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Spotlight on: Using Sociology to Outsmart Superbugs

Work by Julia Szymczak, PhD, a medical sociologist, to study the social and cultural challenges involved in antimicrobial stewardship was one of the CHOP Research Institute’s top 12 news stories of 2016. Stewardship programs in hospitals and healthcare facilities across the country aim to optimize the use of antibiotics by changing prescriber behavior, in order to combat the threat of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and other microbes. 

“The kind of approach that I take in my work is trying to uncover social norms and perceptions,” Dr. Szymczak said in a May 2016 Cornerstone post. “You can’t just create a guideline or a best practice and plunk it into a healthcare setting. That never works. You can even educate people and that alone doesn’t work, because it’s not just a knowledge deficit. The kinds of influences at play are more complex and largely social in nature.”

Dr. Szymczak is Assistant Professor of Epidemiology and Medicine (Infectious Diseases) and a Senior Scholar in the Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of Pennsylvania, and a core faculty member of the CPCE. 

Read the full story about Dr. Szymczak’s work here, and the top 12 stories of 2016 here.
Upcoming Events

R01 Grant Writing Seminar
Date: February 3, 2017
Time: 8:00 am to 3:00 pm
Location: 1100A, Colket Translational Research Building
Dr. John Robertson from Grant Writers' Seminars and Workshops, LLC, will present a grant writing seminar, hosted by the CHOP Office of Faculty Development. Tuition is covered by the Research Institute. Workbooks will be available for purchase ($75) on day of seminar. Register online.

CHOP Research Poster Day and Expo
Date: February 22, 2017
Time: 9:00 am to 5:00 pm
Location: Lobby and first floor of the Colket Translational Research Building
2017 marks the 27th anniversary of CHOP Research Poster Day, an annual celebration of groundbreaking research happening through out Children's Hospital. Abstract submission is due January 13, 2017. 

PCORI Online Training
Thursday, January 12, 1:00 – 2:30 pm
Wednesday, January 18, 10:00 – 11:30 am
Tuesday, January 24, 1:00 – 2:30 pm
PCORI is launching a new version of PCORI Online to enhance users’ experience throughout the Letter of Intent (LOI) and application submission process. The new PCORI Online will open to applicants on January 17, the first day that LOIs can be submitted for the Cycle 1 2017 funding Opportunities. All PCORI funding opportunities for Cycle 1 2017 onward will utilize the new PCORI Online. This includes submitting LOIs and applications, as well as responding to PCORI Information Requests. Applicants are invited to participate in one of three training sessions to learn the details of how to use the new platform. Register here.

CPCE in
the News!
Recent Publications

Implications of Poverty for Practices Serving Suburban Families.The adverse effects of poverty on health have been well documented. In response, pediatric clinicians have become increasingly focused on mitigating these effects on children’s health. In March 2016, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) released the first-ever policy statement on poverty, calling for pediatricians to screen and address poverty and related social determinants of health (SDH). This Perspective addresses barriers to and opportunities for pediatricians to better support suburban poor families.

Diagnosis and Medication Treatment of Pediatric Hypertension: A Retrospective Cohort Study.
Pediatric hypertension predisposes children to adult hypertension and early markers of cardiovascular disease. No large-scale studies have examined diagnosis and initial medication management of pediatric hypertension and prehypertension. The objective of this study was to evaluate diagnosis and initial medication management of pediatric hypertension and prehypertension in primary care.

Preschool ADHD Diagnosis and Stimulant Use Before and After the 2011 AAP Practice Guideline.
Release of the 2011 guideline that addressed ADHD in preschoolers was associated with the end of an increasing rate of diagnosis, and the rate of prescribing stimulants remained constant. These are reassuring results given that a standardized approach to diagnosis was recommended and stimulant treatment is not first-line therapy for this age group.

Mental Health Conditions and Medical and Surgical Hospital Utilization.
Mental health conditions are prevalent among children hospitalized for medical conditions and surgical procedures, but little is known about their influence on hospital resource use. The objectives of this study were to examine how hospitalization characteristics vary by presence of a comorbid mental health condition and estimate the association of a comorbid mental health condition with hospital length of stay (LOS) and costs.

Under-ascertainment from healthcare settings of child abuse events among children of soldiers by the U.S. Army Family Advocacy Program.
In cases of maltreatment involving children of U.S. Army service members, the U.S. Army Family Advocacy Program (FAP) is responsible for providing services to families and ensuring child safety. The percentage of cases of maltreatment that are known to FAP, however, is uncertain. Thus, the objective of this retrospective study was to estimate the percentage of U.S. Army dependent children with child maltreatment as diagnosed by a military or civilian medical provider who had a substantiated report with FAP from 2004 to 2007.

