Research for a better future
We highlight a few significant research advances over the past year
Faculty members in the College of Public Health and Health Professions are tackling some of the world’s greatest health challenges, from infectious diseases to chronic conditions, such as diabetes, substance use and obesity. Over the past year, faculty received $36 million in research funding and published a number of important scientific findings in major journals. Here, we highlight a few significant research studies and new projects.
WHO Solidarity Trial
Small, single-vaccine clinical trials may not provide sufficient evidence that a COVID-19 vaccine is effective enough to offer significant protection. “You need large numbers and multiple products in many different settings tested in many different kinds of people to assess whether they’re really safe and effective,” said Ira Longini, Ph.D., a professor in the department of biostatistics, who is part of the expert group for the World Health Organization Solidarity Trial, along with biostatistics assistant professor Natalie Dean, Ph.D. The Solidarity Trial simultaneously tests several COVID-19 vaccine candidates at multiple sites with sustained COVID-19 transmission, with more added as different disease hotspots are identified. Each vaccine is tested in around 20,000 adult participants in a range of ages, with another 20,000 receiving a placebo.
2 million Americans buy prescription drugs outside the country
Buying prescription drugs from other countries is one way some Americans have coped with rising drug prices. A study published in JAMA Network Open finds that 1.5% percent of adults, or more than 2 million Americans, purchase their prescription drugs from outside the U.S. to save money. Researchers Young-Rock Hong, Ph.D., and Arch Mainous, Ph.D., of the department of health services research, management and policy, caution that with the rapid growth in unemployment related to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent loss of health insurance, the number of Americans searching for cheaper prescription drugs is likely to rise.
UF named coordinating center for national drug abuse surveillance system
The University of Florida now leads nationwide efforts to identify emerging drug abuse trends as the coordinating center for the National Drug Early Warning System, or NDEWS. Funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, NDEWS informs health experts, researchers and the community about drug use patterns throughout the country, hot spots with high rates of drug use or drug-related morbidity and new methods of drug use through leading-edge detection methods. Linda B. Cottler, Ph.D., M.P.H., a dean’s professor of epidemiology and PHHP’s associate dean for research, leads the cross-disciplinary NDEWS team.
Telehealth counseling for weight loss maintenance works
A study led by PHHP Dean Michael G. Perri, Ph.D., and published in JAMA Network Open found that rural residents who received individual telephone counseling for a year after participating in a weight loss program were able to maintain 100% of their weight loss. This is significant considering many people will regain one-third to one-half of the weight they lost within a year after participating in a weight loss program. The key is approaching obesity as a chronic condition requiring ongoing care. “For somebody who has a problem with obesity, they probably need to be working on it for the rest of their lives,” Perri said. “Having a health care professional provide that long-term supportive accountability will enhance the chances they’ll be successful over the long run.”
Protecting health care workers
Researchers in environmental and global health and in epidemiology are on a mission to improve personal protective equipment to better protect health care workers and the broader community from infection with SARS-COV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Tara Sabo-Attwood, Ph.D., John Lednicky, Ph.D., and Cindy Prins, Ph.D., M.P.H., are wrapping nanomaterials — very small synthetic particles —in soap molecules designed to kill the virus once it is filtered by a face mask. The work is supported by a National Science Foundation Rapid Response Research, or RAPID, grant.
Challenges to testing treatments during an outbreak
Researchers testing new treatments and vaccines amid a disease outbreak face a number of challenges. Unpredictability in size, geographic location and the duration of the outbreak can make it difficult for scientists to determine if a drug actually works. An international team of infectious disease experts, including UF biostatistics faculty Natalie Dean, Ph.D., and Ira Longini, Ph.D., proposed a core protocol for such trials in a commentary published in The New England Journal of Medicine. A key principle of the core protocol is that the best way to answer important health questions is to accumulate information across outbreaks.
Retired NFL players’ thoughts about pain may be more significant than the pain itself
NFL retirees who worry excessively about their pain or believe it will never get better, also known as pain catastrophizing, are more likely to have moderate to severe depressive symptoms and poor physical and mental health-related quality of life. The study, led by recent clinical psychology doctoral graduate Zachary Mannes, Ph.D., and published in the journal Health Psychology, is the first to examine former players’ thoughts and moods in relation to their health. The researchers found that retirees’ thoughts about their pain may actually have a bigger impact on their lives than the intensity of the pain.
