Clinical Research Oriented Workshop (CROW) Meeting: July 29, 2016

Present:   Marianne Burke, Justine Dee, Nancy Gell, Kairn Kelley, Mike Lamantia, Connie van Eeghen

Start Up:

1.                   Nancy explains it all: Clinical Trial Registration (with plenty of contributions from everyone)

a.       How it all started: realizing that sometimes registration must be completed before a study is started

b.       Is it necessary:

                                                   i.      Do you want to publish a clinical trial, generally not a “pre/post” but usually a randomized study

                                                 ii.      Certainly if an interventional study

                                               iii.      May be a condition of IRB approval

                                               iv.      Reduces ethical bias and gives context to reviewers; also could help inform patients but is not used

                                                 v.      Includes studies with and without external funding

c.       How to:

                                                   i.      Website is helpful but find the right page: get a 4-page pdf to help out (ask Nancy for link)

                                                 ii.      UVM does not have a central administrator for a PRS account; it takes a few days to set up an individual account

                                               iii.      Timing: per website, no later than 21 days after enrollment of 1^st patient

1.       However, Annals of Medicine requires registration before enrollment

2.       Keep in mind that the date of submission is not the same as the day of review/approval

3.       Registration may precede IRB approval

                                               iv.      Note that some journals not only have strict registration requirements but may require data sources, statistical analysis code, and even grant or IRB original submission – concern for ethical research and reporting is high

d.       Strategies

                                                   i.      Check the journals’ requirements first (when planning the study)

                                                 ii.      First time through: 2 hours (plus updates and emails)

                                               iii.      Although the website keeps track of date of last change, it doesn’t track what was changed.  Keep track of all changes, by date.

e.       Followed the process of one of Mike’s earlier studies: RCT with 3 arms on an ED adult patient follow up phone call study.  PubMed ID# 24673675.  It can take several months for approval but it is possible to ask for expedited review.

                                                   i.      Qualitative studies appear to take longer to approve than quantitative

2.                   Plan for Next Semester: TBD

3.                   Next Workshop Meeting(s): Fridays, 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m., at Given Courtyard South Level 4 until end of Aug.   

a.       Aug 5: (no Kairn, Justine) – CANCELLED; go to noon meeting to listen to Dr. Timothy Plante, 3^rd floor GY

b.       Aug 12: Marianne’s data cleaning process

c.       Aug 19: Mike Lamantia’s draft editorial on functional decline in older adults after ED visit

d.       Aug 26:

Recorder: Connie van Eeghen

Dr. Katharine Cheung receives grant from the American Society of Nephrology

We are proud and happy to announce that CTS PhD candidate, Dr. Katharine Cheung was selected to receive funding in the amount $4,047. from the  American Society of Nephrology Small Grants Program for Scholarly Work in Geriatric Nephrology and renal Palliative Care.  Her project is entitled: Communication training for dialysis nurses to promote interdisciplinary advance care planning and palliative care.
Congratulations Kat!

New article published by Emily Tarleton, Bionutrition Research Manager and PhD candidate in CTS

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S240545771630225X

 Primer for nutritionists: Managing the side effects of antidepressants

Emily K. Tarleton a, *, Amanda G. Kennedy b, Christopher Daley c

Clinical Nutrition ESPEN xxx (2016) 1e8

Summary

Depression is a chronic disease affecting a significant portion of the U.S. population. Due to the popularity of ADs most nutrition professionals working in the outpatient setting will encounter patients taking one of these medications. Nutritionists can assist patients in managing the short and long term side effects of ADs and, taking into account other nutritional issues, improve overall wellbeing of the patient. The objective of this paper is to identify what side effects nutritionists can help manage, provide the information necessary to help nutritionists feel comfortable assisting with that management, and, as a result, play a valuable role in the team that is vested in the health and wellbeing of the patient.

 

Kairn Kelley selected to receive Audiology/Hearing Science Research Travel Award (ARTA)

Kairn Kelley has been selected to receive the Audiology/Hearing Science Research Travel Award (ARTA) to attend the 2016 ASHA Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, November 17–19.

The American Speech-Language Hearing Association sponsors the Audiology/Hearing Science Research Travel Award (ARTA) for the ASHA Annual Convention in November for recipients to: Learn about the latest research in audiology, Make connections with leaders in the field, Meet and network with peers, Learn about mechanisms and strategies to further research interests, Experience the excitement of the ASHA Convention.

Award recipients receive complimentary registration, $500 stipend, and access to special events including Researcher-Academic Town Meeting, ARTA breakfast, and Research Symposium. The topic of this year's symposium is "Advances in Auditory Attention Research: Processing Complex Auditory Stimuli."

Clinical Research Oriented Workshop (CROW) Meeting: July 23, 2016

Present:   Justine Dee, Nancy Gell, Juvena Hitt, Kairn Kelley, Adam Sprouse-Blum, Connie van Eeghen (by Skype)

Guest:      Michelle Delaney, friend of Kairn who is getting a master’s in counseling

1.                   Discussion: Kairn’s experience with doing a lit review.

a.       It’s a mental state as much as it’s a functional process.  And, it is a learning process more than it is an outcome.

b.      Don’t leap to writing the review (i.e., committing to a question or a structure) before you actually have a handle on the scope of the literature and some practice processing what you’re reading.

c.       CTS is an intersection of many disciplines; the literature does not provide answers, it produces a large number of gaps – some of which can be distracting and bogs down the process

e.      Strategies

                                                   i.      Matrix of ideas: every source is a column; every concept is a row (or vice versa)

1.       Categorize the concepts

2.       Identify the contradictions; set them aside unless they are barriers to the research

3.       Link the sources, so backtracking is easy

                                                 ii.      Tools:

1.       Zotero is an alternative to EndNote, which doesn’t work with all systems

2.       Use the note feature to attach structured, searchable notes. Use a template to capture:

a.       Question and Results

b.      Design

c.       Number of subjects

d.      Inclusion and Exclusion criteria

e.      *Measures*

f.        Constructs under study

3.       Make your own tags, don’t accept what Zotero offers

a.       This could be a good place to use capture some of the larger concepts (e.g., if the authors say their results give insight into “cognition” or “memory” or “language”)

4.       Journaling on obstacles – including psychological obstacles – to help break them down and continue working on the research

                                                iii.      Make it a social process – include another interested researcher in the process

1.       This is a conversation: what do you think you know about this topic

2.   DO WRITE and TALK about what you’re reading, early and often. In addition to getting insight from others' perspectives, interacting about the material is a way to practice different strategies for communicating (what sticks, what doesn't). As your understanding evolves you’ll need to practice saying your new ideas.   

f.        Everything we learned in “Designing Clinical Research” turned out to be very important, not only for designing the research but for structuring the information

g.       “Learning is about approaching the same material again and again, each time with more resources”

2.                   Plan for Next Semester: TBD

3.                   Next Workshop Meeting(s): Fridays, 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m., at Given Courtyard South Level 4 until end of Aug.   

a.       July 29: (no Ben) Nancy – registry of Clinical Trial sessions

b.      Aug 5: (no Kairn, Justine)

c.       Aug 12: Mike Lamantia’s draft editorial on functional decline in older adults after ED visit

d.      Aug 19: Marianne’s data cleaning process

Recorder: Connie van Eeghen, edited by Kairn Kelley