Lifeline Online Late Fall Early Winter 2009 Issue 103
News for the Investigators, Staff and Friends of the Life Span Institute

FEATURED

Exercise, healthy hearts and healthy brains: LSI researchers document a vital connection

In addition to Kathleen Gustafson, several Life Span researchers are focusing on the connection between exercise and improved cognitive functioning and overall physical health in children, adults, the elderly and people with disabilities. Read Full Story

LSI scientist studies impact of mom’s wellness on baby’s long-term health

It’s long been known that exposure to toxic elements or disease during critical periods of fetal development can compromise a child’s physical and cognitive development. Now an LSI-affiliated neurologist is honing in on the opposite -- how the wellness choices a pregnant woman makes can benefit the life-long health of her offspring. Read Full Story

IN THE NEWS

Promises kept: Autism center holds first statewide conference for families and practitioners

When it was founded in July 2008, the Kansas Center for Autism Research and Training (K-CART) vowed to widely disseminate practical knowledge backed by research to those Kansans whose lives are touched by Autism Spectrum Disorders as individuals with ASD, family members, practitioners and policy makers. Read Full Story

ADMINISTRATIVE ANNOUNCEMENTS

Groovin’ to move at Juniper Gardens

The Juniper Gardens Children’s Project has launched a fundraising effort called “Move’n On Up” to support the purchase of furniture and equipment for its new quarters in the Children’s Campus in downtown Kansas City, Kan. Juniper Gardens will be on the third floor of the new $15.5 million facility currently under construction on the corner of 5th Street and Minnesota Avenue. Read Full Story

HONORS

Grad students receive Friends of the Life Span Institute research awards

Emily Zimmerman and Xiaoyi (Kimberly) Hu are the winners of the fifth annual Friends of the Life Span Institute Graduate Research Assistant Awards. Read Full Story

MILESTONES

Zamarripa retires after 40 years of service; receives first Jay Turnbull Fellowship

Edward Zamarripa, LSI director of finance and administration, was honored for his 40 years of service by all four LSI directors, Richard Schiefelbusch, Stephen Schroeder, Steve Warren and John Colombo, at a November 30 reception at the Adams Alumni Center. He also was awarded the first Jay Turnbull Fellowship by Rud Turnbull, co-director of the Beach Center on Disability. Read Full Story

PROJECT DEVELOPMENT NEWS

During this quarter, LSI investigators generated 45 new proposals and received four new grants. Two of the awards and 12, or 27 percent, of the new proposals were generated by junior investigators. Seven of the proposals, or 16 percent, came from investigators submitting for the first time through LSI.

New awards (not previously funded) information

1. Jean Ann Summers received a new, three-month award “Kansas Deaf-Blind Project – Hearing and Vision Impairments” from KsDE that began July 1, 2009.

2. Kathleen Baggett received a new, three-year award “Translating Effective Maltreatment Intervention into the Community” from HHS-CDC that began September 1, 2009.

3. Bryan Smith and Debra Sullivan received a new, seven-month award “Palatability and Acute Glycemic and Satiety Response to Tortillas Containing Blends of Bean and Corn Flour” from the Kansas City Area Life Sciences that began September 1, 2009.

4. Sara Sack received a new, three-year award “Inclusive Community Gardening: Food, Exercise, Friends and Maybe Money” from DE-OSERS-RSA that began October 1, 2009.

Past submissions not previously reported

1. Ann and Rud Turnbull submitted a new, three-year proposal “Exceptional Family Member Program Center of Excellence on Systems Navigation” to Kansas State University, prime contractor to DOD, on September 11, 2009.

2. Sara Sack submitted a new, one-year ARRA supplement “Infant Toddler Assistive Technology Services – Self-Paced Online Assistive Technology Awareness and Training” to KsH&E on September 16, 2009.

3. Kathleen Baggett submitted her fourth-year continuation “Project Eagle Community Programs: Healthy Families in Wyandotte County” to KUMC, prime contractor to Wyandotte County, on September 24, 2009.

4. Mabel Rice submitted a five-year renewal for her subcontract proposal “Pediatric HIV/Aids Cohort Study (PHACS)” to Tulane University, prime contractor to NIH, on September 28, 2009.

5. Sarah Ferguson submitted her third-year progress report “Acoustic Correlates of Clear Speech” to NIDCD on October 1, 2009.

6. Mary Abbott and Angela Miller submitted a new, two-year proposal “Factors that Influence the Early Literacy and Oral Language Outcomes of At Risk Learners in Early Reading First Programs” to DE-IES on October 1, 2009.

7. Hugh Catts and Diane Nielsen submitted a new five-year proposal “Language Bases of Skilled Reading Comprehension” to DE-IES on October 1, 2009.

8. Eva Horn and Susan Palmer submitted a new, three-year proposal “Children’s School Success Curriculum – Plus: Supporting All Children’s Progress in the General Curriculum” to DE-IES on October 1, 2009.

9. Wayne Sailor submitted a new, three-year proposal “Schoolwide Positive Behavior Support Tier Three Interventions Wraparound” to DE-IES on October 1, 2009.

10. Todd Little submitted a new, five-year RO1 subcontract proposal “Parental Autonomy Granting Effects on Mexican-origin Youth Violence and Depression” to Johns Hopkins, prime contractor to NIH, on October 5, 2009.

11. Joe Donnelly, Bryan Smith and Rik Washburn submitted a new, five-year RO1 subcontract proposal “Biological Signals of Weight Loss in African American Women” to KUMC, prime contractor to NIH, on October 5, 2009.

12. Joe Donnelly, Bryan Smith, Rik Washburn, Debra Sullivan, Cheryl Gibson, Matthew Mayo, Merlin Butler and Jeannine Goetz submitted a new, five-year RO1 proposal “Exercise, Energy Balance and Prevention of Weight Regain” to NIH, on October 5, 2009.

13. Gregory Madden and Stephen Fowler submitted a new, four-year RO1 proposal “Experimental Manipulations of Impulsivity: Effects on Gambling and Drug Taking” to NIH on October 5, 2009.

14. Mike Wehmeyer submitted his second-year continuation “Enhancing Life Outcomes through Self-Determination” to UMKC, prime contractor to HHS, on October 7, 2009.

15. Rachel Freeman submitted her 10th-year continuation “Kansas Institute for Positive Behavior Support” to KsSRS on October 12, 2009.

16. Ruth Ann Atchley and Nancy Hamilton submitted a new, two-year R21 proposal “Disrupted Sleep and Attention: A Cognitive Neuroscience Study of Fibromyalgia” to NIH on October 16, 2009.

17. Katherine Froehlich-Grobe, Rik Washburn and Cheryl Gibson submitted a new, one-year RO3 proposal “Energy Expenditure of Active Video Games in Individuals with SCI” to NIH on October 16, 2009.

18. Renee Patrick submitted a new, one-year proposal “Kansas School Readiness Project” to KsDE on October 19, 2009.

19. Ann and Rud Turnbull submitted a new, two-year proposal “The Family-Professional Partnership Project” to KsH&E on October 21, 2009.

20. Kathleen Baggett submitted a new, two-year R34 proposal “A Web-Based Father-Infant Interaction Program for Reducing Child Maltreatment” to NIH on October 30, 2009.

21. Stephen Fawcett, Jerry Schultz and Vicki Collie-Akers submitted a new, five-year proposal “Studying Community Programs to Reduce Childhood Obesity” to the Battelle Memorial Institute on October 30, 2009.

22. Steve Barlow submitted his ninth-year subcontract progress report “Functional Outcomes of Cleft Lip Surgery” to UNC, prime contractor to NIH, on November 1, 2009.

23. Mabel Rice submitted her third-year subcontract progress report “Autism Social and Communication Predictors in Siblings” to KKI, prime contractor to NIH, on November 1, 2009.

24. Joe Donnelly, J. Leone Greene, Bryan Smith, Rik Washburn, David Hansen, John Poggio, Cheryl Gibson and Matthew Mayo resubmitted a five-year RO1 proposal “Physical Activity and Academic Achievement” to NIH on November 5, 2009.

