- GSPH Receives $13.4 Million NIH Grant to Create Virtual Models to Gain Insight into Real-World Epidemics
- GSPH Receives $11 Million to Coordinate Hepatitis B Clinical Research Network
- GSPH Study First to Examine Impact of Medicare Part D on Overall Medical Spending
- GSPH Receives $8.4 Million for Disaster Preparedness Research
GSPH Receives $13.4 Million NIH Grant to Create Virtual Models to Gain Insight into Real-World Epidemics
As the world prepares for a probable resurgence of H1N1 in the coming months, University of Pittsburgh researchers are controlling the spread of infectious diseases virtually with a $13.4 million National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant to establish a Center of Excellence in Modeling of Infectious Diseases.
The five-year grant, part of the NIH’s Modeling of Infectious Disease Agent Study (MIDAS) program, funds the development and testing of computer simulations that will ultimately enable public health officials and policymakers to evaluate intervention strategies to contain infectious disease outbreaks.
The center, led by Donald S. Burke, MD, dean of the Graduate School of Public Health, uses census and other data sets to build simulations of individuals as they move about and interact with one another through schools, workplaces, households and communities. By modeling their contacts, the Pitt team is working to determine the likelihood a person will spread the disease to others, and to evaluate which interventions might be the most effective such as school closings, travel restrictions, hand washing, vaccines or a combination of these techniques. Read more...
GSPH Receives $11 Million to Coordinate Hepatitis B Clinical Research Network
The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases has awarded a seven-year $11 million grant to GSPH to coordinate the Hepatitis B Clinical Research Network.
The Clinical Research Network is a consortium of 15 clinical and research centers in the United States and Canada that will conduct translational research on hepatitis B. The network will include a multi-site treatment trial, create and maintain a large database of study results, and store tissue and serum samples to facilitate clinical and basic research.
Hepatitis B is an infection that affects the liver. About 1.5 million Americans and 350 million people worldwide have chronic hepatitis B infection, which can lead to more serious diseases such as cirrhosis, liver failure and liver cancer.
“Medical advances have led to many treatments for chronic hepatitis B infection and most patients respond to them,” said Steven Belle, PhD, principal investigator of the data coordinating center and professor in the Department of Epidemiology. “However, these treatments do not cure the infection, but contain it by making it more difficult for the virus to reproduce.” Read more...
GSPH Study First to Examine Impact of Medicare Part D on Overall Medical Spending
The purpose of Medicare Part D, which took effect in January 2006, is to subsidize the cost of prescription drugs for Medicare beneficiaries, more than 30 percent of whom had limited or no coverage for prescription drugs prior to its implementation.
After enrolling in Medicare Part D, seniors who previously had limited or no drug coverage spent more on prescriptions and less on other medical care services such as hospitalizations and visits to the doctor’s office, according to a GSPH study published in the July 2 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
The study also found that seniors who had relatively good drug benefits prior to enrolling in Medicare Part D spent somewhat more on prescriptions and, at the same time, increased their spending on other medical care services.
“We found that Part D led to increases in overall pharmacy spending among all beneficiaries,” said the study’s lead author, Yuting Zhang, PhD, assistant professor of health economics in the Department of Health Policy & Management. “These increases were offset by decreases in spending on other medical care services in those with little or no drug coverage before they enrolled in Medicare Part D, which was one-third of the beneficiary population studied. The majority of Part D enrollees in our study population, those with relatively good prior prescription coverage, spent more on prescriptions as well as other medical services.”
When it came to spending on other medical care services excluding drugs, the no-coverage group and poor-coverage group decreased their spending by $33 and $46 per month respectively, while the good-coverage group increased their spending by $30 per month. Read more...
GSPH Receives $8.4 Million for Disaster Preparedness Research
Funding Creates a Preparedness and Emergency Response Center
Because acting quickly and effectively during major disasters often means the difference between life and death on a large scale, the federal government is looking for ways to improve preparedness and emergency response systems across the country.
As part of this effort, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has awarded $8.4 million over the next five years to GSPH to create a Preparedness and Emergency Response Research Center. The center’s experts will develop methods to evaluate emergency response plans and best practices to handle public health emergencies caused by the spread of infectious diseases, defective water and sewage systems, natural disasters, or intentional acts.
“The capacity of local governments to respond to public health disasters varies greatly from region to region,” said Maggie Potter, JD, principal investigator of the grant and associate dean and director of the Center for Public Health Practice at GSPH. “We know the difference between a poor response and an effective one based on actual outcomes, but we know much less about the underlying reasons why some plans work well and others fail.”
Potter and her team will focus initially on infectious diseases, such as the flu, to develop criteria and metrics for emergency preparedness, model their effectiveness using sophisticated computer-based techniques and develop new standards for emergency responses to improve quality of life for community members. Read more...
Past Public Health Research Contribution Highlights
GSPH to Lead Local Center in Landmark Government Child Health Study
GSPH Researcher Finds Oversight of Drug Ads Lacking
Dean Burke Named Global Health Research Ambassador
Prestigious Risk Analyst Award to GSPH’s Felicia Wu
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