Two women’s health pilots will be funded using co-funding from CIRWH, CHPPRR, and SCOA. The CIRWH/CHPPRR pilot should focus on women’s health priorities in adolescence, reproductive, or mid-life-stages. The CIRWH/SCOA pilot should focus on women’s health priorities of older women including the post-menopausal life stages.

Proposals emphasizing Team Science and collaboration across Schools and Departments will be prioritized. Proposals from basic science, clinical trials, patient-centered outcomes, population health, and any other area of translational research (T1-T4) are welcome. New investigators to this funding mechanism will be prioritized.

The purpose of this pilot funding is to support early career faculty (Assistant professors and Instructors) in obtaining training and preliminary data for publication and external funding. Pilot awardees will have access to research space and equipment and mentoring from leadership, provided by CIRWH, CHPPRR, and SCOA.

Projects will be funded for 10 months (11/01/2024 – 08/31/2025), with total annual direct costs not to exceed $20,000. If applicable, approval by UTMB’s Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) or Institutional Review Board (IRB) is required by pilot start date.

A Full Proposal is due October 14, 2024 and must include:

• Cover letter stating the goals of the study, how the study aligns with the CIRWH, CHPPRR, or SCOA research areas, and specific information on the mechanism and timing of external funding applications that will use pilot data from this award (1 page max)
• 1-page specific aims page in NIH format
• 2-page proposal in NIH Research Strategy format including Significance (1/2 page max), Innovation (1/2 page max), and Approach (1 page max). Include future directions that detail manuscript and grant submission plans.
• NIH biosketch for PI and Key Personnel (including a senior faculty member who will provided mentorship)
• Detailed Budget & Budget Justification. Faculty effort is not an allowable cost.

Scientific questions should be sent to:

Abbey Berenson, MD, PhD
abberens@utmb.edu

Carole Tucker, PT, PhD
cartucke@utmb.edu

Melissa (Missy) Morrow, PhD
memorrow@utmb.edu

Alan Landay, PhD
allanday@utmb.edu

 NPR, September 8, 2022

Dr. Elizabeth Lyons of the University of Texas Medical Branch says some people love video games because there's a lot of unpredictability and surprise.

Lyons tries to mimic these characteristics in her own fitness game designs. As part of her research, she created a Facebook page to help motivate older women in Galveston, Texas, to go for daily walks. To keep the participants on their toes, she posts fun challenges on the page. For example, she asks the women to take a photo of something on their walk that looks like a book cover — or mark off as many different kinds of trees as possible from a checklist she shares in advance. In response, the participants share photos and comments to the Facebook post with updates of what they've discovered along their walks.

"A lot of the things we've been trying to do with [the] challenges is to bring back a sense of childlike wonder," she says – kind of like what you get when you're exploring a video game world for the first time.

You can recreate this sense of whimsy in your own exercises, says Lyons. Take photos of at least 5 different flowers on your neighborhood walk. Ride your bike from one friend's house to another. Beat your personal record to the peak of a trail run.

And remember, says Lyons — every moment of playful engagement — active or not — is a victory. If exercise, even for a few minutes, makes you feel "slightly happy or fulfilled or adds some kind of meaning to your life, that's great."

Read Entire Article: How to make your workout as fun as a video game, according to behavioral scientists

 Dr. Morrow Grants Renewal from NICHD

Dr. Melissa (Missy) Morrow, PhD, A. Russell Shearn Moody Distinguished Chair in Neurological Rehabilitation and Professor in the Department of Nutrition, Metabolism & Rehabilitation Science was recently awarded a grant renewal from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

Dr. Morrow was awarded $1,877,123 for a project titled: “Natural History of Shoulder Pathology in Wheelchair Users.”

Aging causes shoulder tendons to deteriorate for all people, but for people with spinal cord injuries who use a manual wheelchair, shoulder tendons will tear and cause pain at a younger age at and higher rate than people without physical disabilities. Understanding what factors worsen the health of the shoulder tendons will inform early interventions to protect the shoulders and keep them free from pain. This study will follow two groups of people, manual wheelchair users, and able-bodied adults while looking for differences in how they use their arms, the medications they use, and their general health indicators to determine which of these factors are related to worsening tendon tears in the shoulder.

