the drug is administered. Of relevance to patients with sleep apnea who are considering treatment with solriamfetol, outcomes from the trial will help to assess the drug’s effect on the ability to work.

Kimberly Honn (PI); Hans Van Dongen; Matthew Layton; Dawn DePriest; Joseph Samuel – Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine/Sleep and Performance Research Center/College of Nursing
US Department of Defense, US Navy, Naval Postgraduate School
“Circadian Entrainment and Performance Recovery”
The goal of this new project is to determine whether an intervention that uses blue-enriched light could help Navy pilots maintain performance and alertness when changing from daytime to nighttime flight schedules. The researchers will use healthy volunteers in a laboratory-based simulation study that will test the blue light intervention on participants after they are shifted from a nighttime sleep schedule with daytime performance tasks to a daytime sleep schedule with nighttime performance tasks. If proven effective, the intervention could provide a low-cost, non-invasive way to improve performance and safety in shiftwork settings, including US Naval pilot operations.

Ashley Ingiosi (PI) – Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine
National Institutes of Health; National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
“Dissecting the role of neuronal-astroglial interactions in sleep homeostasis”
Funded through the National Institute of Health’s Brain Research Through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative, K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award provides two years of funding for Ashley Ingiosi to receive mentored training at WSU, followed by another three years of funding to help her transition into the role of independent investigator. The grant will allow her to continue to study how astrocytes—a type of non-neuronal brain cell—interact with neurons to regulate sleep, expanding on previous findings she published in September 2020. Her work will provide additional insight into the molecular processes involved in sleep homeostasis—a process that balances sleep need, sleep intensity, and sleep amount based on prior time spent awake—helping scientists to better understand how sleep works inside the brain in both normal and disordered sleep.

Stephen James (PI) – College of Nursing/Sleep and Performance Research Center
US Centers for Disease Control; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
“Evaluating an Intervention Designed to Reduce Fatigue among Taxi Drivers”
As part of this study, WSU will perform data collection for a study to evaluate two interventions to reduce fatigue among taxi drivers: an online fatigue management training and wrist-worn actigraphs that provide driver feedback in the form of a fatigue score. The study will look at 180 full-time taxi drivers working in a large metropolitan area, who will be randomly assigned to one of three groups of equal size. One group will receive training and wear actigraphs but will not be provided feedback on their estimated fatigue score. Another group will receive training and wear actigraphs that provide fatigue scores to the driver. The third group will have control participants who will wear actigraphs to collect fatigue‐related data but will not receive training nor their fatigue scores. Actigraphy data on sleep duration, sleep and waking times, and sleep efficiency will be compared to determine participants’ fatigue levels before and after the intervention and as compared to the control group.

Michael McDonell (PI); John Roll; Katherine Hirchak – Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine
University of California – Los Angeles
“Contingency Management Training for Univ. California Los Angeles”
As part of this project, researchers in WSU’s Promoting Research Initiatives in Substance Use and Mental Health (PRISM) collaborative will provide a series of trainings on the use of contingency management—an incentive-based intervention to curb substance use—in Native communities to the University of California Los Angeles. These virtual-based trainings will provide an overview of the theory and evidence of contingency management, the essential ingredients of an effective contingency management intervention, cultural adaption of contingency management, and compliance issues.

Michael McDonell (PI); John Roll – Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine
Washington State Health Care Authority; Division of Behavioral Health and Recovery
“Hub and Spoke CM Training”
This award provides funding for WSU researchers to provide a series of trainings on contingency management, an incentive-based intervention to cut down on substance use, to staff at five Washington State Health Care Authority hub and spoke sites. Trainings will be conducted in a virtual format and include an overview training and a nuts-and-bolts training that will provide the tools needed to implement contingency management, along with fidelity monitoring sessions for each site after trainings have been completed.

