Two PNWU professors will play key roles in two large five-year National Institutes of Health (NIH) research awards. The awards support the ongoing research of Dr. Heather Fritz, founding director of PNWU’s School of Occupational Therapy, and Dr. Malcolm Cutchin, director of academic research and partnerships, and recognize the high-quality health research currently taking place at PNWU.
Drs. Cutchin and Fritz are co-investigators on a $3.6 million award from the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute to Wayne State. Their study, “Stress and Cardiovascular Risk Among Urban African American adults: A Multilevel, Mixed Methods Approach,” is led by their former Wayne State colleague, Dr. Samuele Zilioli.
Alongside collaborators from Penn State University and the University of Windsor, the research team will employ a set of innovative approaches to understand the effects of various types of daily stressors on cardiovascular disease risk among older African Americans. The five-year investigation will use some of Dr. Cutchin’s measures of neighborhood-level stressors, and both Fritz and Cutchin will employ qualitative research approaches to dig deeper into the experience of stressors among study participants to better understand the quantitative findings.
Although focused on Detroit, Drs. Cutchin and Fritz expect that findings will suggest how other populations, including rural and medically underserved communities in the Pacific Northwest, might benefit from prevention or intervention programs to mitigate the harmful cardiovascular effects of stress. “This project will produce insights that can be used in Central Washington by various types of healthcare providers and researchers,” Dr. Cutchin explained. “For me, that’s all part of revolutionizing community health.”
Dr. Fritz is also a co-investigator on a $2.7 million NIH award from the National Institute on Aging at the University of New Hampshire (UNH). That study, titled “Effectiveness and adoption of a Smart home-based social assistive robot for care of individuals with Alzheimer’s Disease,” aims to refine and pilot test a smart home-based social assistive robot to assist with caring for Individuals with Alzheimer’s Disease (IAD) in their home.
“As numbers of IAD are increasing and there has been little traction with pharmacological treatments of the disease, we must continue to look for ways reduce caregiver burden and support IAD aging in place as long as possible,” explained Dr. Fritz.
The five-year investigation, which is led by UNH’s Dr. Sajay Arthanat, involves an initial stage of qualitative data collection from caregivers and IAD. Those data will be used by the engineering team to refine the device prior to real-world testing. In her role, Dr. Fritz will assist with qualitative data analysis and serve as the expert in randomized control trial (RCT) design.
“This is a great example of team science,” she added. “I don’t have the expertise in robotics, and the others don’t have expertise in RCT design. They make sure the devices work and I make sure we have a robust design and protocol for real-world testing.”
“Being involved with such prestigious awards, projects, and teams means that PNWU becomes better connected to, and known by, the broader scientific community, and more recognized as a university that contributes to the generation of scientific knowledge,” explained Dr. Cutchin, reflecting on the two NIH awards. “That is the basis of future translational work that will benefit underserved and marginalized populations.”