Spring 2018

Research Spotlight

Dr. Denise Lewis (HDFS) interviewed by Andrea Horsman

OIBR Affiliate Denise Lewis, Associate Professor in Human Development and Family Science, was awarded a $3+ million grant from National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine for her project entitled “Community and Family Resilience, Strength and Wellbeing: Sociocultural Influences on Cambodian and Laotian Refugee Communities’ Responses to Environmental Challenges.”

We recently caught up with Denise and asked her to share some information about her project. Read more about Denise Lewis.

Fellows, Affiliates and GDP ’s

We would like to welcome the following new faculty Affiliates of the Institute:

James Coverdill, (Sociology), Associate Professor
Research Interests: Professions; Surgeons; Medical Education; Work hours; Fatigue

Laura German, (Anthropology), Associate Professor
Research Interests: Land & Environmental Governance; Property rights; Sub-Saharan Africa

Ping Ma, (Statistics), Professor
Research Interests: Bioinformatics, imaging, functional data analysis, big data analytics, high-performance computing

Yoo-Kyoung Seock, (Textiles, Merchandising & Interiors), Associate Professor
Research Interests: Consumer psychology and behavior, cross-cultural study, adolescents’ behavioral study

Wenxuan Zhong, (Statistics), Professor
Research Interests: Bioinformatics, imaging, dimension reduction, big data analytics, high-performance computing.

Congratulations to the new Fellows of the Institute:

Dorothy Carter (Psychology), Assistant Professor
Research Interests: Organizational Systems; Teamwork; Leadership; Innovation; Team Performance; Employees/Businesses; Military; Healthcare; Space Exploration Systems; Social Network Analysis

Nathan Carter (Psychology), Associate Professor
Research Interests: Personality; Job Performance; Methodology; Factor Analysis; Workplace

Justin Lavner (Psychology), Assistant Professor
Research Interests: Couples; Families; Prevention; Therapy; Longitudinal; LGBT

Gregory Strauss (Psychology), Assistant Professor
Research Interests: Schizophrenia; Psychosis; Neuroscience; Emotion; Reward; EEG; Eye-tracking; Social Cognition

More Kudos…

Dr. Justin Lavner (Psychology) was named APS Rising Star. Read more about Justin Lavner.

Dr. Jody Clay-Warner (Sociology), Dr. Maria Len-Rios (Public Relations), and Dr. Emilie Smith (HDFS) were named to the 2017-18 Women’s Leadership Fellows. Read more about Women’s Leadership Fellows.

Dr. Phaedra Corso (Public Health) and Dr. David Okech (Social Work) were named as Fellows to the SEC Academic Leadership Development Program for the 2017-18 academic year. Read more about Phaedra Corso and David Okech.

Dr. Brett Clementz (Psychology) was awarded the 2018 Distinguished Research Professor Award. Read more about Brett Clementze.

Dr. Joshua Miller (Psychology) was awarded the 2018 William A. Owens Creative Research Award. Read more about Joshua Miller.

Dr. Jamie Cooper (Food & Nutrition) was awarded the 2018 First-Odyssey Teaching Award.Read more about Jamie Cooper.

Dr. Jerry Shannon (Geography & Financial Planning, Housing and Consumer Economics) was awarded the 2018 Service-Learning Teaching Excellence Award. Read more about Jerry Shannon.

Policy Regulation & Compliance

Important NIH News and Updates:

In January 2018, NIH rolled out the newest form set, FORMS-E. The majority of the form changes introduced in FORMS E packages relate to a new PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information form.   This form contains several fillable boxes and drop-down selections and separates out several components investigators are used to including in their Research Strategy or Protection of Human Subjects document.  The new form also expands clinical trial data collection to ensure the appropriate level of information for review and to improve oversight. If you’re unfamiliar with FORMS-E and plan to submit to NIH, please let your OIBR grants coordinator know asap so she can provide the most assistance possible.

Identifying whether your study is a clinical trial will be important for:

• picking the right NIH funding opportunity
• ensuring your application includes all the information required for peer review
• complying with the appropriate policies and regulations

A very basic decision tree is available for your reference and the following web page is much more thorough with definitions, case studies, FAQs and graphics and can be found here. If you’re unsure about the PA or RFP to which you plan to apply, please contact Kim Cherewick.

Also, please remember, in July 2016, NIH released a Rigor and Reproducibility Resource Chart regarding 4 areas of focus on Scientific Premise, Scientific Rigor (Design), Biological Variables and Authentication. Reviewers are instructed to look specifically for proposals adherence to this guidance. More information can be found here.

OIBR Noteworthy Publications, 1st Quarter 2018

• From Dr. Jayani Jayawardhana(Pharmacy), Dr. Amanda Abraham (SPIA) and Dr. Matthew Perri (Pharmacy): a study examining gender and insurance disparities in the prescribing practices for opioids. The OIBR researchers analyzed Georgia Medicaid claims in 2012, for beneficiaries with two types of insurance: fee-for-service (FFS) and managed care (MC). They found that the average number of opioid prescriptions and days of supply were higher for males compared to females, and higher for FFS compared to MC beneficiaries. They conclude that policies aimed at curbing inappropriate prescribing of opioids are needed to prevent drug abuse in the Medicaid population (full citation of this study).

• From Dr. Leslie Simons(Sociology), Dr. Ron Simons (Sociology) and Dr. Steve Beach (Psychology) in American Sociological Review. The OIBR researchers found evidence that life stressors experienced by African American youth in their transition to adulthood significantly impacted mothers’ cumulative biological risk for chronic diseases and other health measures. They conclude that public investment in youth during this time period may not only improve life chances for the young people themselves but may also spillover to positively impact healthy aging outcomes for parents (full citation of the review.