Congratulations, Dr. Morrow!

 Dr. Lee Awarded Two New Grants from Department of Veterans Affairs

Dr. Mi Jung Lee, Assistant Professor in the Department of Nutrition, Metabolism, and Rehabilitation Sciences was recently awarded two grants from the Department of Veterans Affairs (Veterans Rural Health Resource Center, Gainesville, FL).

Dr. Lee was awarded $149,600 for a project titled: “Improving Home Safety and Functioning for Rural Veterans.”

The purpose of the study is to enable rural Veterans’ aging in place by improving function and safety in the home environment. The objectives of the study include: 1) describe rural/non-rural VA home safety evaluation/ prescription clinical practice, 2) identify clinical barriers and facilitators to conducting home evaluations and implement prescribed recommendations in rural residents, and 3) create an inventory of technology and successful strategies for conducting remote home safety evaluation.

Dr. Lee was awarded $108,241 for a project titled: “Examining Risk Factors of Institutionalization for Rural Veterans with Functional Declines Using Artificial Intelligence.”

Rural Veterans are significantly older than urban Veterans, with higher probabilities of having functional declines that often lead to costly institutionalized care. In this project, risk factors of institutionalization for rural Veterans with functional declines will be investigated via artificial intelligence analyses. A pilot Institutional Risk Report will be developed that demonstrates institutionalization risk factors of rural Veterans with functional declines and then tested to provide corresponding results of risk factors. The product of this study will support the development of clinical guidelines and health-related strategies that are designed to reduce institutionalization for rural Veterans with functional declines and, consequently, promote independent living.

A Message from the Office of the Dean

Dear Faculty and Staff, I am pleased to announce Dr. Carole Tucker as our new Associate Dean for Research in the School of Health Professions and Professor in the new department of Nutrition, Metabolism, and Rehabilitation Sciences. Dr. Tucker received her PhD in Exercise Science from the State University of New York Buffalo. She is a licensed physical therapist and engineer with extensive clinical and research experience in exercise science, physical therapy, and biomedical engineering.

Dr. Tucker’s current research program is focused on the development of patient-centered outcomes and wearable sensor systems for clinical and “real-world” measurement, as well as the implementation of learning health systems and artificial intelligence/machine learning approaches to improve patient health and health care system outcomes. Much of her past research has been focused on pediatrics, particularly in populations with developmental disabilities and movement dysfunction.

As Associate Dean for Research, Dr. Tucker will lead the new SHP Office of Research, staffed by Beth Cammarn and Matthew Lakich. This new office will focus on enhancing and expanding SHP’s research portfolio by offering a wide range of services including research development, education and training, submissions, and post-award management, among others.

Please join me in welcoming Dr. Tucker.

David A. Brown, PT, PhD, FAPTA
Senior Vice President and Dean George T. Bryan Distinguished Professor

 Dr. Ottenbacher Announces Retirement, Becomes Professor Emeritus as of January 2021

Dr. Ottenbacher earned BS degrees in Health Sciences in 1972 from the University of Montana and in Occupational Therapy in 1975 from the University of Central Arkansas. He completed an MS in 1976 (University of Tennessee) and a PhD in 1982 (University of Missouri-Columbia), both in Special Education and Rehabilitation. Dr. Ottenbacher was a faculty member at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University at Buffalo before joining the School of Health Professions at UTMB in 1995 (then the School of Allied Health Sciences). He served as Vice Dean from 1995 to 2001 when he became the Senior Associate Dean for Research and Director of the Division of Rehabilitation Sciences. Dr. Ottenbacher was appointed as Associate Director in the Sealy Center on Aging in 1998 by Dr. James Goodwin and continues to serve in that role with Director, Dr. Elena Volpi and Associate Director, Dr. Rebeca Wong. He was a leader in the UTMB Pepper Center.