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1.    Why is this topic important?

With support from NIH, we had been conducting longitudinal research on behavioral phenotypes for obesity in adolescent girls, and preliminary studies suggested that these phenotypes might be linked to adverse metabolic outcomes, particularly metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes.

2. How did you bring your team together?

As is sometimes the case in science, serendipity played a role. Dr. Mary Jane DeSouza joined the Department of Kinesiology faculty and moved into the office next door. Her research on exercise physiology focuses the effects of physical activity and energy restriction on endocrine function in young women. The project resulted as we began to get acquainted during hallway discussions and over morning coffee. Her colleague, Dr. Nancy Williams, has also been involved in this project. Dr. Ian Paul has been a wonderful collaborator in previous research on risk factors for childhood obesity.

3. How does taking a multi-disciplinary approach improve the value of this research?

Because this research focuses specifically on links between behavior and biology, a multidisciplinary approach is essential to our success.

4. What part does Penn State’s CTSI program play in the research’s success?

The CTSI program provides critical support to our research.

5. How might your research benefit the public?

Our findings can contribute to our understanding of behavioral risk factors for adverse metabolic outcomes. Establishing links between behavior and biology has implications for the development of behavioral interventions that can affect metabolic outcomes.

6. How does an emphasis on Translational Research improve the quality of funded research?

It forces us to consider multiple perspectives and other levels of analysis in design, implementation, interpretation, and dissemination of our findings.

1.    Why is this topic important?

People with diabetes need a better way to learn how to care for themselves and the Internet has an incredible ability to reach people all over.  We had already developed an award-winning educational tool and we were looking to see if we could harness the power of the Internet to provide information to people with diabetes and help them connect with others in a supportive manner.

2. How did you bring your team together?

Penn State has great strength in the areas of information technology, communications and education and we brought these diverse expertises together with content expertise in the medical care of individuals with diabetes.

3. How does taking a multi-disciplinary approach improve the value of this research?

It is the best way to do things. Everyone has expertise in a different angle and bringing them together shows that the sum is greater than the parts.

4. What part does Penn State’s CTSI program play in the research’s success?

The CTSI is the umbrella organization to foster the kind of collaborative research approach we are interested in.

5. How might your research benefit the public?

Diabetes is the leading cause of blindness, amputations, kidney disease and heart disease.  We know that if people can effectively manage their diabetes they can avoid these terrible health consequences and dramatic health care costs.  The key is better self-management of their disease and that’s where this project comes into play- to foster better self-management and provide the education and support people with diabetes need to recede complications and health care costs.

6. How is your research going so far?

Very well.  We have several prototypes for the web sites and have transferred much of the content of the Playbook to it. Our next step will be to recruit individuals with diabetes to test its effectiveness.

7. How does an emphasis on Translational Research improve the quality of funded research?

It ensures that research has an ultimate focus to help people!  For all of us in the health care field, that is our ultimate goal and what drives us to go to work each day.

Stephen Knabel, PhD        Agricultural Sciences/Food Science, UP
Cynthia Whitener, MD        CoM/Infectious Diseases, Hershey
Edward Dudley, PhD        Agricultural Sciences/Food Science, UP
Bhushan Jayarao, PhD        Agricultural Sciences/Veterinary & Biomedical Sciences, UP
Kathleen Julian, MD        CoM/Infectious Diseases, Hershey
Wallace Green, PhD        CoM/Pathology, Hershey

1.    Why is this topic important?

Dr. Whitener and I selected this topic because methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections are increasingly a major cause of illness and death in the U.S.  Dr. Whitener has extensive clinical experience with this pathogen and I have extensive experience with subtyping bacterial pathogens.  Dr. Whitener and I got talking and decided to team up to address how we might develop novel molecular subtyping methods that can then be used to track and control dangerous strains of MRSA in hospitals and communities in Pennsylvania.

2.    How did you bring your team together?

Dr. Whitener identified clinicians and scientists with interest and expertise in MRSA at Hershey Medical Center and I identified scientists at University Park with interest and expertise in molecular subtyping of bacterial pathogens.