Researchers develop easy tool to predict risk of heart attack, stroke
A new assessment tool can predict users’ 10-year risk of heart attack or stroke with just a few patient-inputted responses, no lab tests required. Developed by Hend Mansoor, Ph.D., a recent graduate of the health services research doctoral program, Arch Mainous, Ph.D., a professor in the department of health services research, management and policy, and UF colleagues, the EZ-CVD calculates a person’s risk score based on six questions on sex, age, current smoking status, diagnosis of diabetes or high blood pressure, and family history of premature heart attack. The team described the development and validation of the tool in a paper published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
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9th in NIH research funding among schools of public health at public universities
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$36 million in total research awards in FY19-20
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8 federally-funded training programs
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15 college investigators receiving grant funding exceeding $1 million FY19-20
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UF is 6 among public universities, according to U.S. News & World Report
College investigators receiving grant funding exceeding $1 million FY19-20
Dawn Bowers, Ph.D., professor, clinical and health psychology
Research focus: Psychophysiological and behavioral signatures of cognitive/emotional change associated with normal aging and Parkinson’s disease; novel interventions for cognitive changes in at-risk older adults.
Robert Cook, M.D., M.P.H., professor, epidemiology
Research focus: Understanding health outcomes related to medical marijuana and the impacts of HIV and substance use on health in order to improve outcomes and reduce HIV transmission.
Linda Cottler, Ph.D., M.P.H., dean’s professor of epidemiology and associate dean for research
Research focus: The risk for and consequences of addiction, polysubstance use, surveillance methods for emerging drug trends, and community engaged studies.
Kimberly A. Driscoll, Ph.D., associate professor, clinical and health psychology
Research focus: Adherence to medical treatment regimens, with a focus on using technology and diabetes device downloads to optimize adherence and health outcomes in Type 1 diabetes.
John Kairalla, Ph.D., research associate professor, biostatistics
Research focus: Clinical trial design, development, monitoring and analysis; childhood cancer research with focus on late phase pediatric Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) trials.
Xiang-Yang (George) Lou, Ph.D., research professor, biostatistics
Research focus: Machine learning methods, hidden Markov model approach, statistical genomics, design of clinical trials and observational studies, statistical modeling and data innovation.
Qing Lu, Ph.D., professor, biostatistics
Research focus: Statistical genetics and statistical/machine learning with a recent research focus on developing new deep neural networks and software for high-dimensional genomic data analysis.
Gordon Mitchell, Ph.D., professor, department of physical therapy
Research focus: Fundamental mechanisms of spinal cord neuroplasticity following brief exposure to intermittent hypoxia, and translation of those findings to treat impaired breathing (and non-respiratory) movements in people with spinal cord injury and ALS.
Glenn Morris, Ph.D., director, Emerging Pathogens Institute
Research focus: Influenza, Zika, cholera, food-borne illnesses, food safety, drug resistant tuberculosis and malaria.
Arlene Naranjo, Ph.D., research associate professor, biostatistics
Research focus: Clinical trials design, development, monitoring, and analysis, with a specialization in pediatric cancer clinical trials for patients with neuroblastoma.
Michael Robinson, Ph.D., professor, clinical and health psychology
Research focus: The human pain experience, including placebo analgesia, modifying endogenous pain modulation, patient-centered outcomes, sex, race and age biases in decisions about pain, psychological factors in pain perception, behavioral interventions and coping with pain.
Kathryn Ross, Ph.D., assistant professor, clinical and health psychology
Research focus: Prevention and treatment of adult obesity, with emphasis on improving long-term maintenance of weight loss and integrating newer technologies into behavioral weight management programs to improve intervention reach and effectiveness.
Krista Vandenborne, Ph.D., chair and distinguished professor, physical therapy
Research focus: Implementation of magnetic resonance imaging and spectroscopy to characterize skeletal muscle in patients, including development and validation of MR imaging biomarkers for muscular dystrophy.
Adam Woods, Ph.D., associate professor, clinical and health psychology
Research focus: Non-invasive brain stimulation-related interventions as well as a variety of non-pharmacological compounds for improving brain metabolism, neuroplasticity and cognitive function.
Jinying Zhao, Ph.D., professor, epidemiology
Research focus: Genetic epidemiology and statistical genetics with a goal of identifying novel biomarkers for aging and age-related diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes, obesity, major depression and Alzheimer’s disease.