Michael McDonell (PI); Liat Kriegel – Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine
The Fletcher Group/US Department of Health and Human Services; Health Resources and Services Administration
“CM Training for Fletcher Group, Inc.”
As part of this project, WSU researchers will develop a contingency management intervention that is specifically tailored for implementation in recovery housing settings, with a particular focus on rural recovery housing settings. To achieve this, the WSU team will provide training in contingency management—an incentive-based intervention designed to cut down on substance use—to recovery housing staff and leadership at the Fletcher Group, a Georgia-based organization that provides technical assistance that helps rural communities to provide services to those with opioid and substance use disorders. This will be followed by interviews and surveys to assess challenges and opportunities for adapting contingency management to this unique setting. The final product will be a contingency management model—including training materials—that would allow for implementation of contingency management in recovery housing.

Sterling McPherson (PI) – Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine
US Department of Veterans Affairs; VA Portland Health Care System
“Collaborative pain care for rural Veterans with substance use disorders”
Veterans with alcohol and other drug use disorders experience high rates of chronic pain. Pain treatment for these patients can be complicated by active substance use disorders, and these complications are worse for rural Veterans who lack access to specialty pain care within the Veterans Affairs system and the community. As part of this project, WSU researchers will evaluate the perceived impact of a newly developed pain program delivered exclusively via telehealth for patients engaged in treatment for substance use disorders at two VA sites: the VA Portland Health Care System in Portland, Ore., and the Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center in Spokane, Wash. Led by a nurse care manager, the program includes an initial comprehensive pain assessment and treatment recommendations, up to six additional follow-up appointments, and a weekly pain education class. The nurse care manager will also help connect patients to available pain treatment resources both within VA and the community. This project will yield a pain treatment program and implementation tool kit that can be used to deliver the program to rural veterans receiving VHA care across the U.S.

Senthil Natesan (PI) – College of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences
Washington Research Foundation
“Allosteric modulators of mu-opioid and cannabinoid CB1 receptors as potential therapeutics in the treatment of pain”
This project aims to discover a safe, effective, and non-addictive treatment for treating chronic pain and inflammation. Pain affects more Americans than diabetes, heart disease, and cancer combined, and chronic pain is the most common cause of long-term disability. Although opioid analgesics are considered the gold standard in treating pain, these drugs often have serious side effects, including respiratory depression, constipation, tolerance, increased risks for addiction, and fatal overdosing. If successful, this work will yield one or more small-molecule therapeutics to treat chronic pain and inflammation in a manner that is safe, effective, and non-addictive.

James Nguyen (PI); Mary Paine – College of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences
National Institutes of Health; National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health
“Assessing Transporter-Mediated Natural Product-Drug Interactions Using a Translational Research Approach”
This study expands on previous findings by the researchers that showed that taking the natural product goldenseal while taking the prescription drug metformin decreased levels of metformin in the body, which can impact glucose control in patients with type 2 diabetes. This new study will further investigate the mechanisms of this natural product-drug interaction between goldenseal and metformin through pharmacokinetic modeling and simulation, as well as a clinical study in patients with type 2 diabetes. The intended outcome is a pharmacokinetic model that could accurately predict the goldenseal-metformin interaction. The knowledge gained from these efforts will also help the researchers build a systematic framework for effectively studying natural product-drug interactions mediated by transporters, proteins that facilitate absorption or expulsion of drug molecules in different tissues, such as the intestine, liver, and kidney.

Mary Paine (PI); Matthew Layton; John White – College of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences/Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine
Cultivate Biologics
“Human pharmacokinetic study with Tevelle soft gels”
This contract provides funding for WSU researchers to study the pharmacokinetics and physiological effects in humans of a hemp oil product marketed for treating joint discomfort, decreased mobility, and situational stress in pets.

Bhagwat Prasad (PI) – College of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences
Generation Bio
“Targeted quantification of ASGR1 and ASGR2 in human and mouse liver tissue, primary cells, cell lines and in vitro 2D and 3D hepatocyte models”
As part of this project, WSU will develop a selective micro liquid-chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (µLC-MS/MS) method to quantify two proteins—ASGR1 and ASGR2—in human and animal tissues and cell samples.

