Research Grants

Sound Investing

Our expert faculty continue to work on research projects that bring new opportunities to SHMS, serve additional target populations and contribute to advancements across a variety of disciplines. Highlighted here are examples of recent grant-funded faculty research projects.

RESEARCH GRANTS

The Effect of Lacrosse Protective Equipment on Time to First Chest Compression and First Automated External Defibrillator Shock • USA Lacrosse - Sports Science and Safety Research Grant: $14,000 • Richard Boergers, PhD, ATC (co-PI)

Abaloparatide to Improve Bone Mineral Density and Architecture in SCI • New York State Department of Health and New York Spinal Cord Injury Research Board: $826,939 • Michael LaFountaine, EdD, ATC

“Five Minutes to Help,” Sponsored by NJ Dept of Health, Office of Emergency Medical Services • NJ Department of Health, Office of Emergency Medical Services (NJDOH-OEMS): $175,000 • Jennifer McCarthy, MAS, NRP, CHSE (principal), Anne Hewitt, PhD (co-principal), Ning Jackie Zhang, PhD, MD, MPH (supporting), Terry Cahill, EdD, FACHE (supporting) Adolescents with Lupus: The Impact of Patient/Provider Discordance, Depression, Cognition and Language on Quality of Life • National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research: $1.2 million • Ning Jackie Zhang, PhD, MD, MPH (co-investigator)

Seton Hall University and Hackensack Meridian Health Interprofessional Medication-Assisted Treatment Training Program • U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA): $404,905 • In collaboration with the College of Nursing and the Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine at Seton Hall University

Investigating Variability in Use of the Consensus Auditory-Perceptual Evaluation of Voice (CAPE-V) • American Speech-Language-Hearing Foundation: $10,000 • Kathleen Nagle, PhD, CCC-SLP (principal) The following projects each received internal funding from Seton Hall University initiatives:

Faculty Innovation Grant • Teaching, Learning and Technology Center Seton Hall University: $1,850 • Leslie Rippon, MS, ATC (principal) and Vicci Lombardi, EdD, ATC (supporting)

ICPSR and Health Administration Data Sets (iHAD) • Seton Hall University: $500 • Nalin Johri, PhD, MPH (principal)

Undergraduate Research Program Grant • Seton Hall University: $1,000 • Nina Capone, PhD, CCC-SLP (principal)

The Future of Innovation in Teaching and Learning through Computer-Based Simulation • Teaching, Learning and Technology Center Seton Hall University: $2,625 • Natalie Neubauer, MS, CCC-SLP (principal) and Caryn Grabowski, MS, CCC-SLP (co-principal)

Project Write to Learn: Preparation of Occupational Therapists and Speech-Language Pathologists to Improve Written Expression in Children with Specific Learning Disabilities was funded through the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) in October 2017. Project Write to Learn is currently in its third year of funding. This project is a collaborative interdisciplinary endeavor between faculty in the Department of Occupational Therapy and Department of Speech-Language Pathology. Two student cohorts (four OT and four SLP students in each cohort) have successfully completed the project, which includes a well-balanced mix of didactic, experiential and clinical practice related activities. Students participate in this project while completing the academic and clinical requirements of their respective graduate programs. Upon graduation, their participation in Project Write to Learn is identified on their transcripts, and each student receives $20,500 toward their tuition and program expenses. The first cohort successfully completed all requirements for their respective graduate programs and are employed in the clinical setting. The faculty and students have presented the outcomes of the project at different national and state conferences.

The research conducted by SHMS faculty helps to expand the knowledge in various disciplines and push the established boundaries, especially when it comes to a national epidemic. Thanks to such interprofessional efforts, this year our faculty and administrators worked interprofessionally to develop programs to target the widespread misuse of opioids. Highlighted here are two projects aimed at addressing the national opioid crisis.

Targeted Capacity Expansion: Medication Assisted Treatment – Prescription Drug and Opioid Addiction (MAT-PDOA) grant-funded interprofessional program. In September 2018, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) awarded Seton Hall University an interprofessional grant to train nurse practitioner, physician assistant and medical students to increase access to medication-assisted treatment for individuals with opioid use disorder.

Medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for individuals suffering from opioid use

Grants Spotlight

disorder (OUD) remains underutilized as many practitioners are not trained to prescribe it. Through this grant, Seton Hall, along with 28 other schools in the country, has begun training nurse practitioner, physician assistant and medical students to prescribe MAT and support recovery from opioid addictions.

Additionally, all program graduates will be certified with a Drug Addiction Treatment Act of 2000 (DATA) Waiver, which ensures their ability to prescribe and dispense methadone and buprenorphine/naloxone products for the treatment of opioid addiction. Through this program, the nurse practitioner and physician assistant students will go through 24 hours of didactic training, while the medical students will have eight hours. They will then have 10 hours of clinical training at Hackensack Meridian Health Carrier Clinic in Belle Mead, New Jersey.

More than 160 students attended the first in-person MAT training event held on August 22, 2019, and at the end of 2021 it is predicted that more than 400 students will have completed the program. This grant-funded program is vital because it helps to prepare our students to address the nationwide opioid epidemic by combating opioid misuse and related overdoses.

SHMS assists in starting the After the Narcan®……. 5 Minutes to Help Program sponsored by the NJDOH-OEMS.

The IHSA Department received a $17,500 New Jersey Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Emergency Medical Services contract to develop the After the Narcan®…… 5 Minutes to Help presentation. This onehour presentation will serve as the keystone for police, fire and EMS providers who are have been approved to administer Narcan.® The program goal is to provide foundation information to promote conducting a conversation about Medication-assisted treatment (MAT) and rehabilitation treatment after Narcan® is administered.

The program was developed and narrated by Jennifer McCarthy MAS, NRP, CHSE, SHMS Director of Clinical Simulation and Clinical Associate Professor. Dr. Anne Hewitt, MHA Program Chair, Dr. Terrence Cahill, IHSA Chair, and Dr. Ning Jackie Zhang, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs; assisted in the development. Riad Twal, Ed.S, MS, MA, Sr. Instructional Designer for TLTC, supported the production of the program. ■