Department News

DFPM-RED faculty member Taren Swindle, Ph.D. leads a major new effort to reduce cancer by addressing eating habits in early childcare and education settings.

The project, led by UAMS’ Taren Swindle, Ph.D., will reach about 5,000 children and 500 teachers across Arkansas and Louisiana. It is supported by a five-year, $3.1 million grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The NCI upgraded the grant to an R37 MERIT Award, giving Swindle the option to extend the project another two years.

Read the full article here.

DFPM-RED Assistant Director Nikki Edge, Ph.D., discussed the mental health consequences of COVID among young children with local ABC affiliate KATV-7.

“We had no idea we would be, 18 months later, still talking about potential disruptions to school life and to the other kids’ normal everyday life”

“If you’re seeing changes in mood and behavior, if there’s changes starting to impact their ability to succeed in school and their other activities, then it’s time to think about talking to a professional”

Nikki Edge, Ph.D

Read the full article and watch the video on the KATV site.

A recent article in The 19th discusses the links between mental health support and the lowering of expulsion rates in schools. The article features the work of DFPM-RED’s Project PLAY and highlights the great work of DFPM-RED team member Elizabeth Waldrum.

Read the full article.

Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield’s Blue & You Foundation has awarded a $1.2 million grant to UAMS Arkansas Trauma Resource Initiative for Schools (TRIS), a program in cooperation with the Arkansas Department of Education and multiple statewide partners designed to build trauma-informed schools in which all staff, students, families and community members recognize and respond to traumatic stress. TRIS is led by DFPM-RED’s Dr. Nikki Edge.

Read the full story.

During her initial week as a newly promoted faculty member, Isis Martel, M.S., an Instructor in the Research and Evaluation Division (RED) of the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, was awarded a five year, $2 million grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The grant was awarded for a new project known as Parents and Children Together (PACT).

PACT will enhance services for clients through case management and connection to clinical and community resources. This collaborative effort between UAMS, County Drug Courts, Ozark Guidance, Inc., and community agencies will link children to evidence-based treatments to treat past trauma and prevent future trauma. The target population is children of parents who have a substance use disorder (SUD), or co-occurring SUD/mental illness (COD), have experienced trauma, and who are at high risk for trauma continued inter-generational trauma. PACT will enroll participants in Benton, Washington, and Madison Counties in Northwest Arkansas (NWA). PACT will serve 335 children and their families throughout the lifetime of the project. Goals of the project are to: 1) Increase access and engagement of services among the target population; 2) Improve system capacity and infrastructure to provide effective, evidence-based, culturally appropriate trauma services; and 3) Improve child/family outcomes in NWA and reduce health disparities among historically disadvantaged populations. UAMS will facilitate infrastructure development to expand and enhance access to a comprehensive and trauma-informed continuum of care and connection to resources for our population of focus.

Get additional information about this new grant and about PACT.

News about RED

DFPM-RED is happy to share …

• The Northwest Arkansas team is currently in process of moving locations; we will temporarily be in Lowell co-located with ACH – Center for Children and future location(s) is TBD.
• COVID changes for children: Using data from parents in early childcare programs in Arkansas, two internal reports were produced (happy to send if you are interested).  Key findings you might find interesting:
  • COVID (as expected) reduced visits to the library to near zero which makes things very difficult for low-income families.
  • On the positive side, the time someone read to children remained steady except a reduction in the summer of 2020. The number of books in the home also dropped in the summer of 2020, but returned to near normal by the fall of 2020
  • Young children also need the stimulation of activities outside the home. We found sharp drops in children joining in shopping trips (safe decision re: COVID); however, there were reductions in walks and attending athletic events (which for preschoolers are usually outside and safer).

Updates from Faculty  

Dr. Whiteside-Mansell is focusing on funding for grant proposals related to the assessment of adverse childhood experiences in clinical settings. One was internal (123-GO) and was not funded but will be considered in the next round of funding. It was in collaboration with two regional programs.  She has recently submitted an NIH/BIR proposal in collaboration with CAFES on the topic.

Dr. Edge: Nikki and DFPM/PRI team members submitted an application for a SAMHSA grant which would allow for the development and dissemination of trauma-informed care resources in early learning settings nationally, in partnership with Georgetown University and Arkansas State University.  Cross your fingers for good news in the fall!

Dr. Lewis: has submitted a KL2 (UAMS Translational Research Institute: TRI career development award) proposal, with her primary mentor Dr. McKelvey, that will examine the effectiveness of Home Visiting programs delivered via telehealth compared to in-person.

Ms. Martel: Isis and the Northwest Arkansas team are focusing on proposals that will expand current work with vulnerable populations.  They have successfully assisted 3 community organizations to apply for Substance Treatment Funding and RED will be doing the evaluation for each of these projects when awarded.  We have also applied in partnership with ARBEST  for a SAMHSA grant: “Parents and Children Together” (PACT) that aims to reduce adverse childhood experiences of children with parents who have a substance use disorder and/or criminal justice involvement.  Isis has partnered with Melissa Zielinski in Psychiatric Research Institute to submit manuscripts for publication; the first article is under review. 

New Funding   

Isis Martel’s team in NWA RED was awarded a sub-award to continue partnership with Washington County Drug Court evaluation for a new 5 year (see update from Martel above)

The HIV Team hits again! Courtney Hampton – a new HIV coordinator hired recently – working with mentorship from LaTunja Sockwell has just received word that her application to the Ark Dept of Health was funded.  The project will receive five years of funding at $200K per year to contribute to their focus on ending the HIV Epidemic. Her key activities will be:

Activity: Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) Awareness and Navigation

I. Targeted PrEP awareness campaign.

II. A website and toll-free number for connecting to a PrEP navigator.

III. Implementation of services for ensuring PrEP retention, continuous HIV testing and counseling, and linkage to PrEP provider services.

IV. Implementation of a developed logistics plan for ensuring transportation assistance to a PrEP provider for care services.

Recent Publications and Updates

1. Yoong, S.L., Jones, J., Pearson, N., Swindle, T., Barnes, C., Delaney, T., Lum, M., Golley, R., Matwiejczyk, L., Kelly, B., Kerr, E., Love, P., Esdaile, E., Ward, D., & Grady, A., (In Press). An overview of research opportunities to increase the impact of nutrition intervention research in early childhood and education care settings according to the RE-AIM framework. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.
2. Yoong, S.L., Jackson, J., Barnes, C., Pearson, N., Swindle, T., O’Reilly, S., Tabak R., Belski, R., Brown, R., Brown, A., & Sutherland, R. (In Press). Examining research published in top-tier nutrition and dietetics journals in 1988 and 2018. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior