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 Discussions 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 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.