Penn State College of Medicine led by Jennifer Kraschnewski, MD, MPH, assistant professor, Department of Medicine and Public Health Sciences and member of the SSRI steering committee, received $2.2 million in funding from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to enable its participation in a new research network focused on diabetes.
This funding will support Penn State College of Medicine to join in the new Natural Experiments Network, launched by PCORI, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK).
The Natural Experiments Network will study the impact of population-targeted health policies and interventions on the risks, complications, and disparities related to diabetes. The network’s findings could inform the efforts of policy makers, health plan directors, and community leaders to prioritize policies and practices to treat and prevent type 2 diabetes and its complications. Natural experiments assess the health impact of what occurs when groups of people experience different conditions or circumstances as a result of change in policy or practice such as investment in healthcare services or introduction of programs designed to promote physical activity.
Reducing the incidence of type 2 diabetes and its complications will depend on population-targeted health policies to alter health systems, communities and individual behaviors in ways that promote healthy activities and choices. Recent policy changes through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) may improve obesity counseling access, but Kraschnewski’s research will help to evaluate whether these changes improve health outcomes.
Kraschnewski and her team will leverage the novel infrastructure of the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute-funded PaTH Clinical Data Research Network (CDRN), consisting of four Mid-Atlantic academic health systems (Penn State Hershey Medical Center, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Temple Health System and Johns Hopkins Health System) that have established governance to operate as an integrated research network. In 2015, the University of Utah and Geisinger Health System joined PaTH, creating an electronic health record (EHR)-based data infrastructure across three states, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Utah.
Kraschnewski’s research will study the impact in patients throughout the CDRN of the recently enacted health policy for obesity counseling coverage by private and public health plans through CMS that affect weight loss, diabetes incidence and the Healthy People 2020 diabetes objectives.
“Overweight and obesity are America’s number one health concern. As the second most preventable cause of death, obesity is a risk factor for diabetes, cardiovascular disease, stroke and cancer. Our research is an important step in understanding the effect of obesity counseling coverage and its impact on the obesity epidemic,” said Kraschnewski.
Kraschnewski’s early research on obesity counseling received funding from 2012-2014 when she was accepted to Penn State Clinical + Translational Science Institute’s KL Program. A highly selective program that recruits new faculty from Penn State, the KL Program provides five years of intensive training and career mentoring with the goal of producing successful, independently funded clinical and translational scientists. Throughout the program, Kraschnewski received a combination of individualized career mentoring providing breadth of experience, regular networking opportunities across campuses and tailored coursework based upon her career development plan. Kraschnewski began applying for external funding within the second year of the program, a hallmark of the KL Program.
PCORI is an independent, non-profit organization authorized by Congress in 2010 to fund research that will provide patients, their caregivers and clinicians with the evidence-based information they need to make better-informed healthcare decisions. PCORI is committed to continuously seeking input from a broad range of stakeholders to guide its work. More information is available at www.pcori.org.
Penn State Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) provides resources and services to accelerate research discoveries and disseminate to the community at large, new methods to promote health and predict, prevent and effectively treat human disease. The CTSI is a Clinical and Translational Science Award, UL1 TR00127, from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). More information at ctsi.psu.edu