Research News

Dr. Malcolm Cutchin 

• Cutchin, M., & Rowles, G. D. (Eds.). (2024). Handbook on Aging and Place. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing. Retrieved Apr 26, 2024, from https://doi.org/10.4337/9781802209983 

Dr. William Elliott 

• Evaluation and treatment of hypertensive emergencies in adults. W.J. Elliott and J. Varon. UpToDate®, submitted 07 JUN 23, posted 15 JUL 23. 
• Drugs Used for the Treatment of Hypertensive Emergencies. W.J. Elliott and J. Varon. UpToDate®, submitted 28 SEP 23, posted 06 OCT 23. 
• Tapering and discontinuing antihypertensive medications. W.J. Elliott. UpToDate®, submitted 28 OCT 23, posted 06 NOV 23. 
• Moderate to Severe Hypertensive Retinopathy and Hypertensive Encephalopathy in Adults. W.J. Elliott and J. Varon. UpToDate®, submitted 13 MAR 24, posted 30 MAR 24. 
• Hypertensive Emergencies and Urgencies. W.J. Elliott. Chapter 48 in G.L. Bakris M. Sorrentino, and L.J. Laffin, editors. Hypertension, A Companion to Braunwald’s Heart Disease, Fourth Edition. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier.(A division of Saunders), 2024, pp. 556-63. 

Dr. Jami Flick 

• Flick, J. E. & Scaffa, M. E. Emotional regulation. (2023). In G. Gillen & T. Brown (Eds.), Willard and Spackman’s Occupational Therapy (14th ed.), AOTA Press. 

Dr. Heather Fritz 

• Feldhacker, D., Ikiugu, M., Fritz, H., Schweinle, E., & Hongmei, W. (2023). A feasibility study of habit formation intervention to improve type-2 diabetes self-management behaviors. American Journal of Occupational Therapy. 77(6), 7706205100. doi: 10.5014/ajot.2023.050351. 
• Davis, K., Knauft, K., Lewis, L., Rappaport, L., Fritz, H., Cutchin, M., Levy, P., Joseph, N. T., Luca, F., Zilioli, S. (2023). The Heart of Detroit Study: A window into urban middle-aged and older African Americans’ daily lives to understand psychosocial determinants of cardiovascular disease risk. BMC Psychiatry. 23 (1), E-pub. doi: 10.1186/s12888-023-05148-2 

Lizzie Lamb 

• Rahn C, Peterson K, Lamb E. Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation for Major Depressive Disorder in Huntington Disease Patient with Improvement in Neuropsychiatric and Movement Symptoms: A Case Report. Case Rep Neurol. 2024 Feb 14;16(1):79-84. doi: 10.1159/000537750. PMID: 38487476; PMCID: PMC10939509. 

Dr. Michael Lawler 

• Hartman, D.T., Goodman, G.S, Grandchamp, J., Vidales, D., Shaver, P.R, Lawler, M.J., & Hobbs, S.D. (2023) Outcomes for Foster Youth Placed at a Special Residential High School: A Quantitative Case Study. Children and Youth Services Review, 151. 
• Portwood, S.G., Lawler, M.J., & Roberts, M.C. (2023). Handbook of Adverse Childhood Experiences: A Framework for Collaborative Health Promotion. Switzerland: Springer. 
• Portwood, S.G., Lawler, M.J., & Roberts, M.C. (2023). The past, present, and promise of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) science. In S.G. Portwood, M.J. Lawler, & M.C. Roberts (eds.). Handbook of Adverse Childhood Experiences: A Framework for Collaborative Health Promotion. Switzerland: Springer. 
• Portwood, S.G., Lawler, M.J., & Roberts, M.C. (2023). Conclusions and directions for the future of ACEs. In S.G. Portwood, M.J. Lawler, & M.C. Roberts (eds.). Handbook of Adverse Childhood Experiences: A Framework for Collaborative Health Promotion. Switzerland: Springer. 

Dr. Fotinos Panagakos 

• Lakhani A, Esteves A, Hudson J, Ester T, Guthmiller J, Karimbux N, Panagakos F, Theisen M, Stewart J, Mintz J, Nadershahi N.  New Thinking For The New Century: Preparing For The Next 100 Years.  J Dent Ed 2023; 87:1057–1063 
• Sarmiento M, Truong C, Carrasco G, Dugarte A, Quinn B, Panagakos F, Singh A.  Are We Well? A Post-Pandemic Snapshot of Dental Educator Wellness, Well-being, and Fulfillment. J Dent Ed 2023; 87:1533-1541 
• Ghosh SK, Man Y, Fraiwan A, Waters C, McKenzie C, Lu C, Pfau D, Kawsar H, Bhaskaran N, Pandiyan P, Jin G, Briggs F, Zender CC, Rezaee R, Panagakos F, Thuener JE, Wasman J, Tang A, Qari H, Wise-Draper T, McCormick TS, Madabhushi A, Gurkan UA, Weinberg A.  Beta Defensin Index (BDI): A Novel Biomarker for Oral Cancer Detection. Cell Reports Medicine 2024 Mar 19;5(3) 

Dr. Jenny Pitonyak 

• Pitonyak, J. S. & Wilbur, K. (2023). ADL and IADL. In G. Gillen and T. Brown (Eds.). Willard & Spackman’s Occupational Therapy (14th ed.). Wolters Kluwer/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. 

