Research Newsletter 1. Spotlight on a Faculty Researcher: Dr. Mary Byrne 2. Recent Grant Awards 3. Recent Grant Submissions 4. Funding Opportunities 5. Awards and Accolades 6. CUSON Presence at National Meetings 7. Electronic Grant Submission Update 8. ORR Standard Operating Procedures 9. NIH Announcements 10. Resources on the Shared Drive 11. Continuing Education and Training Courses 12. Statistical Assistance 13. Research Bulletin Boards

Research Newsletter

2. Recent Grant Awards

During 2007, Columbia University School of Nursing has already received 18 new sponsored projects totaling over $9 million. CUSON currently has a total of 37 active sponsored projects with a funding total of over $26 million.

Funding highlights since the Spring 2007 newsletter include:

• Dr. Suzanne Bakken, Alumni Professor of Nursing and Professor of Medical Informatics, is principal investigator of a 5-year competitive renewal of "Reducing Health Disparities Through Informatics" for $895,425. This Training Grant, funded by the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) supports stipends and partial tuition for 3 pre-doctoral trainees and 1 postdoctoral trainee annually. The overarching premise of this research training program is that information technology and informatics processes are essential components of an infrastructure to reduce health disparities and to facilitate evidence-based practice in the underserved. Previous trainees have demonstrated a high level of scholarly productivity during the initial award period and several have secured interdisciplinary academic positions at the conclusion of their educational programs.


• The NINR has awarded Columbia University School of Nursing $2,362,211 to continue the Center for Evidence-based Practice in the Underserved (CEBP) for an additional five years as a P30 Nursing Science Center of Excellence in Self-Management. Led by Dr. Suzanne Bakken, Principal Investigator, the primary aim of CEBP is to facilitate the development of biobehavioral research capacity in self-management for underserved populations. It establishes four cores led by interdisciplinary scientists: Administrative (Dr. Bakken and Dr. Elaine Larson); Self-Management, Biobehavioral, and Informatics (Dr. Nancy Reame and Dr. Karina Davidson); Design, Methods, Biostatistics, and Economic Analysis (Dr. Joyce Anastasi and Dr. Haomiao Jia); and Dissemination and Translation (Dr. Mary Byrne and Dr. Eneida Mendonca). The four feasibility studies that will be conducted by junior investigators during the next five years include:
  • "Self Management of Hypertension in Diabetics through Device Guided Breathing" PI: Dr. Sally Aboelela, Assistant Professor of Clinical Nursing
  • "Heart Healthy Living in HIV: A Preliminary Study" PI: Dr. Bernadette Capili, Assistant Professor of Nursing
  • "Self Assessment via a Personal Health Record (SAPHeR)" PI: Dr. Leanne Currie, Assistant Professor of Nursing
  • "Adolescents with Diabetes Engage in Problem Solving through Tailored Intervention" PI: Dr. Arlene Smaldone, Assistant Professor of Nursing


• Two CUSON Faculty received pilot awards for Collaborative Clinical and Translational Research funded by Columbia University's Irving Institute for Clinical and Translations Research:
  • Dr. Suzanne Bakken is Co-PI of "The Applications of Information and Communication Technology for Preventing and Treating Chronic Disease" which will investigate the applications of information and communication technology for preventing and treating chronic disease.
  • Dr. Kathleen Hickey is PI of "GATHER: Genetic Arrhythmia Testing Helping Evaluate Risk" which proposes to develop a comprehensive resequencing array to provide genetic information for risk stratification for cardiac arrhythmias.
  
  These Phase I, 6-month, $25,000 planning grants bring together faculty from multiple schools and departments with expertise in diverse disciplines. A Phase II pilot grant submission will be prepared for competitive internal review in 2008 for a one-year $125,000 award with a goal of submitting a major NIH proposal.


• CUSON was awarded two Glenda Garvey Teaching Academy Educational Grants:
  • Penelope Buschman, Marlene McHugh, and Anita Nirenberg are Co-PIs of "Creating an Educational Partnership in Palliative and End of Life Care." This project addresses the learning needs of students in the health professions by developing a unique, collaborative, multidisciplinary educational approach to palliative and end of life care with a practice outcome measurement.
  
