Group Health Research Institute awarded $15 million in federal stimulus funds

Group Health Research Institute will receive more than $15 million in federal stimulus funds for research, the Institute announced today.

The grants will be a big boost in funding for the Institute, formerly known as the Group Health Center for Health Studies, which last year had grant revenue totaling $34 million.

Most of the projects receiving the awards focus on what is called “comparative effectiveness research”, research that compares different medical treatments, diagnostic tests and other interventions to see which are best.

The funds come from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, also known as the federal economic stimulus package, and are awarded by the National Institutes of Health.

The grants will support 17 different projects over two years. Many of the projects will be conducted in collaboration with researchers from other institutions, including the University of Washington and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

The Group Health researchers who will be leading projects in which Group Health is the primary grant recipient are:

• Diana Miglioretti, PhD, senior investigator, and Diana S.M. Buist, PhD, MPH, associate investigator: which conventional and cutting-edge breast cancer imaging techniques are most effective given individual demographics and risk factors ($4 million)
• Diana S.M. Buist, PhD, MPH, associate investigator: improving screening for colorectal and cervical cancer—and participation in these screenings ($4 million)
• Diana Miglioretti, PhD, senior investigator: forming a large new national multidisciplinary scientific collaboration to evaluate digital vs. film-screen mammography ($491,000)
• Beverly B. Green, MD, MPH, affiliate investigator: using electronic medical records and Web-based care to help overweight or obese patients who have uncontrolled blood pressure and are at risk for cardiovascular disease ($1 million); ways to improve rates of colorectal cancer screening ($466,000)
• Greg Simon, MD, MPH, senior investigator; effective treatment for depression care ($1 million)
• David Carrell, PhD, analyst/programmer: using “natural language processing” software to mine research-quality data from clinical text ($992,000)
• Carolyn M. Rutter, PhD, senior investigator: effects of screening and polypectomy on colorectal cancer commonness and death rates ($223,000)
• Jennifer McClure, PhD, associate investigator: outcomes of a program to promote the oral health of people quitting smoking ($448,000)
• Denise Boudreau, PhD, assistant investigator: how many women use and how many quit using the drug tamoxifen and aromatase inhibitor drugs for breast cancer ($320,000)
• Margaret T. Mandelson, PhD, associate investigator: environmental and genetic factors that may cause cancer of the pancreas ($95,000)

The Group Health researchers working on projects led by other institutions are:

• Diana S.M. Buist, PhD, MPH, associate investigator: effectiveness of cancer screening (mammography and MRI to ultrasound, PET-CT, and blood- or tissue-based biomarkers) to determine extent of disease and plan treatment ($641,000)
• Ed Wagner, MD, MPH, senior investigator, and Paul Fishman, PhD, associate investigator: effectiveness and costs of treating advanced cancer; patterns and outcomes of cancer care in populations not covered by Medicare ($320,000)
• Karen J. Sherman, PhD, MPH, senior investigator: how alternative treatment for muscle and bone problems affects health care quality, use, and costs ($623,000)
• Katherine M. Newton, PhD, senior investigator: risk factors for atrial fibrillation, the common irregular heartbeat ($246,000); establishing the nation’s largest surveillance system for cardiovascular disease among approximately 11 million members of health plans nationwide ($353,000)
• Erin J. Aiello Bowles, MPH, research associate: measures of breast cancer surgical quality ($149,000)

To learn more:

• Visit the Web pages of the researchers listed above.
• Visit home page of the Group Health Research Institute.

Tags: Comparative Effectiveness Research, Group Health

Category: Provider News, Seattle Science