Bhagwat Prasad (PI) – College of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences
University of California – Los Angeles/National Institutes of Health; Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
“PBPK modeling of dimethandrolone undecanoate (DMAU) and dimethandrolone (DMA) and steroid bioanalysis”
This subcontract provides funding for WSU researchers to contribute to a project to test dimethandrolone undecanoate (DMAU), an investigational male contraceptive. DMAU has been administered by mouth and via intramuscular injection to 250 healthy men, with half-lives measured in the 12-24-hour range for oral dosing and weeks to months range for intramuscular injection. The WSU team will develop a physiologically based pharmacokinetic model to help better understand how DMAU and its active metabolite DMA are absorbed, distributed, metabolized, and excreted in humans. In addition, they will provide consultation to the Endocrine and Metabolic Research Laboratory for the development, refinement, and improvement of steroid assays for clinical studies conducted by the Clinical and Translational Science Institute at UCLA’s Lundquist Institute.

Brieann Satterfield (PI); Hans Van Dongen – Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine/Sleep and Performance Research Center/College of Nursing
Empire Health Foundation/Andy Hill CARE Fund
“Night Shift Work as a Carcinogen: Molecular mechanisms, biomarkers, and therapeutic targets”
Shift workers are at elevated risk of developing cancer, and night shift work has been classified as a probable carcinogen. This new study will build on previous research by WSU sleep scientists that night shifts disrupt natural 24-hour rhythms in the activity of certain cancer-related genes, making night shift workers more vulnerable to DNA damage while at the same time causing DNA repair mechanisms to be mistimed to deal with that damage. While the previous study simulated day and night shift schedules in non-shift work participants, this new study will look at these mechanisms in real-world night shift workers along with control participants who work day shifts. The ultimate goal is to find molecular targets that could be used to develop prevention strategies or drugs that could mitigate the increased risk of cancer by addressing the mistiming of DNA repair processes. Knowledge of the molecular mechanisms that drive this elevated cancer risk could also be used to optimize the timing of cancer therapy for maximum effectiveness and minimal side effects, a procedure called chronotherapy that requires fine-tuning to the internal rhythms of night workers.

Brieann Satterfield (PI); Hans Van Dongen – Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine/Sleep and Performance Research Center/College of Nursing
Health Sciences and Services Authority of Spokane County
“Night Shift Work as a Carcinogen: Molecular mechanisms, biomarkers, and therapeutic targets”
This grant provides matching funding for the project described in the preceding listing.

Natsuko Wood (PI) – College of Nursing
Sigma Theta Tau International
“Mothers who exclusively breastfeed directly on the breast: The development of an explanatory model”
Centers for Disease Control data show that although 84 percent of mothers start breastfeeding their newborns, breastfeeding rates drop off quickly to about 58 percent after one month, 47 percent after three months, and 26 percent after six months. Research on the effect of mother-infant mutual responsiveness during breastfeeding is limited. In response to this, researchers developed the Breastfeeding Relationship Scale (BFRS) and tested it on more than 600 breastfeeding mothers. This new study will use these data to test an explanatory model of mother-infant mutual responsiveness and exclusive breastfeeding directly on the breast. The study will demonstrate the relationships between mother-infant breastfeeding interaction, perceived adequate milk supply, synchronized breastfeeding, and exclusive breastfeeding directly on the breast, to the benefit of researchers and clinical practitioners.

Ana Zamora-Kapoor (PI); Dedra Buchwald; Astrid Suchy-Dicey – Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine/College of Arts & Sciences/Community Health
University of Colorado – Denver/National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities
“Body mass index trajectories and cognitive performance in American Indians: Evidence from the Cerebrovascular Disease and its Consequences in American Indians study”
This is a subaward of a project led by the University of Colorado Denver known as the Cerebrovascular Disease and its Consequences in American Indians (CDCAI) study. The goal of the parent study is to characterize the burden, risk factors, and manifestations of vascular brain injury identified on brain MRI. As part of this project, the WSU team will analyze data from CDCAI participants to determine whether there is a relationship between cognitive outcomes and variability in body mass index over time. They will also look to see if any relationships found differ by sex.

