The Wisconsin Partnership Program (WPP) at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health (SMPH) is pleased to announce awards for eight SMPH-led interdisciplinary collaborations through its Collaborative Health Sciences Program.
The new collaborations span a wide range of academic disciplines and health issues, including advancing education and workforce development, expanding access to rural health care, advancing precision medicine, improving care for congenital and cardiovascular conditions, strengthening health care delivery, and improving health and treatment access for incarcerated populations.
The new projects bring together established investigators from diverse fields across our school and campus and beyond to explore and advance innovative solutions for some of Wisconsin’s most complex health challenges.
- Dr. Amy Kind
“The Wisconsin Partnership Program is proud to support this new cohort of grant recipients. The awards reflect an impressive breadth of health topics, research and education collaborations,” said Amy Kind, MD, PhD, Wisconsin Partnership Program executive director and associate dean for social health sciences and programs, UW School of Medicine and Public Health. “The new projects bring together established investigators from diverse fields across our school and campus and beyond to explore and advance innovative solutions for some of Wisconsin’s most complex health challenges.”
Each award provides up to $600,000 over three years. Leveraging a rigorous multi-stage process, WPP’s Partnership Education and Research Committee selected the following eight projects for funding:
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.
Principal Investigator: Bermans Iskandar, MD, professor, Department of Neurological Surgery
Co-Principal Investigator: Hasan Khatib, PhD, associate chair and professor, Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences; Reid Alisch, PhD, associate professor, Department of Neurological Surgery
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
Familial hypercholesterolemia is an inherited form of high cholesterol that can cause early heart attacks and strokes, yet only about two 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.
Principal Investigator: Amy Peterson, MD, professor, Department of Pediatrics
Co-Principal Investigator: Krisjon Olson, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Pediatrics; Jessica Cao, PhD, associate professor, Department of Population Health Sciences
Collaborators: Robert Steiner, MD, professor, Department of Pediatrics
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.
Principal Investigator: Qiongshi Lu, PhD, associate professor, Department of Biostatistics and Medical Informatics
Co-Principal Investigator: Jason Fletcher, PhD, professor, La Follette School of Public Affairs; Adam Gepner MD, clinical instructor, Department of Medicine
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.
Principal Investigator: Lonie Salkowski, MD, PhD, FACR, professor, Department of Radiology
Co-Principal Investigator: Haley Vlach, PhD, professor, Department of Educational Psychology
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
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.
Principal Investigator: John Garrett, PhD, associate professor, Departments of Radiology, Medical Physics and Biostatistics and Medical Informatics
Co-Principal Investigator: Matthew Tattersall, DO, MS, associate professor, Department of Medicine; Matthew Lee, MD, assistant professor, Department of Radiology
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
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.
Principal Investigator: Meghan Brennan, MD, MS, associate professor, Department of Medicine
Co-Principal Investigator: Yonatan Mintz, PhD, assistant professor, School of Engineering
Collaborators: Kristen Pecanac, PhD, associate professor, School of Nursing, UW—Madison; Emmanuel Sampene, PhD, senior scientist, Department of Biostatistics and Medical Informatics, UW—Madison
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.
Principal Investigator: Eduard Vasilevskis, MD, MPH, professor, Department of Medicine
Co-Principal Investigator: Michelle Chui, PharmD, PhD, professor, UW–Madison School of Nursing
Collaborators: Jennifer Woodard, MD, assistant professor, Department of Medicine; Peter Kleinschmidt, MD, associate professor, Department of Medicine
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.
Principal Investigator: Michael Koenigs, PhD, professor, Department of Psychiatry
Co-Principal Investigator: Deidre Marsh, MSW, LCSW, teaching faculty, Department of Social Work, UW-Milwaukee
Collaborators: Candice Monson, PhD, professor, Toronto Metropolitan University; Deborah Mejchar, certified peer specialist; Dennis Franklin, certified peer specialist
The Wisconsin Partnership Program is a grantmaking program within the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health committed to improving health for all in Wisconsin through investments in community partnerships, education and research initiatives.