3.    How does taking a multi-disciplinary approach improve the value of this research?

Science today is very specialized and basic and often does not directly translate to practical benefits for the public.  Clinicians, on the other hand, are often so busy they have little extra time to spend on doing science.  By combining the interests and expertise of clinicians from Hershey with those of scientists from University Park, we hope to be able to develop state-of-the-art molecular subtyping methods which we will then use to track and control the spread of MRSA in Pennsylvania hospitals and communities.  Hopefully this multidisciplinary approach will help us directly translate advances in basic science into public health.  If we are successful, we would like to pursue federal funding to translate this research to the national and international level.

4.    What part does Penn State’s CTSI program play in the research’s success?

Getting that first grant is often the most difficult, but important step in developing a research project that can enhance public health.  The CTSA we received will help us initiate this critical research project and will allow us to generate preliminary data needed to pursue larger external grant funds.

5.    How might your research benefit the public?

Antibiotic resistant bacteria are a large and increasing problem in the U.S. and throughout the world.  As more and more germs become resistant to more and more antibiotics, control rests more and more on preventing the transmission of the most dangerous strains to people in the first place.  Unfortunately, we cannot see germs or easily tell which ones are the most dangerous.  To address this problem we propose to take advantage of recent developments in genomics and molecular epidemiology that allow us to “see” these dangerous strains of MRSA and clarify their routes of transmission.  This will then allow us to develop novel interventions to prevent their transmission and thereby enhance public health.

6.    How is your research going so far?

We have made excellent progress in developing a rapid method called multiplex PCR or MP-PCR for screening for the dangerous MRSA strains and in developing a method that can identify differences in DNA sequence in specific genes between strains (called multilocus sequence typing or MLST).  Once we have optimized these two methods we will used them to track dangerous strains of MRSA in Pennsylvania hospitals and communities.

7.    How does an emphasis on Translational Research improve the quality of funded research?

In my view science is a ping-pong game that goes back and forth between basic and applied, such that one side continually improves the performance of the other.  By funding translational research we are ensuring that this ping-pong game keeps going, and that science advances while the public benefits.

Robert Gabbay, MD, PhD    CoM/Medicine, Hershey
Heather Stuckey, DEd        Behavioral Sciences & Education/Adult Education, Harrisburg
Brian Smith, PhD        Information Sciences & Technology/IST, UP
S Shyam Sundar, PhD        Communications/Film-Video & Media Studies, UP
David Mauger, PhD        CoM/Public Health Science, Hershey

1.    Why is this topic important?

People with diabetes need a better way to learn how to care for themselves and the Internet has an incredible ability to reach people all over.  We had already developed an award-winning educational tool and we were looking to see if we could harness the power of the Internet to provide information to people with diabetes and help them connect with others in a supportive manner.
2. How did you bring your team together?

Penn State has great strength in the areas of information technology, communications and education and we brought these diverse expertises together with content expertise in the medical care of individuals with diabetes.
3. How does taking a multi-disciplinary approach improve the value of this research?

It is the best way to do things. Everyone has expertise in a different angle and bringing them together shows that the sum is greater than the parts.
4. What part does Penn State’s CTSI program play in the research’s success?

The CTSI is the umbrella organization to foster the kind of collaborative research approach we are interested in.
5. How might your research benefit the public?

Diabetes is the leading cause of blindness, amputations, kidney disease and heart disease.  We know that if people can effectively manage their diabetes they can avoid these terrible health consequences and dramatic health care costs.  The key is better self-management of their disease and that’s where this project comes into play- to foster better self-management and provide the education and support people with diabetes need to recede complications and health care costs.
6. How is your research going so far?

Very well.  We have several prototypes for the web sites and have transferred much of the content of the Playbook to it. Our next step will be to recruit individuals with diabetes to test its effectiveness.
7. How does an emphasis on Translational Research improve the quality of funded research?

It ensures that research has an ultimate focus to help people!  For all of us in the health care field, that is our ultimate goal and what drives us to go to work each day.

2008 Pilot Project Awardees

2009 Pilot Project Awardees