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”
These are supplemental funds for a project to study the role of microRNA-17 (miR-17) in the disease progression of rheumatoid arthritis. This supplement expands the scope of the project to include studying the differences in the expression of miRNAs in males versus females, which is especially important given that females are at a threefold higher risk for developing rheumatoid arthritis in their lifetimes. The goal is to find out whether sex-bias changes in miRNAs may predispose females to being at higher risk for rheumatoid arthritis.

Ofer Amram (PI); Siny Tsang; Astrid Suchy-Dicey – Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine/Community Health
Oregon State University/National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
“COVID-19: Evaluating and Applying Google Timeline Location Data for Built Environment and Physical Activity Research”
These are continued funds for a supplemental award that adds a new scope to an existing grant-funded project related to the built environment’s influence on health. This new award funds research that will examine how individual outdoor physical activity behaviors changed before and during the COVID-19 stay-at-home orders and to determine how outdoor physical activity and exposure to green space may protect against stress and acute mental health issues.  To do this, researchers will use detailed Google Timeline time-activity data collected passively through smartphones to assess environmental exposure over long periods of time while protecting the privacy of study participants. This data will be collected from a subset of 3,000 Washington State Twin Registry participants who completed a survey, during COVID-19, pertaining to changes in outdoor physical activity and mental health. The project will provide important new information to inform future stay-at-home policies and park/public space closures, as well as the role of outdoor physical activity and exposure to natural environments in reducing the harmful effects of acute stress and mental health issues.

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 award provides continued funding for a subaward of a project led by Oregon State University. The goal of the project is 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.

Naomi Bender (co-PI); Leila Harrison (co-PI) – WSU Health Sciences Spokane; Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine
Oregon Health Sciences University/Indian Health Service
“INMED RISE: Reimagine IndianS into MedicinE”
This grant provides continued funding for the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine’s INMED RISE: Reimagine IndianS into MedicinE program, which offers access, mentoring, and exposure to American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) students interested in health professions. It funds two major program activities: (1) the RISE Summer Academy at WSU Health Sciences Spokane and the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine, which is targeted to college-level AI/AN students interested in attending medical school; (2) the WSU expansion of the Wy’East post-baccalaureate program based at Oregon Health & Science University. The College of Medicine will select up to four students for four of the five funding years to participate in the Wy’East program, offering them conditional acceptance upon successful completion.

Dedra Buchwald (PI); Ka’imi Sinclair; Clemma Muller; Robert Rosenman; Amanda Boyd; Amber Fyfe-Johnson – Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine/College of Nursing/Community Health/Murrow College of Communication/School of Economic Sciences
National Institutes of Health; National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities
“Native-Controlling Hypertension and Risk through Technology (Native-CHART)”
This is continued funding for a five-year grant to establish—in partnership with the University of Colorado Denver—a new collaborative research center aimed at reducing health risks related to high blood pressure in U.S. Native populations. The center draws in expertise and solicits input from community organizations, tribes, and researchers across the country to pursue intervention studies that will use technologies. These technologies include electronic medical records, text messaging, wearable physical activity monitors, and home blood pressure monitors.

Dedra Buchwald (PI) – Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine/Community Health
National Institutes of Health; National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
“WSU Urologic Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndromes Discovery Center”
This is a continuation award for a discovery center to study the underlying causes of urologic chronic pelvic pain syndromes. The center collaborates in the Multi-Disciplinary Approach to the Study of Chronic Pelvic Pain (MAPP) Research Network. The goal of the center is to conduct multidisciplinary, multi-site, basic, translation, and clinical research on urologic chronic pelvic pain syndromes.

