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$5M in federal research grants awarded by Mary Helen Yarborough Public Relations MUSC received commitments for $5 million in medical research grants that will fund studies on pharmaceutical safety and labeling, drug abuse, mental health, injury prevention, heart disease, and neurological disorders.   A $778,000 grant from the National Institute of Justice, under the U.S. Department of Justice, was awarded to MUSC to fund a study of elder abuse and neglect. Dillard Marshall, director of Research and Special Programs is leading the study.   The other grants, announced by Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-SC), were awarded by U.S. Health and Human Services’ National Institutes of Health.   Most of the grants are for ongoing research and are funded one year at a time.   Among key research funded included four projects that focus on alcohol, drug addiction and abuse through programs within the Institute of Psychiatry.   One study, led by Kathleen Brady, M.D., focuses on factors of sex and gender on the health of women who abuse or are addicted to drugs. This funding of $886,445 for this study represents a renewal of the five-year project conducted through MUSC’s Specialized Center of Research on Women’s Health.   A $322,568 grant will fund ongoing research and development of drug abuse and addiction training led by Jacqueline McGinty, Ph.D. Another  $306,536 study, led by Matthew Carpenter, Ph.D., seeks to identify novel therapies to boost the quit and cessation rate in unmotivated smokers.   Suzanne Thomas, Ph.D., was awarded $199,621 to study how stress and subsequent drinking differs in individuals with different drinking motives.   Three more grants: $365,000, $362,879, and $328,500; were awarded for vascular and heart disease research being conducted by Christopher Drake, Ph.D., Francis Spinale, M.D., Ph.D.; and Gary Wright, Ph.D.   Elisabeth Pickelsimer, D.A., is leading an investigation of traumatic brain injury in prisons across South Carolina through a $500,000 grant.   Other awards include: $255,500 grant for neurological disorder research; $49,677 for mental health research that deals with the psychology and trauma and resilience over a person’s lifespan $285,546 to study the effect of Food and Drug Administration warnings, such as the so-called black box labels, in pharmaceutical use. Study to identify practitioner drug errors, cut morbidity A study on medication safety and morbidity associated with errors made by primary care practitioners, led by Steve Ornstein, M.D., is slated to receive about $1.2 million by 2010. Its first grant was awarded in September.   The study, Medication Safety in Primary Care Practice —Translating Research into Practice (TRIP), will be conducted through the Practice Partner Research Network (PPRNet), an MUSC-operated practice-based research network among primary health care providers practicing in 38 states that use a common electronic medical record (EMR).   “Medication errors in primary care practice are an important cause of morbidity, but the extent of these errors in the outpatient setting is largely unknown, and effective interventions for reducing these errors need to be developed and tested. PPRNet is an ideal real world laboratory of primary care practices across the United States who are interested in quality improvement,” said Andrea Wessell, PharmD, a co-investigator.   Focusing on 20 PPRNet practices, the project is intended to develop a set of medication safety measures for primary care, incorporate these measures in practice performance reports sent to participating practices, and assess the impact of PPRNet-TRIP on the incidence of these errors.   A two-year intervention will include the performance reports, network meetings and practice site visits; to help practices systematize their use of the medication safety clinical decision support features in their EMR system. Support features include warnings for drug allergies, drug-drug interactions, drug-disease interactions, incorrect dosages, and drug ineffective-ness; and prompts for therapeutic monitoring to prevent adverse drug events.   Results of the study will be published and the findings will be disseminated to other PPRNet practices.   In addition to Wessell, the co-investigators are Paul Nietert, Ph.D.; Lynne Nemeth, RN, Ph.D.; Heather Liszka, M.D.; and Ruth Jenkins, Ph.D.     Friday, Oct. 19, 2007 Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Island Publications at 849-1778, ext. 201.