25. Katherine Froehlich-Grobe, Rik Washburn and Todd Little resubmitted a two-year R21 proposal “The Burden of Obesity among Americans with Disabilities” to NIH on November 5, 2009.

26. Kathleen Baggett resubmitted an R21 proposal “A Web-Based Professional Development Program for Child Care Providers” to NIH on November 16, 2009.

27. Jerry Schultz and Vicki Collie Akers submitted a new, two-year ARRA Stimulus proposal “Communities Putting Prevention to Work in Kansas – Tobacco” to KsH&E on November 19, 2009.

28. Jerry Schultz and Vicki Collie Akers submitted a new, two-year ARRA Stimulus proposal “Communities Putting Prevention to Work in Kansas – Obesity” to KsH&E on November 19, 2009.

29. Nancy Brady submitted her third-year progress report “Communication Success and AAC” to NIDCD on December 1, 2009.

30. Stephen Fawcett and Jerry Schultz submitted their third-year progress report “Implementing the Health for All Model with the Latino Community” to NCMHD on December 1, 2009.

31. Ann Turnbull and Wendy Parent submitted a new, two-year proposal “Family Employment Awareness Training (FEAT)” to KHPA on December 1, 2009.

32. Wendy Parent submitted her no-cost extension grant performance report “Women’s Education Equity Program” to DE-WEAA on December 1, 2009.

33. Kathleen Baggett submitted a new, two-year proposal “Translating Effective Maltreatment Intervention Into the Community” to the NIH Loan Repayment Program on December 1, 2009.

34. Amber Watts submitted a new, two-year proposal “The Role of Physical Activity in Cognitive Decline and Dementia” to the NIH Loan Repayment Program on December 1, 2009.

35. Jomella Thompson and Jerry Schultz submitted their second-year progress report “Evaluation of Underage Drinking Efforts in the Kansas SPF-SIG State Initiative” to LTI, prime contractor to HHS on December 2, 2009.

36. Kathy Olson and Wendy Parent submitted a new, nine-month proposal “Think College Kansas: A Program Supporting Individuals with Intellectual or Other Developmental Disabilities” to the Teaching College/Institute for Community Inclusion (UMASS) on December 4, 2009.

37. Lawrence Elledge (mentors Vernberg and Roberts) submitted a new, three-year F32 proposal “A Randomized Trial of a School-based Mentoring Program for Aggressive Children” to NIH on December 8, 2009.

38. Jerry Schultz and Stephen Fawcett submitted their second-year continuation “DELTA-PREP National Workstation and Training in Action Planning for Organizational Change to Prevent IPV” to the CDC Foundation on December 18, 2009.

39. Judith Carta submitted her second-year continuation “Preventing Child Maltreatment Through A Cellular-Phone Technology-Based Parenting Program” to the CDC Foundation on December 18, 2009.

40. Sara Sack submitted her final grant performance report “Expanding Assistive Technology (AT) Reutilization Efforts to Include Organizational, Navigational, and High Cost Technologies” to DE-NIDRR on December 18, 2009.

41. Kathryn Bigelow submitted a new, two-year proposal “Using Cellular Phones to Enhance Healthy Families Home Visiting Programs” to The PEW Center on the States on December 21, 2009.

42. Nancy Brady submitted her final grant performance report “Promoting Communication Outcomes for Children with Deaf-Blindness through Adaptive Prelinguistic Strategies” to DE-OSEP-OSERS on December 29, 2009.

43. Mike Wehmeyer submitted his final grant performance report “The Impact of Intervention on Self-Determination and Adult Outcomes” to DE-NIDRR on December 30, 2009.

44. David Lindeman submitted a five-year renewal proposal “Kansas Inservice Training System (KITS)” to KsDE on December 30, 2009.

45. Jean Ann Summers submitted a five-year renewal proposal “Inclusive Network of Kansas (INKS): Field-Based Technical Assistance and Professional Development” to KsDE on December 30, 2009.