Institute News

OIBR Moved!:

In December 2017, OIBR moved from the Boyd Graduate Studies building to our new offices in Brooks Hall on north campus. Though we have less space, our staff is in two suites which allow for easier communications. We were fortunate to be able< to purchase new office furniture and space looks fantastic! We also have a new conference room (max capacity of 20) which is available for meetings to Faculty Affiliates of the Institute.  (Please note, you will need to be sure and contact Andrea Horsman for scheduling the conference room.)  If you are in the neighborhood, please stop by and say “Hi!”

Successful Events:

We have had several successful events over the last few months. Peter Gianaros, Ph.D., a professor of Psychology and Psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh was our guest speaker for the 2018 Gene Brody lecture in February. His lecture entitled “How Does the Brain Break our Hearts? Neurobiological Pathways Linking Psychological Stress and Cardiovascular Disease” was held in Benson Hall with over 50 faculty members in attendance.

In March, we hosted an all-day workshop “Write Winning Grant Proposals that Reviewers want to Read!” presented by Dr. John Robertson with Grant Writer’s Seminars and Workshops. This workshop focused on writing grants for NIH and NSF; we had over 60 faculty members from 31 departments in attendance. Some feedback from the event:

“Extremely helpful information and Dr. Robertson was engaging and knowledgeable”

“Incredibly helpful information with thorough, appropriate resources”

“I now feel empowered to navigate the grant writing workspace”

“Great program with a nice mix of new information and reinforcement of information that I already knew”

“Really good material with practical and applied advice. Will reference the provided materials often for my next grant submission”

We did have some comments about the possibility of separating NIH and NSF into two separate workshops and we will look into that for the next time.

Our second annual Cocktails and Collaboration, a speed networking event, was held in April. Our guest host Dr. Jody Clay-Warner welcomed existing members of the Institute as well as a few new faces. The feedback from this event was very positive with lots of great connections made!  Some comments overheard at the event, “I just made a great contact with someone that I would have probably never met if I had not come to this event,” as well as, “I just met someone that I needed to help me with a grant.” Attendees enjoyed good food and drinks and left with new friends and possible collaborators for their research projects.

Over the last few months, our Director, Dr. Lillian Eby (Psychology), hosted three Mystery Meet and Greet luncheons. The purpose of these informal luncheons is to meet others around campus with similar research interests in behavioral and social sciences, while enjoying good food and conversation. WHO you will be dining with is the mystery part of the lunch. We are always amazed at the great conversations and information shared at these events. These luncheons are by invitation only, so be on the lookout for your invitation next fall.

The 2018 William A. Owens lecture with guest speaker Dr. Joshua A. Gordon, Director of the National Institute of Mental Health was a huge success. We had over 75 attendees from across campus as well as guests from local community groups. This was Dr. Gordon’s first trip to Athens and he said that he plans to come back!

As part of the mission for OIBR, we strive to provide beneficial networking opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration and we hope that you enjoyed these events. We realize it is sometimes hard to take time from your busy day to attend an event, but, ask any of your colleagues and I think you’ll find the feedback is consistently positive.  We do our best to ensure our events are well worth your time. Stay tuned for more exciting things planned in the future. If you have any event ideas, please feel free to share them.

COSSA News and Notes

According to OIBR’s professional organization, the Consortium of Social Science Associations (COSSA), in FY2016 (most updated data released at this time), Georgia received $34.1 million in federal investment in Social & Behavioral Science Research. These funds include grants from NIH ($20.4m), NSF ($3.7m), DoD ($3.1m) and DoE ($1.1m). UGA was the highest supported institution supported by these funds ($12.7m), followed by GSU ($9.0m), Georgia Tech ($7.8m), and Emory ($4.2).

COSSA is an advocate for the research community, educating policy makers on the need for federal funding for research in the social and behavioral sciences. To read their bi-monthly update click here.

Funding News

Two interesting new proposals funded in FY 2018 (since July 1 last year) include:

Dr. Sun Joo (Grace) Ahn (Advertising)— NSF R01 $3.3 million grant “The Virtual Fitness Buddy Ecosystem: Using Digital Technology to Promote and Sustain Moderate to Vigorous Intensive Physical Activity in Children” started in September 2017 and will be funded for five years. Read mor about Sun Joo (Grace Ahn

Dr. Margaret Caughy (HDFS) — R01 project “Self-Regulation Development and the Transition to Middle School” started in July 2017 and will last 5 years. This is a Renewal for another five years of funding after her first 5-year grant concluded.

Our GDP’s continue to impress us! We have 5 former Grant Development Program participants with projects funded in FY 2018:

Dr. Dorothy Carter (Psychology)- Received a $1 million grant from NASA, Project FUSION: Facilitating Unified Systems of Interdependent Organizational Networks. Read mor about Dorothy Carter

Dr. Rebecca Lieberman Betz (Communication Sciences & Special Education)—Recently awarded $1.1 million from the U.S. Dept. of Education’s Office of Special Programs. Read mor abou Rebecca Lieberman Betz

Dr. Orion Mowbray (Social Work) – Assessment of Medication Assisted Treatment for Opioid Use in the Areas Served by Advantage Behavioral Health funded by Advantage Behavioral Health

Dr. Rebecca Nesbit (SPIA)- CNCS grant, “Examining the Determinants of Rural/Urban Volunteering” a two-year study funded by the Corporation for National Community Service

Upcoming Events

October 17-19, 2018 Save the Date

OIBR will be co-hosting the Addiction Health Services Research (AHSR) National meeting in Savannah, GA.

Have something to share?

If you have any questions or newsworthy items to share, please email them to Andrea Horsman,

ahorsman@uga.edu.  Visit OIBR website and follow us on Twitter @OIBR_UGA.