Hines VA-Serwa Research Center on Aging Awards 2022 Research Grants
PRESS RELEASE
July 26, 2022
Hines , IL — Hines VA-Serwa Research Center on Aging (Serwa Center) awarded its second series of $50,000 research grants seeking to improve the quality of life and address the unique health needs of aging Veterans.
"These awards will help create interdisciplinary research teams to innovate clinical care for older Veterans," said Dr. Holly Kramer, Serwa Center director.
Currently, grants are open to Edward Hines, Jr. VA Hospital principal investigators. 2022’s recipients are:
- Development of a miniature electronic monitor to measure adherence to prescribed wear-time for diabetic foot orthoses. – This team aims to complete the development and validation of an attachable wear-time monitor system to improve compliance with removable cast walker boots to treat diabetic foot ulcers.
- Principal Investigator: Dr. Muturi Muriuki (Hines VA)
- Co-Investigators: Robert Harvey, MS (Hines VA); Avinash Patwardhan, Ph.D. (Hines VA); Rodney Stuck, DPM (Hines VA)
- Feasibility of and preliminary effects of yoga on cognitive function and stress among aging Veterans with mild cognitive impairment and alcohol use disorder. – This study seeks to determine the feasibility of a unique yoga intervention designed to improve brain function in aging Veterans with alcohol use disorder.
- Principal Investigator: Dr. Amy Herrold (Hines VA)
- Co-Investigators: Alma Ramic, MD (Hines VA); Sonia Bobra, MD (Hines VA); Rachael Ellison, Ph.D. (Illinois Institute of Technology); Cameron Mackey, Ph.D., TSAC-F, USAW (Loyola University – Chicago)
- Consultants: Dulal Bhaumik, Ph.D. (Hines VA); Anne Day, Ph.D. (Hines VA); Lakshmi Athota, MD (Hines VA); Sree Katragadda, MD (Hines VA); Matthew Sprong, Ph.D., CRC, LCPC, CLCP, CADC, CVE (Hines VA)
- Multi-ethnic transcriptomic analysis of primary open-angle glaucoma. – This study will explore whether susceptibility genes for primary open-angle glaucoma are uniquely expressed in different racial and ethnic groups.
- Co-Principal Investigators: Dr. Evan Stubbs (Hines VA); Dr. Michael Zilliox (Loyola University – Chicago)
- Co-Investigators: Charles Bouchard MD, MA (Loyola University – Chicago); Meenakshi Chaku, MD (Hines VA)
The Serwa Center opened in 2020 at Hines VA Hospital thanks to a generous $5 million donation by the Serwa family to support geriatric health research within the VA healthcare system. The Chicago Association for Research and Education in Science (CARES) manages the fund.
To learn more about supporting the center’s research mission, visit www.cares-research.org/hines-va-serwa-research-center-on-aging. Or contact Dr. Holly Kramer at Holly.Kramer@va.gov.
About the Hines VA-Serwa Research Center on Aging
The Serwa Center is led by Director Holly Kramer, MD, Associate Director of Research for the Medicine Service Line at Edward Hines, Jr VA Hospital. Dr. Kramer is joined by a Steering Committee which includes Dr. William Gilmer and Dr. William Wolf. Cindy M. Reutzel, MPA, is Chief Executive Officer of CARES and serves as an ex-officio member. Learn more about CARES at: www.CARES-Research.org.
About Edward Hines, Jr. VA Hospital
Edward Hines, Jr. VA Hospital, located 12 miles west of downtown Chicago on a 147-acre campus, offers primary, extended and specialty care to veteran patients in the Chicago area. We are the largest VA in the state of Illinois, where more than a million veterans reside. The hospital treats more than 44,000 veterans from World War II through the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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