Funding Opportunities

The Greenwall Foundation will fund a bioethics grants program, Making a Difference in Real-World Bioethics Dilemmas, to support research to help resolve an important emerging or unanswered bioethics problem in clinical care, biomedical research, public health practice, or public policy. The program's aim is to fund projects that will have a real-world, practical impact. Priority for funding will be given to collaborative projects involving a bioethics scholar and persons working in other fields in which bioethics dilemmas arise, for example, clinical care, scientific research, technology innovation, or public service. Projects may be either empirical, conceptual, or normative.

Emergency Medicine Foundation Grants (due Jan 16, 2017)
The Emergency Medicine Foundation grant application deadline is January 16, 2017 for several grant categories, including Patient-Centered Outcomes, Career Development, Health Policy, and International Emergency Medicine Outcomes and Efficacy. Funding amount varies by grant category.

The mission of the PennCHOP Microbiome Program is to facilitate research across campus focused on understanding the microbiome and altering its composition and activity to improve health. Pilot/Feasibility Grants are designed to bring together microbiome investigators and to stimulate other researchers to enter the field and investigate the influence of the microbiome in their subject areas. Up to eight projects will be funded for one year up to $40,000. Proposals are due by 5 pm January 27, 2017. For eligibility and other details, read the announcement [https://www.med.upenn.edu/penn-chop-microbiome/2017-pilot-announcement.pdf]

St. Baldrick’s Foundation Grants (LOI due Jan 31)
The St. Baldrick’s Foundation (SBF) is a volunteer-powered charity committed to funding the most promising childhood cancer research. For the spring grant cycle, letters of intent are due January 31, 2017 and full applications are due March 31, 2017. SBF accepts applications for several different funding types: Fellows, Scholars (post-fellowship career development award), International Scholars, Research Grants, Supportive Care Research Grants, Consortium Research Grants, and Summer Fellows (for students, one per institution). Information for researchers is available online. [https://www.stbaldricks.org/for-researchers]  

The Caplan Foundation for Early Childhood (LOI due January 31)
The Caplan Foundation for Early Childhood is intended to be an incubator of promising research and development projects that may ultimately enhance the development, health, safety, education or quality of life of children from infancy through seven years of age across the country. Each of its grants is made with the expectation that a successful project outcome will be of significant interest to other investigators or developers, within the grantee’s field of endeavor, and will be amenable to beneficial application or adaptation elsewhere. In essence, the foundation’s goal is to provide seed money for those imaginative endeavors, addressed to the needs of young children, which appear most likely to bear fruit on a national scale.

Society of Family Planning Grants (LOI due January 31)
The Society of Family Planning (SFP) funds several types of grants: community-based participatory research, interdisciplinary innovation, junior investigator, large research, midcareer mentor, small research, and trainee grants. Applicants must be SFP full or junior fellows to be eligible, except for trainee grants. All potential applicants are first required to submit an Intent to Apply form. The information provided will be used to assist in planning for the review process. Please be aware that proposals will not be accepted from applicants who do not submit the form. Grant sizes range from $7,500 for trainee awards up to $250,00 for junior investigator awards.

Community Access to Child Health Program (CATCH) (due Jan 31, 2017)
The CATCH Program is a national program of the American Academy of Pediatrics that increases children's access to medical homes or specific health services supporting pediatricians and communities who are involved in community-based efforts for children. The CATCH program offers a variety of funding opportunities for pediatricians. 

Eugene Washington PCORI Engagement Award program (LOI due February 1) 
The Eugene Washington PCORI Engagement Awards, named in honor of the first chair of PCORI’s Board of Governors, encourage active integration of patients, caregivers, clinicians/providers, industry, payers/purchasers, researchers, and other stakeholders as members of the research process. The institute will award grants of up to $250,000 over two years. Letters of Inquiry (LOI) should be submitted by February 1, 2017. Full proposal submissions are by invitation only, after review and approval of the LOI.

Health Effects Institute Walter A. Rosenblith New Investigator Award (Preliminary Application due February 15)
This award supports creative junior investigators, at Assistant Professor or equivalent level, with outstanding promise who are interested in the health effects of air pollution. This solicitation will fund one or two studies with a funding cap of $450,000 each. All applicants are required to verify their eligibility with HEI before applying. HEI may contact the applicant if there are questions about eligibility and/or the topic of the proposal. The HEI Research Committee will review the Preliminary Applications and invite selected candidates to submit a Full Application by the end of March, 2017. Full applications should be submitted no later than May 15, 2017.

