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College of Medicine: Department of Family and Preventive Medicine

Department News

Nikki Edge, Ph.D., to be Promoted to Full Professor

Dr. Nicola “Nikki” Edge is being promoted to Full Professor in the UAMS College of Medicine, Department of Family and Preventive Medicine effective July 1, 2018. Congratulations to Dr. Edge on this wonderful, difficult and highly challenging accomplishment. It resulted from years and years of fabulous work and recognition for her many projects!

Nicola Edge joined the UAMS faculty in 2000 and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2009 in the Department of Pediatrics. In 2010, her primary academic appointment was moved into the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine. She is on the basic scientist researcher track.

Her research program is focused primarily on understanding factors that place children at risk for poor social and emotional outcomes, such as parenting concerns and traumatic experiences. She is also focused on early identification of at-risk children and designing, implementing and evaluating interventions for these high-risk children and their families.

Dr. Edge has:

  • More than 60 peer-reviewed manuscripts published or in press in key journals in her field such as Maternal Child Health, Child Abuse and Neglect, Journal of Family Psychology and Infant Mental Health Journal.
  • More than 90 presentations at national meetings, including 35 oral presentations (10 invited) and 55 posters.
  • More than 60 state and local oral presentations, including 33 invited presentations.
  • Community Service and Community Leadership

She also provides service as a long-term Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA), a specialty trained volunteer on the child welfare system. Because of her expertise in supporting the social and emotional development of children, within Arkansas she has served on more than 10 boards, ad hoc planning groups or standing committees. Dr. Edge has been honored to receive two state awards recognizing her contributions to building the service system for young children and their families, including the AAIMH Bonnie Limbird Award recognizing her influence on policies and services systems dedicated to supporting the emotional well-being of young children in Arkansas.

Congratulations, Dr. Edge!

LaTunja Sockwell Receives Award from AIDSWatch

DFPM-RED’s LaTunja Sockwell applied and was awarded a very competitive travel award from AIDSWatch!  She is one of 50 nationally awarded!

AIDSWatch is the largest annual national constituent-based advocacy event focused on HIV policy in the United States. The event draws hundreds of people living with HIV (PLHIV) and their allies to Washington, DC for two days to educate Members of Congress and their staff about HIV. Participants will receive training on legislative priorities, relevant research that supports them, and how to conduct effective meetings with their elected representatives.

https://www.aidsunited.org/Policy-0024-Advocacy/AIDSWatch.aspx

RED Team Members represented WISE at Pike View Early Childhood Center

RED at Health Fair

DFPM RED team members attended Tuesday’s Health Fair at Pike View Early Childhood Center in North Little Rock. We represented RED’s WISE program with Windy WISE the Owl bringing fruits and vegetable food choices for kids and parents.  We also were there on behalf of RED’s HIV/STD prevention efforts!

DFPM RED research on Food Insecurity & Childhood Obesity

A recent paper (Published online: 22 Jun 2017) from DFPM RED researchers brings new statistics into the world of community-based evaluation.  The study used non-inferiority testing to examine the relationship between obesity and food security in children aged 3 to 5 years.

While traditionally used in pharmacology, this approach has found a niche in measuring equality between groups to conclude children suffering from food insecurity experience rates of obesity equivalent to or above food secure peers.  Having answered the relationship between obesity and food security, studies can move forward in the areas of food quality and other reasons underlying the high rates of obesity among starving youth.

ARTICLE: Application of Noninferiority Tests to Examine the Food Insecurity–Obesity Relationship in Children

Taren Swindle, Shalese Fitzgerald, Lorraine M. McKelvey & Leanne Whiteside-Mansell
Journal of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition

Nikki Edge, Ph.D., named to College of Medicine Research Council

DFPM RED Faculty member Nikki Edge, Ph.D., (Associate Professor, Department of Family and Preventative Medicine) was recently added to the UAMS College of Medicine’s Research Council.  The members of the new Research Council were recently announced by Richard P. Morrison, Ph.D. – Executive Associate Dean for Research | UAMS | College of Medicine.

DFPM RED recognized for work on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Disorders

DFPM RED has recently participated in Arkansas’ 5th Annual Conference on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Disorders held on Thursday, September 14, 2017. On Wednesday, September 6, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson declared the month of September to be FASD Awareness Month in Arkansas. The official proclamation was presented to DFPM RED Research Associate Angela Kyzer and Outreach Coordinator Annemarie McGahagan. The proclamation was presented by None for Nine task force Vice President, Carol Rangel. Kyzer was also recognized for her work on the Taskforce, of which she is a member. Awards were also given to DFPM RED team members Mark Currey and Alicia Hamilton for work connected to None for Nine.

