MIRECC / CoE

Highlights from Our Anchor Sites

Our affiliates in Houston, Little Rock, and New Orleans work hard to promote mental health education, research, and treatment locally and nationally. Here are some highlights of their accomplishments over the past three months.

Houston

Dr. David Oslin Visited SC MIRECC Directors

Drs. Mark Kunik and Michael Kauth welcomed Dr. David Oslin, Director of the VISN 4 MIRECC, to the Houston site while he was in town to promote his multi-site VA PRIME Care (Precision Medicine in Mental Health Care) study. The project is headquartered at the Philadelphia VAMC with Houston (Site Investigator: Dr. David P. Graham; Research Coordinator: Dr. Alexandra Caloudas) and Little Rock (Site Coordinator: Dr. Gayla Paschall; Research Coordinator: Adam Lallier) serving as two of the study’s 22 sites. The purpose of the study is to learn: 1) if and how Veteran patients and their providers use genetic test results at the time an anti-depressant medication is started for the treatment of depression, and 2) whether use of the genetic test results improves outcomes from the treatment of depression.

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Dr. Natalie Hundt Presented Poster at ISTSS 2019

Dr. Hundt presented a poster of her research on diverse responses to a diagnosis of PTSD among Veterans at the 2019 International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies conference. Her research emphasized the care providers should take when conveying psychological diagnoses to Veterans, as strong emotional reactions are common.

 

Little Rock

VA/Clergy Partnership for Rural Veterans Featured in Rocky Mountain MIRECC Short Takes Podcast

Georgia Gerard interviewed Chaplain Steve Sullivan about the VA/Clergy Partnership for Rural Veterans on the RMIRECC podcast series. Initiated and supported by SC MIRECC and the VA Office of Rural Health (ORH), this partnership brought together community clergy, mental health providers, and others to help Veterans gain access to both VA and community care and support. Chaplain Sullivan worked to establish six ongoing VA/Clergy “community action boards” (CABs) in rural sites throughout Arkansas. These efforts supported the creation of ORH's Community Clergy Training Program.

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Affiliates Presented at #DIScience19

Several affiliates attended the Conference on the Science of Dissemination and Implementation in Health. Drs. Sara Landes, Geoff Curran, and JoAnn Kirchner were among the roster of presenters.

 

New Orleans

Researchers Receive VA HSR&D Innovation Initiative Award

Congratulations to Drs. Joseph Constans (PI), Gala True (Co-PI), and Amanada Raines (Co-I) for receiving one of 10 VA HSR&D Innovation Initiative Awards for the project "Developing an Evaluation of a Veteran-Informed Means Restriction Intervention for Suicide Prevention. This project will evaluate peer involvement—at the individual and community levels—in a Veteran-informed suicide prevention intervention designed to improve gun safety messaging.

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PhotoVoice Project Featured in VA HSR&D Podcast

Drs. Gala True, Sarah Ono, and Traci Abraham discussed the PhotoVoice project for Veterans and their caregivers with HSR&D.

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Last updated: October 29, 2020