Dr. Kaelin Young 

• Ruple B, Vann C, Sexton C, Osburn S, Smith M, Godwin J, Mumford P, Stock M, Roberts M, Young K. Peripheral quantitative computed tomography is a valid imaging technique for tracking changes in skeletal muscle cross-sectional area. Clinical Physiology and Functional Imaging, 1-8, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1111/cpf.12885 
• Ruple B, Plotkin D, Smith M, Godwin J, Sexton C, McIntosh M, kontos N, Beausejour J, Pagan J, Rodriguez J, Sheldon D, Knowles K, Libardi C, Young K, Stock M, Roberts M. The effects of resistance training to near failure on strength, hypertrophy, and motor unit adaptations in previously trained adults. Physiological Reports, 11(9):15,679, 2023. PMID: 37144554. https://doi.org/10.14814/phy2.15679 
• Mesquita P, Godwin J, Ruple B, Sexton C, McIntosh M, Mueller B, Osburn S, Mobley B, Libardi C, Young K, Gladden B, Roberts M, Kavazis A. Resistance training diminishes mitochondrial adaptations to subsequent endurance training. The Journal of Physiology, 601(17): 3825-3846, 2023. PMID: 37470322. https://doi.org/10.1113/JP284822 
• Godwin J, Sexton C, Kontos N, Ruple B, Willoughby D, Young K, Mobley B, Roberts M. Extracellular matrix content and remodeling markers do not differ in college-aged men classified as higher and lower responders to resistance training. Journal of Applied physiology, 134 (3): 731-741, 2023. PMID 36759158 
• Breanna J Mueller, Casey L Sexton, Joshua S Godwin, Mason C McIntosh, Bradley A Ruple, Nicholas J Kontos, Kaelin C Young, Andrew D Fruge, Christopher B Mobley, Michael D Roberts, Andreas N Kavazis. Mitochondrial mRNA acute response to bouts of high- and low-load resistance training. International Journal of Exercise Science: Conference Proceedings, 16(3); 110. 2024. https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/ijesab/vol16/iss3/110 
• Breanna J Mueller, Paulo HC Mesquita, Bradley A Ruple, Joshua S Godwin, Casey L Sexton, Shelby C Osburn, Mason C McIntosh, Andreas N Kavazis, Cleiton A Libardi, Kaelin C Young, Michael D Roberts. A comparison of techniques assessing the morphological characteristics of skeletal muscle fibers. Medicine and Science in Sport and Exercise, 55(9s); 227-228. 2023 

Blizniak M, Ramos-Diaz M, Trueblood P, Sorrells R. Implicit Bias and Restorative Justice Training Influence Medical and Physical Therapy Students’ Bias Awareness at: American Physical Therapy Association Combined Sections Meeting; February 16th, 2024; Boston, MA. Abstract published in Archives of 2024 APTA CSM website at https://apta.confex.com/apta/csm2024/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/42842  

• Winner of the Global Health Special Interest Group Award at the American Physical Therapy Association’s Combined Sections Meeting 
• Active IRB study 

Federal Research Grants

• Project Title: Stress and Cardiovascular Risk Among Urban African American adults: A Multilevel, Mixed Methods Approach 
• Funding Agency: National Institutes of Health – National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute  
• PNWU Researchers: Drs. Malcolm Cutchin and Heather Fritz, School of Occupational Therapy (subawardee) 
• Collaborators: Dr. Samuele Zilioli (PI) at Wayne State University (prime awardee) 
• Award Amount: $3,590,488 for 5 years ($176,024 awarded to PNWU) 

• Project Title: African American Resilience in Surviving Cancer (ARISE) 
• Funding Agency: National Institutes of Health – National Cancer Institute 
• PNWU Researcher: Dr. Malcolm Cutchin, School of Occupational Therapy (sub-awardee) 
• Collaborators: Dr. Felicity Harper (PI) at Wayne State University (prime awardee) 
• Award Amount: $3,118,474 for 5 years ($83,462 awarded to PNWU)

• Project Title: Effectiveness and adoption of a Smart home-based social assistive robot for care of individuals with Alzheimer’s Disease 
• Funding Agency: National Institutes of Health – National Institute of Aging  
• PNWU Researcher: Dr. Heather Fritz, School of Occupational Therapy (sub-awardee) 
• Collaborators: Dr. Sajay Arthanat (PI) at University of New Hampshire (prime awardee)  
• Award Amount: $2,803,716 for 5 years ($99,149 awarded to PNWU) 

Dr. Daniel Brzusek Research Awards

• Project Title: Inflammatory Response to OMT: A Pilot Study 
• Researcher: Dr. Kathaleen Briggs Early, Department of Biomedical Sciences  
• Award Amount: $20,000 

• Project Title: Investigation of Cuzd1 signaling pathways in MCF7 
• Researcher: Dr. Janelle Mapes, Department of Anatomy 
• Award Amount: $20,000 

PNWU Research Seed Fund

• Project Title: Comparison of volitional step training and volitional step with resistance training to perturbation balance training on a treadmill in people with Parkinson’s Disease: a feasibility study 
• Researcher: Dr. Tiffany Salido, School of Physical Therapy 
• Award Amount: $9,518 

• Project Title: Evaluation of mammalian life history changes in response to climate change 
• Researcher: Dr. Christian Heck, College of Osteopathic Medicine – Anatomy  
• Award Amount: $10,000 

• Project Title: Sensitivity and Specificity of Waist-to-height Ratio in Screening for Type 2 Diabetes Among Asian Americans 
• Researcher: Dr. Kathaleen Briggs Early, College of Osteopathic Medicine – Biomedical Sciences  
• Award Amount: $9,962 

• Project Title: Influence of a fermentable carbohydrate and xylitol on the in vitro growth of select oral microbiome members involved in the pathology of Early Childhood Caries 
• Researcher: Dr. Kimberly Taylor, College of Osteopathic Medicine – Biomedical Sciences  
• Award Amount: $3,233 

• Project Title: Estrogen Regulation of CUZD1 Gene Expression 
• Researcher: Dr. Janelle Mapes, Department of Anatomy 
• Award Amount: $10,000