The University of Central Arkansas has been approved for a funding award by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) in the amount of $49,940.
Dr. Lisa VanHoose, assistant professor in the Department of Physical Therapy, will serve as project lead.
The funds will be used to build a partnership of individuals and groups who share a desire to advance patient-centered outcomes research focused on cancer distress screening and care of individuals identified as having distress related to cancer diagnosis or treatment.
“Crucial conversations about the early identification of cancer distress and improving care are needed. Research suggests that psychosocial distress can negatively influence health and cancer outcomes. My research collaborators–Kimberly Doty, principal consultant, Datatistics, LLC, and Dr. Rhonda Johnson, clinical psychologist and researcher–and I are eager to work with our partners in Arkansas,” VanHoose said. “We will host one-day workshops in Conway, Fayetteville and Pine Bluff in partnership with the American Cancer Society South Region, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and other key stakeholders.”
The award is provided through PCORI’s Pipeline to Proposal Awards program to Pipeline to Proposal Awards enable individuals and groups that are not typically involved in clinical research to develop the means to develop community-led funding proposals focused on patient-centered comparative effectiveness research (CER). Established by the non-profit PCORI, the program funds help individuals or groups build community partnerships, develop research capacity, and hone a comparative effectiveness research question that could become the basis of a research funding proposal to submit to PCORI or other health research funders.
“The Pipeline to Proposal Awards program is a manifestation of PCORI’s commitment to the meaningful involvement of patients, caregivers, clinicians, and other stakeholders in all our research endeavors,” said Jean Slutsky, PCORI’s chief engagement and dissemination officer. “It provides support to those who may not otherwise have an opportunity to contribute to the field of comparative effectiveness research. We’re pleased to follow the awardees’ progress as they develop partnerships and begin to form research questions.”
PCORI is an independent, non-profit organization authorized by Congress in 2010 to fund comparative effectiveness research that will provide patients, their caregivers, and clinicians with the evidence needed to make better-informed health and healthcare decisions. PCORI is committed to seeking input from a broad range of stakeholders to guide its work.
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