Research Initiatives

Research in Progress

In addition to the grants currently awarded, several faculty members in the department are involved in a number of additional research projects, some of which are funded as collaborative efforts with other departments both internal and external to the University. Noted below (alphabetically) are several projects which departmental faculty are currently either seeking funds to develop further, working on as in-kind contributions to the project, or are collaborating on as interdisciplinary research efforts.

A Cancer Screening Reminder System for Patients in a Primary Care Network (AHRQ) - Roger Luckmann, MD, MPH and Barry Saver, MD, MPH

A Novel Decision Aid for Prostate Cancer Screening (NCI) - Roger Luckmann, MD, MPH

Bilingual Group Diabetes Visits: Supporting English-and Spanish -Speaking Group Medical Visits at a Community Health Center (UMMS Public Service Endowment Grant) - Lucy Candib, MD

Building Knowledge in the Exit Process for Homeless Families in Worcester, MA (UMass/Commonwealth Medicine) - Linda Weinreb, MD

Effect of Nicotine and Varenicline on Brain Activity in Conscious Rats Using fMRI/BOLD (Pfizer Pharmaceuticals)- Joseph DiFranza, MD

Effect of Varenicline on Cognitive Function in an Animal Model of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (Pfizer Pharmaceuticals) - Joseph DiFranza, MD

Empowering Physicians to Improve Breast Cancer Screening - Roger Luckmann, MD, MPH

Health Status of Low Income Women and Children - Linda Weinreb, MD

Imaging Nicotine-Induced Behavioral Sensitization with fMRI (NIDA) - Joseph DiFranza, MD

Increasing Colorectal Cancer Screening - Roger Luckmann, MD, MPH

Implementation of a Mammography Reminder System in a Healthcare Network (CDC) - Roger Luckmann, MD, MPH

Non-Cancer Care of Elderly Colorectal Cancer Patients - Barry Saver, MD, MPH

Patient Decision-Making and Personalized Multifactorial Risk Information (RWJF) - Barry Saver, MD, MPH

Perceived Bias in Medical Care Among Ethically Diverse Adults with Diabetes (NIH) - Lee Hargraves, PhD

Recruitment of Community Physcians to an Education Program: Costs and Effects of Repeated Invitations, Incentives, and Peer Persuasion - Roger Luckmann, MD, MPH

School Nurse-delivered Smoking Cessation Intervention - Joe DiFranza, MD

SEARCH: Cancer Screening Effectiveness and Research in Community-Based Healthcare (NCI) - Chyke Doubeni, MD, MPH

Service Utilization Patterns of Low Income Women and Children - Linda Weinreb, MD

Understanding Racial and Ethnic Differences in Survival from Colorectal Cancer - Chyke Doubeni, MD, MPH

UMass Teaching Health Centers Connections Project (NLM) - Bob Baldor, MD and Elaine Martin