UF College of Nursing receives grant for new Biobehavioral Research Center
The University of Florida College of Nursing has received $670,000 from the National Institute of Nursing Research to create an interdisciplinary Biobehavioral Research Center.
The center will initiate four new federally funded pilot studies focused on asthma education, autism and diet, exercise and bone density, and herbal remedies and osteoarthritis.
UF is one of seven to nine U.S. colleges expected to receive the three-year NINR Nursing Research Exploratory Center Grant this year. In addition to UF, schools receiving such grants to date are the University of Arizona, Emory University, Montana State University and Columbia University Health Science Center.
“The BRC will oversee pilot research studies with both biological and behaviorial outcomes,” said Carolyn Yucha, R.N., Ph.D., associate dean for research at the UF College of Nursing. “The infrastructure of the new center will allow us to further develop the research program within the College of Nursing and help our investigators collect sufficient data to pursue specific areas of inquiry through other funding mechanisms in the future.”
Nurse researchers will collaborate with co-investigators in biostatistics, exercise physiology, health education, medicine, nutrition, pharmacy, physical therapy, psychiatry and radiology, said Yucha. The center’s initial projects will include the following:
·While asthma education programs encourage patients to use medication to prevent an asthma attack, research has shown that more than half fail to use their preventive medicines or use them incorrectly. Susan Schaffer, A.R.N.P., Ph.D., an assistant professor of nursing, will compare the effectiveness of a recently developed asthma education audiotape and an asthma education brochure.
Researchers will monitor 40 patients randomly assigned to listen to the tape or read the brochure to see how well their asthma is controlled and whether they correctly use prescribed medication as directed.
·Animal research at UF has indicated there may be a link between autism and a diet that includes wheat, which contains gluten, or milk, which contains the protein casein. Many parents of children with autism have used a wheat-free and milk-free diet after hearing claims the restricted eating plan cured autism. However, human trials using standard ways of assessing autism must be conducted to determine whether those claims are valid. Jennifer Elder, R.N., Ph.D., an associate professor in nursing, will conduct a randomized, double-blind, inpatient study to compare a gluten- and casein-free diet with a placebo diet in 12 children with autism. Study participants’ behavior and ability to communicate will be closely monitored. Urine samples also will be obtained to measure the level of peptides. Parental behaviors will be monitored to evaluate their influence on the children’s behavior.
·James Jessup, R.N., Ph.D., an associate professor of nursing, will test whether exercise can prevent bone loss and improve balance in older women. Twenty participants, ages 60 to 75, will be randomly assigned to either maintain a sedentary lifestyle or pursue a specific exercise regimen three times a week for eight months. The women’s strength and balance will be measured at the beginning and end of the study. Statistical analyses of bone density scans will be done to compare any changes in density.
·Few scientific studies have been conducted to validate claims that popular herbal remedies improve joint structure, range of motion, balance and strength in patients with osteoarthritis, or reduce the pain and distress associated with the disease. Saun-Joo Yoon, R.N., Ph.D., an assistant professor of nursing, will examine the effects of the herbal combination of glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate in a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind study. Patients over the age of 50 will receive a placebo or the herbal combination to determine whether the dietary supplement has measurable effects on the pain, function or joint structure associated with osteoarthritis in the knee.
Members of the new Biobehavioral Research Center advisory committee are Paul L. Doering, M.S., UF College of Pharmacy, Vital Drug Information Office; Jeff W. Dwyer, Ph.D., UF Institute on Aging; Joanne S. Harrell, Ph.D., R.N., a UF nursing alumna and nursing professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Marc Heft, Ph.D., D.M.D., UF College of Dentistry, department of oral surgery; Peter J. Lang, Ph.D., UF College of Health Professions, department of clinical psychology; Marian C. Limacher, M.D., and David S. Sheps, M.D., College of Medicine, department of medicine; Dean Kathleen A. Long, R.N., Ph.D., UF College of Nursing; Scott K. Powers, Ph.D., Ed.D., UF College of Health and Human Performance, department of exercise physiology; Maude Rittman, R.N., Ph.D., North Florida/South Georgia Veterans Health System; and Charles E. Wood, Ph.D., UF College of Medicine, department of physiology.