Grant Program: Collaborative Health Sciences Program

Limited therapist availability can make it difficult for incarcerated people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to access effective treatment in Wisconsin prisons. This project will work with clinical experts, formerly incarcerated individuals and the Wisconsin Department of Corrections to adapt and evaluate a self-directed PTSD treatment workbook designed specifically for the prison setting. This approach has the possibility to expand access to evidence-based PTSD treatment for thousands of incarcerated people across Wisconsin. Collaborators: Candice Monson, PhD, professor, Toronto Metropolitan University; Deborah Mejchar, certified peer specialist; Dennis Franklin, certified peer specialist

As hospital-level care increasingly moves into patients’ homes, family members and loved ones often take on essential caregiving responsibilities without having their own needs formally assessed or supported. This project will partner with caregivers to develop a practical tool, integrated into the electronic health record, which helps care teams identify caregiver needs and connect them with appropriate health and community resources. The work could establish a new model for recognizing and supporting the unpaid caregivers who make home-based hospital care possible. Collaborators: Jennifer Woodard, MD, assistant professor, Department of Medicine; Peter Kleinschmidt, MD, associate professor, Department of Medicine

Rural patients face a greater risk of major amputation from diabetic foot ulcers, in part because of limited connections to advanced specialty care. Building on a previously developed triage system, this project will bring rural patients and clinicians together with urban specialists to create a coordinated pathway that connects patients to specialty care when needed. The approach aims to improve coordination between rural and urban health systems, expand access to timely care and reduce preventable amputations across rural areas. Collaborators: Kristen Pecanac, PhD, associate professor, School of Nursing, UW—Madison; Emmanuel Sampene, PhD, senior scientist, Department of Biostatistics and Medical Informatics, UW—Madison

CT scans performed for routine medical care can contain valuable information about a patient’s risk for heart attack or stroke, but this information often goes unused. This project will integrate a computer-based tool that automatically identifies cardiovascular risk from existing scans, into routine care and study whether alerting physicians leads to more patients receiving preventive treatment. The approach could transform patient scans into a powerful tool for preventing heart disease and expanding preventive care. Collaborators: Perry Pickhardt, MD, professor and chief, Department of Radiology; Matthew Kalscheur, MD, FHRS, associate professor, Department of Medicine; Sarina Schrager, MD, MS, Department of Family Medicine and Community Health; Mary Henningfield, PhD, Department of Family Medicine and Community Health; Mary Ryan Baumann, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Population Health Sciences and Department of Biostatistics and Medical Informatics

As artificial intelligence (AI)tools become increasingly integrated into mammography, doctors need effective training to use them safely without introducing diagnostic errors, overreliance on technology or inequities in care. This project will study how radiology residents incorporate AI into breast imaging decisions and identify effective approaches for training doctors to accurately interpret mammograms with and without AI assistance. The findings could support safer, more consistent breast cancer screening and help expand quality of care. Collaborators: Dan Bolt, PhD, professor, Department of Educational Psychology, UW—Madison; Amy Fowler, MD, PhD, associate professor, Department of Radiology; John Garrett, PhD, associate professor, Department of Radiology; Elizabeth Krupinski, PhD, professor and vice chair for research, Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences, Emory University

High blood pressure affects about one in three Wisconsin adults, yet finding an effective medication can involve a lengthy trial-and-error process that may lead to side effects and poor blood pressure control. This project will combine medical records, genetic information and blood pressure data to develop more personalized approaches that help patients receive the right treatment sooner. The work could improve blood pressure control, prevent heart and kidney disease and reduce health disparities.

Familial hypercholesterolemia is an inherited form of high cholesterol that can cause early heart attacks and strokes, yet only about 2 percent of affected children in the United States know they have the condition. This project will compare three approaches for identifying familial hypercholesterolemia earlier in childhood, using community input, mathematical modeling and machine learning to determine how screening can be most effectively implemented. Earlier diagnosis could connect children and their family members to effective treatment, helping prevent heart attacks and strokes. Collaborators: Robert Steiner, MD, professor, Department of Pediatrics

Spina bifida is the second most common structural birth defect and can cause lifelong nerve damage, yet major gaps remain in understanding how the condition develops and how to improve treatments before birth. This project will investigate how genetic, environmental and nutritional factors contribute to the condition while creating a platform to develop and refine fetal surgery techniques. The work could accelerate new approaches to preventing and treating spina bifida and improve long-term health outcomes for affected children and families. Collaborators: Michael Beninati, MD, associate professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology; Richard Finnell, PhD, professor, Departments of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine; John Wellons, MD, professor, Department of Neurological Surgery, Vanderbilt University; Rebecca Johnson, DVM, MS, PhD, School of Veterinary Medicine, UW—Madison

Central venous catheters deliver life-saving treatments but can lead to serious bloodstream infections, including those caused by Candida auris, a drug-resistant fungal pathogen. This project will study how the stiffness of catheter surfaces impacts the body’s immune response and how well neutrophils, a type of white blood cell, and the body’s first responders for fighting infections, can detect and eliminate pathogens like C. auris. This innovative collaboration between experts in infectious disease and engineering experts could lead to the development of medical devices that better support the body’s natural defenses and reduce health care burdens in Wisconsin and beyond.

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and related fibrotic lung diseases are life threatening, with limited treatment options and high mortality, leading to approximately 1,000 deaths annually in Wisconsin. This project investigates a promising new signaling pathway in the development of lung fibrosis involving protein modification to explore how a particular enzyme contributes to lung scarring and disease progression. The project team aims to uncover key fibrotic signaling pathways that could lead to more targeted therapies for IPF and other fibrotic diseases without affecting essential biological functions. Collaborators: Ksenija Bernau, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Medicine