Dedra Buchwald (PI); Ka’Imi Sinclair; Astrid Suchy-Dicey; Clemma Muller – Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine/College of Nursing/Community Health
University of Colorado – Denver/National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities
“American Indian and Alaska Native Health Disparities Center of Excellence”
This is renewal funding for a project to establish the Center for American Indian and Alaska Native Health Disparities, a partnership between the University of Colorado Denver, WSU, and the Southcentral Foundation. It provides funds for WSU investigators to help manage the center’s overall efforts, engage in community engagement with American Indian and Alaskan Native partners in the region, and disseminate research findings. In addition, it funds WSU’s role in two research projects: One project uses data from the Strong Heart Study and Cerebrovascular Disease and its Consequences in American Indians study to evaluate associations between cognitive function and Alzheimer’s disease risk factors and biomarkers in American Indians. The other project, which is being conducted in partnership with the University of Arizona, is to create culturally tailored materials on Alzheimer’s disease and precision medicine for American Indians and Alaska Natives enrolled in the All of Us Research Program, an NIH-funded program to improve treatment and prevention strategies based on people’s individual differences in lifestyle, environment, and genetics.

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.

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 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.

Amber Fyfe-Johnson (PI) – Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine/Community Health
Storer Fund at The Miami Foundation
“Health Outcomes in Preschool: INnovations for Obesity Prevention (HOP-IN)”
This award provides renewal funding to pay for a research assistant assigned to an NIH-funded project to evaluate the impact of an outdoor preschool model on health outcomes and academic achievement in early childhood (see preceding listing for details).

Jason Gerstner (PI); William Vanderheyden; Christopher Davis – Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine
National Institutes of Health, National Institute of General Medical Sciences
“Characterizing evolutionarily conserved mechanisms underlying sleep, clocks, and memory”
Scientists have long been working toward understanding the function of sleep. Adaptive processes, such as synaptic plasticity, learning, and memory, are sensitive to sleep loss, which may provide important clues for identifying the physiological function of sleep. Cellular and molecular processes that are critical for sleep function within nervous tissue also may not be restricted to neurons, but may include glial cells, which are known to regulate metabolism, sleep, and cognitive function. Changes in the interactions between neurons and glial cells, particularly around synapses related to activity- and energy-dependent demands during wakefulness, are key sites to investigate the functional aspects of sleep. This award continues funding for a project in which the researchers will conduct studies in evolutionarily diverse species that integrate the 24-hour rhythm of rest-activity cycles with changes in sleep need. The goal is to identify cellular and molecular mechanisms that underlie activity-dependent changes in synaptic activity, are sensitive to sleep, are critical for cognitive function, and are conserved across different species.

Jason Gerstner (PI) – Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine
National Institutes of Health, National Institute of General Medical Sciences
“Characterizing evolutionarily conserved mechanisms underlying sleep, clocks, and memory: Equipment supplement”
This supplement provides funding for electrophysiology and microscopy equipment for the project described in the preceding listing.

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 award provides continued funding for an NIH Mentored Research Scientist Development award for 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.

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.

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 award continues a study that 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.

James Mohr (PI) – WSU Spokane; Office of Student Affairs
U.S. Dept. of Education; Office of Postsecondary Education
“Washington State University Spokane Stevens County Upward Bound”
This grant provides renewal 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.

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. This award provides continued funds for a study 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) – WSU Spokane
U.S. Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration
“Washington State University Continuing EDA University Center Yr 5”
This continuation award funds the 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); Luciana Hebert – College of Nursing/Community Health
National Institutes of Health; National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities
“COVID-19: Caring Contacts: A Strength-based, Suicide Prevention Trial in 4 Native Communities”
This award provides a funding increase for a study of the effectiveness of the Caring Contacts approach as a way of reducing suicidal ideation, suicide attempts, and suicide-related hospitalizations among Native American young adults. A recent study has found that suicide rates for Native American young adults in the Northern Plains and Alaska are much higher than those for white Americans in the same regions. The Caring Contacts approach uses text messages expressing care, concern, and interest to supplement standard suicide prevention. In a randomized, controlled trial, this study will compare the use of the Caring Contacts approach as a supplement to usual suicide prevention care versus usual care only in at-risk Native American young adults over a 12-month period. The added funds for this study allow the researchers extra time to complete recruitment for the study, which was hindered by COVID-19 related restrictions.

