Research Initiatives

Current/Recent Grants

The Department of Family Medicine and Community Health has been awarded a number of grants from local, state, and national foundations and funding agencies. Many of these grants focus on clinical or community-based research, though several are in the fields of training and medical education. Listed below (alphabetically by title) are many of the current (and recent) grants awarded to departmental faculty in research, training, and education.

Research: 

A Better Birth Experience: A Pilot Program Expanding Access to Trained Labor Support (Remillard Family Community Service Fund) – Kristina Gracey, MD, MPH

Advancing Employee Communication Skills, Management of High-risk Clinical Scenarios, and Prevention of Workplace Violence (Carl Atkins Risk Management Program) – Kristina Gracey, MD et al (Barre Family Health Center)

Sexually Exploited Women in Worcester (UMMS Remillard Community Service Fund award) – Jennifer Bradford, MD, MPH

Assessing the Collaborative Care Environment in Primary Care (University of Vermont/NIH) – Dan Mullin, PsyD, MPH

Care Coordination for Patients who are Opioid Dependent (MA Department of Public Health) – Dan Mullin, PsyD, MPH

Closing the Loop in Child Tuberculosis Contact Management: Predictors and Completion of Therapy Outcomes in Western Kenya (UMMS Global Health funding) – Daria Szkwarko, DO, MPH

Controlling and Stopping Cascades Leading to Adverse Drug Effects Study in Alzheimer's Disease (CASCADES-AD) (NIH / NIA) – Jerry Gurwitz, MD and Sonal Singh, MD, MPH

Feasibility of Providing Acupuncture in the Emergency Room Settings for the Management of Acute Pain (BraveNet practice-based research network) (NIH / NCCIH) – M. Diane McKee, MD, MS

Framework to Evaluation Diagnostic Algorithms for Major Adverse Cardiovascular Events (Reagan-Udall Foundation – FDA) - Sonal Singh, MD, MPH 

From the First Tooth (Dentaquest) – Hugh Silk, MD, MPH

GEMINI: Virtual Integrative Medicine Group Visits (IMGV) for Managing Depression and Chronic Pain (NCCIH) – Paula Gardiner, MD, MPH

Group-Based Mindfulness for Patients with Chronic Pain in the Primary Care Setting (NINDS) – Paula Gardiner, MD, MPH

Health Care Outcomes Among High-Risk MassHealth Members with Behavioral Health Conditions: Behavioral Health Service Utilization, Costs, Health Care Disparities, and Risk Factor Analyses: A Mixed Methods Study (MassHealth funded) –Judy Savageau, MPH

Implementation Science – Advancing Evidence-based Practices for Prison Inmates (AHRQ and NIDA) – Warren Ferguson, MD

Integrating Behavioral Health and Primary Care for Co-Morbid Behavioral and Medical Problems (PCORI/Univ of VT) – Dan Mullin, PsyD, MPH

Smiles for Life (Dentaquest) – Hugh Silk, MD, MPH

The Center for Advancing Point of Care Technologies in Heart, Lung, Blood, and Sleep Diseases (NHLBI) – Paula Gardiner, MD, MPH

Worcester, A Baby Box City: Interdisciplinary Lessons in Community Engagement (Remillard Community Service Award) – Tasmina Hydery, Pharm D, Sara Shields, MD, MS and Cathy Violette

Worcester Healthy Babies Collaborative (March of Dimes) – Heather Lyn Halley, PhD

Education:

Building Capacity to Ensure Community Immunity: Supporting the Worcester Public Schools Flu Clinics (Remillard Foundation) – Heather-Lyn Haley, PhD

Dissemination and Implementation of Evidenced-based Treatments for Substance Abuse Disorders and HIV for Justice-involved Populations (NIDA – conference grant) – Warren Ferguson, MD

Equity in Academic Support – Tracy Kedian, MD

Training:

Center for Evaluating Integration of Oral Health into Primary Care Training (Harvard Medical School / HRSA) – Hugh Silk, MD, MPH

DATA Waiver Training for Massachusetts Students (SAMSHA) – Dan Mullin, PysD, MPH

Integrating Behavioral Health and Primary Care for Comorbid Behavior and Medical Problems (Univ of VT/PCORI) – Dan Mullin, PsyD, MPH

MassAHEC – Massachusetts Area Health Education Center (HRSA) – Linda Cragin, MS

New England AIDS Education and Training Center (NEAETC) (HRSA/HAB) – Phil Bolduc, MD

Opioid Use Disorders (Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation) – Dan Mullin, PsyD, MPH

The Rural Health Scholars Program (UMMS - Public Service Endowment Grant) – Suzanne Cashman, ScD and Steve Martin, MD