National Institute for Health Care Management (NIHCM) Foundation Research Award (due Feb 15, 2017)
The NIHCM Foundation Health Care Research Award recognizes outstanding published work from researchers furthering innovation in health care financing, delivery and organization or the implementation of health care policy. The 23-year-old award carries a $10,000 prize and is judged by an independent panel of experts.


The  Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation supports projects that broaden and improve health professional education. Macy Scholars are expected to implement new educational innovations at their home institutions and participate in career-development activities. Scholars will receive salary support of up to $100,000 per year for two years; at least 50 percent protected time for two years to pursue educational projects; active mentorship by a senior faculty member at their institution; access to the program's national advisory committee; and opportunities to participate in Macy conferences and other national meetings. Applicants must have been a faculty member for more than five years; be nominated by the dean of their school; and have a faculty mentor who will advise him/her on the educational innovation project and on his/her career development. In addition, all applicants must be a citizen or permanent resident of the United States or its territories.

When Everyone Survives Foundation 2017 RFP in Leukemia Research (due March 1)
This request for proposals is offered by the When Everyone Survives Foundation to solicit innovative research in leukemia. Grants of $50,000 for one year are offered to new and established investigators who are requesting support for laboratory, translational, or clinical research related to acute leukemia.

Thrasher Research Fund Early Career Awards (concept due March 14)
The Fund is open to a variety of research topics important to children's health. Both incidence and severity are considered when determining the significance of a problem being studied. In the Early Career Award Program, the Fund is particularly interested in applicants that show great potential to impact that field of children's health through medical research. Both an applicant's aptitude and inclination toward research are considered. The quality of the mentor and the mentoring relationship are also considered to be important predictors of success. The grant amount is based on the actual budgetary needs of the project, with a maximum of $25,000 in direct costs for the entire grant. The duration of the project can be up to two years.

Organization for Autism Research 2017 Applied Research Competition (pre-proposals due March 27)
The annual program aims to promote innovative research that directly supports the autism community by expanding the body of knowledge related to autism intervention and treatment, producing practical and objective results, and providing outcomes that enhance the quality of life for persons with autism and their families. In 2017, OAR will award grants of up to $30,000. Studies can range from one to two years. Pre-proposals must be received no later than March 27, 2017. Upon review, selected applicants will be invited to submit a full proposal by August 7, 2017.

Grants of up to $20,000 are available to help support the research of faculty members or post-doctoral researchers affiliated with non-profit human service organizations in the United States and Canada. Areas of interest to the Fund are: studies to develop, refine, evaluate, or disseminate innovative interventions designed to prevent or ameliorate major social, psychological, behavioral or public health problems affecting children, adults, couples, families, or communities, or studies that have the potential for adding significantly to knowledge about such problems.

Children's Leukemia Research Association (due June 30, 2017)
CLRA was founded in 1965 to support research efforts aimed at finding the causes of and a cure for leukemia. To that end, CLRA is seeking applications from investigators for promising research on childhood leukemia. Grants of up to $30,000 will be awarded for the most promising projects with the shared goal of isolating the causes of and finding a cure for childhood leukemia. Any doctor at the Ph.D. or M.D. level involved in research on the causes of and a cure for leukemia may apply.

OnPAR Program for Unfunded NIH Proposals
Last year, the NIH received approximately $30 billion in federal support. In spite of this amount, about 42,500 grants were not funded. To address these unfunded proposals, the NIH has a new Pilot Program that is designed to match researchers with nonprofit disease Foundations or with investments from private companies. Through a new collaboration between the NIH and the private contractor Leidos, researchers can now upload their unfunded NIH Proposals into an online portal at the Online Partnership to Accelerate Research (OnPAR). Foundations and other potential funders can review the NIH scores, and decide whether they might be interested in funding the Projects. Currently, this Pilot Program allows researchers with priority scores better than the 30th percentile to submit their abstracts. Interested Foundations might ask that a researcher send their full NIH Application along with its scores. The consensus opinion is that there are a lot of worthy grants being submitted to the NIH, but there is only so much funding available. OnPAR is one way of trying to match researchers with private Foundations. 
About CPCE
We are a pediatric research center dedicated to discovering and sharing knowledge about best practices in pediatric care by facilitating, organizing and centralizing the performance of clinical effectiveness research -- research aimed at understanding the best ways to prevent, diagnose and treat diseases in children. CPCE’s multidisciplinary team conducts research on a diverse range of clinical effectiveness topics grouped within four areas of research: