Chicago Association for Research and Education in Science

Programs

1. Caring Connections A program to alleviate social isolation and loneliness in individuals living with spinal cord injury conducted by Dr. Sherri Lavela at Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital. The findings of this study have revealed how persons with SCI/D conceptualize loneliness and social isolation, and both constructs encompassed feeling alone along with other emotional states such as darkness and sadness lack of meaningful interactions and brought to light patient views on driving factors. Findings can be used to develop social health interventions and guide patient-provider discussions that address meaningful aspects of loneliness and social isolation as perceived by individuals and suggest that efforts are needed to better identify and respond to social isolation and lonliness in community and healthcare settings. These findings will help us build and refine the intervention design and content for the current grant. Examining energy in persons with chronic spinal cord injuries and disorders measurement of requirements, knowledge, and intake - conducted by Dr. Sherri Lavela and Lorena Reyes, dietitian at Edward Hines Jr VA Hospital. Stude focuses on measuring energy requirements,…

   $587,235 spent$103,821 earned by the program
   11% of program spending

2. COVID-19 vaccine safety monitoring surveillance Rapid Cycle Analysis Queries Risk Assessment/Evaluation funded by the CDC. Under this study, adverse events of special interest AESIswill be identified through ICD-10 diagnosis codes in CDW databases for Veterans who received COVID-19 vaccines. Prespecified potential AESIs will be identified from inpatient and emergency visits for most outcomes and a small number of pre-specified outcomes will also be identified from outpatient visits. The potential associations between vaccine administration and pre-specified adverse events will be evaluated in near real-time employing a technique called rapid cycle analysis RCA. Specifically, a Poisson-based maximized sequential probability test MaxSPRT will be employed. Other approaches may also be adopted in order to monitor the safety of COVID-19 vaccines in near real-time e.g. Bayesian, vaccinated vs unvaccinated matched on date of vaccination, etc. SafeRx Post-Market Medical Product Surveillance funded by the FDA. The purpose of this study was to enhance drug safetly knowledge and expand and develop better tools and techniques for assessing drug safety through information sharing and the…

   $1,364,371 spent
   25% of program spending

3. Comparison of a Novel Modified All-Suture Construct Versus Suture-Button Fixation in a Syndesmotic Injury Model conducted by Muturi G Muriuki, PhD, subcontract PI at Musculoskeletal Biomechanics Laboratory, Edward Hines Jr VA Hospital, Hines, IL. The laboratory will conduct biomechanical experiments to characterize the ability of a modified all-suture construct to stabilize the syndesmosis. This construction will be compared to a commercially available suspensory button fixation system. The test speicmans will be obtained by the laboratory. Fluoroscopy will be used to screen specimens. The experiments will measure the change in the spatial relationship between the tibia and fibula under 750N of axial load and 7.5Nm of internal rotation moment. Custom test fixtures and apparatus will allow each tibia to be rifidly fixed to a custom test fixture with the specimen aligned anatomically and the foot fixed to a plate. The foot plate will allow some trannslation and rotation in the transverse plane in repsonse to forces applied during testing. This allowance will accomodate any mismatch in the rotational axis of the ankle and that of the test apparatus.

   $212,250 spent$19,820 earned by the program
   4% of program spending

4. Program Service Expenses 3,316,766, Grants and allocations 0, Revenue 2,110,830 See Schedule O The Chicago Association for Research and Education in Science CARES has been serving veterans since 1984. The primary tax-exempt purpose of CARES is biomedical, clinical and health services research as well as health related educational activities in collaboration with the Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital and the Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center, William S. Middleton VA Hospital and Jesse Brown VA Medical Center. This research benefits United States Veterans being treated at all four VA sites and the general public by advancing knowledge in the diagnosis and treatment of disease and disability. Education activities include the dissemination of research results through publication in quality medical journals and presentation at professional meetings all of which are intended to translate research results to clinical practice. Other education is geared to helping patients and their families understand and manage their medical conditions. During the past year, CARES supported more than 100 individual researchers who cumulatively are conducting research projects in the…

   $3,316,766 spent$2,110,830 earned by the program
   61% of program spending

The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $5,480,622.