Research

Overview

The research conducted by Center members is focused on understanding, addressing and remedying the challenges faced by patients with serious illness and their families; the overarching goal for this work is to ensure the delivery of quality palliative care to patients with serious illness.

This is unpublished

Current and recent grants

Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias

Decision-Making Regarding Mechanical Ventilation in Adults with Dementia

Principal Investigator: Lauren Pollack, MD, MS

Funder and Mechanism: Alzheimer's Association Clinician Scientist Fellowship

Understanding Barriers to Goal-Concordant Care for Older Adults with Serious Illness in the Pre-Hospital Setting during Emergency Response Call-Outs: A Multi-Site Qualitative Study

Principal Investigators: Lauren Pollack, MD, MS and Elizabeth Dzeng, PhD, MD, MPH

Funder and Mechanism: NIH/Research Centers Collaborative Network of the National Institute on Aging

Equity in Palliative Care 

Racial Inequities in End-of-Life Healthcare: How Perceived Discrimination Affects Communication and Decision-Making During Serious Illness

Principal Investigator: Crystal Brown, MD, MA 

Funder and Mechanism: NIH/National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities K23

Restorative Processes for Medical Racism: Fostering Accountability and Relational Repair

Principal Investigator: Crystal Brown, MD, MA

Funder and Mechanism: The Greenwall Foundation Making a Difference Grant

Understanding and Improving Inequities in Palliative Care for Older Adults with Advanced Dementia and Limited-English Proficiency: A Mixed-Methods Evaluation 

Principal Investigator: Rashmi K. Sharma, MD, MHS 

Funder and Mechanism: NIH/National Institute on Aging R01

Care Inequities in Advanced Cancer and Limited English Proficiency

Principal Investigator: Rashmi K. Sharma, MD, MHS

Funder and Mechanism: American Cancer Society Research Scholar Grant

Financial Hardship after Critical Illness

Improving Patient- and Family-Centered Outcomes and Value of Care for Patients with Chronic Illness who Develop Acute Respiratory Failure

Principal Investigator: Nita Khandelwal, MD, MS

Funder and Mechanism: NIH/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute K23

Financial Hardship among Patients with Acute Respiratory Failure and their Family Member Caregivers: Understanding the Impact on Patient- and Family-Centered Outcomes

Principal Investigator: Nita Khandelwal, MD, MS

Funder and Mechanism: NIH/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute R01

Heart Failure and Congenital Heart Disease

Implementation and Sustainment of Team-Based Practice Transformation to Improve Heart Failure Care and Outcomes

Principal Investigator: Erin Blakeney, PhD, RN

Funder and Mechanism: NIH/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute K23

Assessing and Promoting Resilience in Adults with Congenital Heart Disease

Principal Investigator: Jill Steiner, MD, MS 

Funder and Mechanism:  NIH/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute K23

ICU Communication and Outcomes 

Unplanned ICU Admissions: Understanding Mechanisms and Identifying Associations with Patient- and Family-Centered Outcomes

Principal Investigator: Ann Jennerich, MD, MS

Funder and Mechanism: NIH/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute R01

Improving Goals-of-Care Discussion for Patients with Chronic Life-Limiting Illness and Acute Respiratory Failure

Principal Investigator: Robert Y. Lee, MD, MS

Funder and Mechanism: NIH/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute K23

Neuropalliative Care 

Longitudinal Transdisciplinary Neuropalliative Care Support for Patients with Severe Stroke and their Families

Principal Investigator: Claire Creutzfeldt, MD

Funder and Mechanism: NIH/National Institute on Aging R56

Comprehensive Outcome Assessment after Severe Acute Brain Injury: Advanced Symptoms and End-of-Life Care

Principal Investigators: Claire Creutzfeldt, MD and Darin Zahuranec, MD, MS

Funder and Mechanism: NIH/National Institute of Nursing Research R01

Randomized Trials of Communication Interventions 

Evaluating Effectiveness of a Communication Facilitator to Reduce Distress and Improve Goal Concordant Care for Critically Ill Patients and Their Families: A Randomized Trial

Principal Investigators: J. Randall Curtis, MD, MPH, Ruth A. Engelberg, PhD, and Claire Creutzfeldt, MD

Funder and Mechanism: NIH/National Institute of Nursing Research R01

Using the Electronic Health Record to Identify and Promote Goals-of-Care Communication for Older Patients with Serious Illness

Principal Investigators: J. Randall Curtis, MD, MPH, Ruth A. Engelberg, PhD, and Erin Kross, MD

Funder and Mechanism: NIH/National Institute on Aging R01

Hybrid Efficacy-Effectiveness Trial to Promote Goals-of-Care Discussions for Patients with Patients with Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias and their Family Caregivers

Principal Investigator: Erin Kross, MD

Funder and Mechanism: NIH/National Institute on Aging R01

Specialty Palliative Care Utilization

Palliative Care Utilization and Needs Assessment for Patients on Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation and their Families

Principal Investigator: Whitney Kiker, MD, MS (Mentors: Erin Kross, MD and Claire Creutzfeldt, MD)

Funder and Mechanism: NIH/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute F32

Temporal Trends in Quality Indicators of Palliative Care for Patients with Chronic Illness Hospitalized with Acute Respiratory Failure

Principal Investigator: Jamie Nomitch, MD, MSCI (Mentor: Ann Jennerich, MD, MS)

Funder and Mechanism: NIH/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute F32

RECENT Publication SPOTLIGHT

Rashmi Sharma, associate professor (General Internal Medicine) is co-author of “A Comparison of Palliative Care Delivery between Ethnically Chinese and Non-Chinese Canadians in the Last Year of Life” in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.

Gwen Bernacki (Department of Medicine) is first author and Catherine Butler (Division of Nephrology) is senior author of "Lived Experiences of Patients Hospitalized with Acute Decompensated Heart Failure and Kidney Dysfunction" in JAMA Network Open. Co-authors include Ann O'Hare, Mahlet Assefa, Kevin O'Brien, David Prince, James Kirkpatrick, and Nisha Bansal.
Lived Experiences of Patients Hospitalized With Acute Decompensated Heart Failure and Kidney Dysfunction - PubMed

Jennifer Im is lead author of "Perspectives on Implementing a Communication Facilitator Intervention from a Critical Care Setting" in the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management. Co-authors include Erin Abu-Rish Blakeney, Danae Dotolo, Anna Ungar, Rebecca Barton, Bryan Weiner, Kathryn Pollack, Elizabeth Nielsen, Lisa Hudson, Nancy Kentish-Barnes, Claire Creutzfeldt, Ruth Engelberg, and J. Randall Curtis.
Perspectives on Implementing a Communication Facilitator Intervention From a Critical Care Setting - PubMed

Darrell Owens was the lead author and Cathleen Daly a co-author on a recent publication titled, Understanding Disenfranchised Grief in a Post– COVID-19 World—A Pilot Study of Advanced Practice Registered Nurses in Palliative Care. Link is here: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39774044/

Link here to see more publications from our researchers.