Lonnie Nelson (PI) – College of Nursing/Community Health
National Institutes of Health; National Institute of Minority Health Disparities
“Measurement of Nature Contact: The Influence of Cultural Practices on Sleep Health and Chronic Disease among Rural and Urban American Indians”
This Diversity Supplement expands the scope of an existing project that seeks to estimate the prevalence of sleep problems and their associations with specific cardiovascular and metabolic risk factors, as well as the qualitative characterization of cultural factors related to sleep health in American Indian participants who were previously enrolled in the Strong Heart Family Study. The supplement funds Lonnie Nelson’s time spent mentoring Angela Fernandez, an assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin School of Nursing as she conducts secondary analyses of study data from the parent study. The analyses conducted by Fernandez will help researchers better understand geographic variation (rural vs urban) in sleep health and chronic disease outcomes and develop culturally appropriate tools to identify pathways for prevention and treatment. The findings will also increase the body of knowledge about the health benefits of nature contact among American Indians.

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 continues funds for 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.

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 continued funding for the multidisciplinary Center of Excellence for Natural Product-Drug Interactions Research, which is 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 within the five-year project period for 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
Gilead Sciences, Inc.
“Proteomics-informed in vitro to in vivo extrapolation of non-cytochrome P450 drug metabolism”
This grant continues funding for the PRINCE (Proteomics-based Research Initiative for Non-CYP Enzymes) program, a research collaboration between WSU and the pharmaceutical industry to elucidate the role of non-cytochrome P450 (non-CYP) enzymes in the disposition, efficacy, and toxicity of drugs. The overarching objective is to develop physiological models to predict drug disposition, which could help reduce the number of animal and clinical studies needed before new drugs can be approved. Gilead is one of three pharmaceutical companies participating in the PRINCE program.

Bhagwat Prasad (PI); Mary Paine; John White; Matthew Layton; Senthil Natesan; Clark Kogan – College of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences/Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine
National Institutes of Health, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
“Ontogeny of drug transport”
Children absorb, metabolize, and excrete drugs differently than adults do, which means dosing of drugs for children cannot be based on the adult dose. Since establishing the safety and efficacy of drugs in children in clinical trials is not always possible, researchers are working to develop a pediatric, physiologically based pharmacokinetic model that can be used to predict how children will respond to drugs. This award represents a five-year competitive renewal of funding to help lay the groundwork toward creating such a model. In a previous phase of this project, the research team completed a quantitative analysis of how drug transporters and drug metabolizing enzymes are expressed in pediatric livers, compared to adult livers. This phase of the study will look at the kidney, the organ that plays a predominant role in clearing about 30% of prescription drugs. The data and models generated in this study will benefit children’s health by assessing the risk associated with the use of drugs in children.

Bhagwat Prasad (PI) – College of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences
WSU Office of Commercialization
“Development of a Dry Blood Spot Assay Kit for Quantification of Carboxylated Proteins:”
This award increases funding for a commercialization gap fund award for the development of a sensitive assay using dry-blood spot coupled with mass spectrometry for simultaneous quantification of gramma-glutamyl carboxylated proteins in a drop of blood. The quantification of the carboxylated proteins is important for ensuring the safety of anti-coagulant therapy and for the diagnosis of vitamin K-dependent diseases, such as liver cancers and COVID-19-associated coagulopathy.

Janet Purath (PI); Tamara Odom-Maryon; Anne Mason; Marian Wilson; Tracy Klein; Olivia Brooks– 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 provides supplemental funds for 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.

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 supplement provides funding equipment for cell sorting for the project described in the preceding listing.

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.