January 15, 2020

Dr. Carlozzi and Collaborators Awarded MICHR Accelerating Synergy Award

Congratulations to Dr. Noelle Carlozzi and collaborators on being awarded a MICHR Accelerating Synergy Award relating to Caregivers. 

Dr. Noelle Carlozzi

The proposal is designed to examine the acceptability and feasibility of an intensive data collection protocol that involves the delivery of a personalized self-management intervention to promote care partner self-care (that incorporates passive mobile sensor data feedback--using data from the Fitbit Charge®) and real-time self-reporting of HRQOL to improve physical and mental health in these care partners. This just-in-time adaptive intervention (JITAI) is an emerging intervention that uses real-time data collection to inform and personalize the delivery of the intervention.

The proposed trial will examine the acceptability and feasibility of the JITAI to improve physical activity, sleep, and HRQOL in three distinct groups of care partners: 1) care partners for persons with a chronic condition that was caused by a traumatic event (i.e., traumatic brain injury [TBI]); 2) care partners for persons with a progressive, fatal neurodegenerative disease (i.e., Huntington disease [HD]); and 3) care partners for persons with an episodic cancer condition that requires intense, prolonged inpatient and outpatient treatment (persons with allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation [HCT]).

This multi-PI project is led by faculty with expertise in caregivers (Noelle Carlozzi, PM&R and Sung Choi, Pediatrics), experts in the development and delivery of mHealth interventions (Srijan Sen, Psychiatry and Zhenke Wu, Biostatistics/Public Health), and analytical expertise in high-dimensional data (Wu). These data will also demonstrate successful collaboration among team members and provide the necessary pilot data needed to justify a larger U01 clinical trial designed to examine the effectiveness of a personalized clinical intervention delivered using wearables and real-time assessment of symptoms and HRQOL using app-based technology in care partners or persons with significant medical conditions.

About the Award

The MICHR Accelerating Synergy Award is designed to support interdisciplinary research teams in pursuing external multi-component NIH large-scale grants (ie, certain NIH U and P-series mechanisms). Being competitive for large-scale grants requires significant advanced planning, a well-defined and central research theme, strong preliminary data, and a history of partnership among collaborating investigators.

In partnership with the Medical School Office of Research and the Institute for Healthcare Policy & Innovation, MICHR is offering three Accelerating Synergy Award mechanisms: 1) Basic Research, 2) Translational Research, and 3) Health Services Research. Applicants will also choose an appropriate planning stage – Positioning or Grant Development - that aligns with project needs and anticipated time to external large-scale grant submission. Each award will provide $100,000 in funding for one year as well as a tailored plan of MICHR support.

For more information about the award and previous recipients, visit their website at: https://www.michr.umich.edu/rdc/2017/12/18/accelerating-synergy-award