  
  • Dr. Kathleen Hickey is PI of "REAL: Remote Electronic Arrhythmia Learning." This project aims to develop and pilot test the usefulness and usability of an E-learning implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) module across the Columbia University Campus.
  
  
  These 2-year, $18,000 grants provide seed money for projects to develop innovative teaching tools, methods or curriculum.


• Dr. Leanne Currie, Assistant Professor of Nursing, received her first independent federal funding as principal investigator with her R21 proposal "Electronic Communication for Antimicrobial Management (ECAM)." This 2-year exploratory study, funded by the National Institute of Nursing Research of the NIH for $442,750, aims to improve the appropriate and judicious use of antibiotics in the neonatal intensive care unit by developing and testing an automated method to remind clinicians to stop or change inappropriate antibiotics. Dr. Currie's project is also part of the established, ongoing Center for Interdisciplinary Research to Reduce Antimicrobial Resistance (CIRAR) with Dr. Elaine Larson as Director and support by the School of Nursing.


• Dr. Kristine Gebbie, Elizabeth Standish Gill Associate Professor of Nursing, is principal investigator of a newly funded T90 Interdisciplinary Training Grant, "Training in Interdisciplinary Research to Reduce Antimicrobial Resistance (TIRAR)." This 5-year, $1 million training grant, funded by the National Institute of Nursing Research of the NIH and part of CIRAR, supports 2 pre-doctoral trainees and 2 postdoctoral trainees each year. The grant will prepare scholars for participation and leadership in interdisciplinary research to reduce antimicrobial resistance by creating an interdisciplinary research curriculum; developing CIRAR pre- and postdoctoral training programs; implementing a faculty training program in interdisciplinary research; and developing and maintaining programmatic self-evaluation and revision mechanisms.


• Dr. Gebbie is PI of a 3-year cooperative agreement, "Collaborations in Public Health Law as it Relates to Oral Health Issues" funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. The purpose of this $240,000 project is to document, analyze, and disseminate public health legal principles relating to improved oral health through community water fluoridation, identifying for oral health advocates the legal boundaries and considerations that pervade debates about maintaining or expanding community water fluoridation.


• Dr. Gebbie is PI of "Exploration of Relationships between Public Health Law and System Performance," recently funded by the National Network of Public Health Institutes. This 9-month, $75,000 project is designed to determine if there is a relationship between the degree to which the statutes enabling the public health agency reflect the essential services and the level of public health system performance as reported in the National Public Health Performance Standards data.


• Dr. Gebbie is also PI of a project newly funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, "Expanding the Ability of Practitioners and Scholars to Assess Law as a Tool to Improve Public Health." This 2-year, $394,000 project, in conjunction with Johns Hopkins University, aims to expand the ability of practitioners and scholars to assess law as a tool to improve public health, building the base for a research agenda on local public health legal authority by documenting and analyzing the scope, breadth, and content of local public health ordinances in key program areas.


• Dr. Patricia Stone, Associate Professor of Nursing, is principal investigator of a newly funded 3-year R01, "Prevention of Nosocomial Infections and Cost-Effectiveness Analysis." This $1.4 million grant, funded by the National Institutes of Nursing Research, will inform the practice of infection control professionals, bedside clinicians, and policy makers across the country. Knowledge gained from this project should ultimately improve patient care and reduce hospital acquired infection rates.


• Dr. Stone is also PI of an R21 developmental grant funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality entitled, "Exploratory Study Using Queueing Theory to Improve Nurse Staffing Effectiveness." This 2-year $275,000 project is the first clinical test of the use of queueing methodology to guide nurse staffing decisions. A long term goal of this program of research is to improve the quality of nursing services at the bedside by developing a generalizable framework for using queueing theory to inform nurse staffing needs across a variety of settings.


• Two of the five NIH-funded TRANSFORM (TRaining And Nurturing Scientists FOr Research that is Multidisciplinary) traineeships offered in the second round of support were awarded to School of Nursing DNSc students. First year students Nowaii Keleekai and Keila Torres joined second year student Millie Hepburn-Smith as part of a cohort of ten recipients of the CTSA funded research traineeships in clinical and translational research. The award supports tuition and stipend for one year of course work and research practicum with a co-mentor in another discipline.