DFPM RED studies connection between maternal depression/alcohol use and behavioral issues in children.

A recently published DFPM RED study examines the Effects of Maternal Depression Symptoms and Alcohol Use Problems

Maternal depression illustration on Child Internalizing and Externalizing Behavior Problems. The study, which included DFPM RED faculty Nikki Edge, Ph.D. and Lorraine McKelvey, Ph.D., examined the impact of maternal depression and alcohol use problems on children’s behavior problems over a period of five years. The study included 1,874 Head Start eligible families. The study highlights the importance of understanding and treating various kinds of behavioral health concerns in mothers of young children.

 

Read the full, published article.

New DFPM RED publication on nutrition practices in early care and education settings

A recent paper from DFPM RED published in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior looks at studies on factors associated with nutrition practices in early care and education settings. The article suggests that these studies often focus on sociodemographic and programmatic characteristics. This qualitative study adapted and applied Dr. Jay Belsky’s determinants of parenting model to inform a broader exploration of Early Care and Education Teachers (ECETs) practices.  The RED study finds that the influence of ECET developmental histories and their related beliefs can be addressed through professional development and ongoing support. Future study should quantify model constructs in a larger sample and study their relationships over time.

Swindle, T., Patterson, Z., Boden, C. A Qualitative Application of the Belsky Model to Explore Early Care and Education Teachers’ Mealtime History, Beliefs, and Interactions. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior

DFPM RED is BUSY! 

DFPM RED continues to be at the forefront of research-based work advocating for children in Arkansas and beyond. RED researchers work daily to study the factors that challenge and support children. RED research seeks, first, to understand and then to put understanding into usable practices that meet the needs of children across the state and the country. Here are just a few of RED’s recent publications… work that is truly making a difference.

  • McKelvey, L. M., Conners Edge, N.A., Fitzgerald, S., Kraleti, S., & Whiteside-Mansell, L., (in press).  Screening for Adverse Childhood Experiences from Birth to Five: Examining Associations with Children’s Health. Families, Systems, Health.
  • Swindle, T., Rutledge, J., Dix, B. & Whiteside-Mansell, L. (in press). Table Talk: Development of an Observational Tool to Characterize the Early Childcare Feeding Environment. Public Health Nutrition.
  • McKelvey, L. M., Selig, J. P., & Whiteside-Mansell, L. (2017, In Press). Foundations for Screening Adverse Childhood Experiences: Exploring Patterns of Exposure through Infancy and Toddlerhood.  Child Abuse and Neglect.  http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0145213417302284
  • Swindle, T., Ward, W, & Whiteside-Mansell, L. (in press). Facebook: The Use of Social Media to Engage Parents in a Pre-school Obesity Prevention Curriculum. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior.
  • Whiteside-Mansell, L. & Swindle, T. (in press). Together We Inspire Smart Eating: A Preschool WISE curriculum for obesity prevention in low-income families. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior.
  • Swindle, T., Johnson, S.L., Whiteside-Mansell, L., & Curran, G. (2017). A mixed methods protocol for developing and testing implementation strategies for evidence-based obesity prevention in childcare: A cluster randomized hybrid type III trial. Implementation Science, 12:90 DOI: 10.1186/s13012-017-0624-6

New DFPM RED Research on “Table Talk” 

A recent paper from DFPM RED (currently In Press) looks at the value of verbal feeding communications, or, “Table Talk” as a possible influencing

factor in children’s diets. The purpose of the paper is to present the development of the Table Talk observational tool to measure Early Care and Education Teachers (ECETs) verbal feeding communications.

The research introduces an observational tool to assess verbal communications at mealtime among 75 Head Start educators. The study evaluated both positive and supportive comments such as “Exploring Foods” as well as negative comments such as “Pressuring to Eat”.  The study concluded that “Table Talk” may be a useful tool to assess ECETs’ verbal feeding communications with potential applications such as informing ECET training and assessing intervention efforts.

Swindle, T., Rutledge, J., Dix, B. & Whiteside-Mansell, L. (in press). Table Talk: Development of an Observational Tool to Characterize the Early Childcare Feeding Environment. Public Health Nutrition.