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Translational Research Institute

ARresearch

TRIbune Newsletter Celebrates ARresearch 3-Year Anniversary

This month’s TRIbune newsletter celebrates TRI’s three-year anniversary of ARresearch with a spotlight on Keith Bush, Ph.D., a UAMS researcher who extols the benefits of the ARresearch

Keith Bush, Ph.D., is ahead of his participant enrollment goals for two studies thanks to the ARresearch volunteer registry.
Keith Bush, Ph.D., is ahead of his participant enrollment goals for two studies thanks to the ARresearch volunteer registry.

registry. He is also conducting potentially groundbreaking research using an MRI to test people’s ability to regulate their emotions.

TRI Director Laura James, M.D., notes in her letter that 48% of studies fail to meet participant accrual goals. The ARresearch registry has nearly 6,000 potential volunteers signed up, providing the capacity to help more researchers.

We also highlight the work of Kate Stewart, M.D., M.P.H., and Alex Marshall, Ph.D., M.P.H., who will lead a PCORI-funded multistate collaborative to address health care discrimination for transgender/nonbinary individuals.

Clare Nesmith, M.D., is the principal investigator on our New Study of the Month.

Read The TRIbune.

ARresearch ‘Kick-Starts’ Digital Health Study Enrollment

A UAMS NIH-funded digital health study needed 128 participants with mild to moderate depression. Within 10 weeks, it had 103, well ahead of schedule, said Carolyn Greene, Ph.D., who is leading the study. TRI’s ARresearch registry of volunteers, she said, has provided about 20 participants.

“That was a good way for us to kick-start this study,” said Greene, associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry, Division of Health Services Research.

Greene’s study is targeting UAMS primary care patients with untreated depression. She said finding such patients for her study is difficult because they may not be coming in for regular doctor visits, or may not feel comfortable discussing their mental health with their doctors.

“That’s where the ARresearch database was extremely helpful to us,” she said.

Greene, who is also the national manager of Mental Health Web Services at the Department of Veterans Affairs, said the study is conducted online or over the phone, from screening to receipt of a gift card for participants.

For eight weeks, a coach will help patients with downloading and using a portfolio of mobile apps, and provide encouragement.

The apps use evidence-based cognitive behavioral tools and have shown that they can help significantly reduce depression. Greene’s study will address how the apps, combined with a coach, could fit into UAMS’ system of care.

“The goal isn’t for the coach to replace a therapist, but to help them use the apps to learn skills and tools to become their own therapist,” Greene said.

The study includes gathering input from clinicians and administrators.

“Our goal is to solve a problem for the primary care clinics, which have many patients with mild to moderate depression but not a lot of resources to provide interventions,” she said.

ARresearch.org Registry Hits 5,000 Volunteer Milestone

A registry that matches people’s health interests with research studies at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) now has more than 5,000 Arkansans signed up.

Nathaniel Noble of Little Rock joined the ARresearch.org registry and participated in a UAMS research study coordinated by Research Associate Dusio Giuseppina, Ph.D. (right).
Nathaniel Noble of Little Rock joined the ARresearch.org registry and participated in a UAMS research study coordinated by Research Associate Dusio Giuseppina, Ph.D. (right).

The milestone was reached just two years after the registry was created to help address the critical need for research study volunteers.

“Five thousand is significant because now we are reaching a critical mass of volunteers needed to help our researchers meet their study enrollment targets and produce high-quality findings,” said Laura James, M.D., director of the UAMS Translational Research Institute, which established the registry. “We appreciate the tremendous support of our fellow Arkansans. They tell us wherever we recruit that they love UAMS and enthusiastically support our research mission.”

The registry is at ARresearch.org, a UAMS website created by the Translational Research Institute with input from its Community Advisory Board and UAMS patient advisory groups. Registrants select from a list of 29 health interest areas (allergy, heart disease, skin disorders, etc.) so that researchers know who to contact when they have studies in those health areas. Registrants can select as many of the categories as they want.

Studies at UAMS range from clinical trials (investigational drugs and devices) to health-related surveys and tests of health interventions.

One researcher who has found the registry invaluable is John Arthur, M.D., Ph.D., professor and chief of nephrology in the UAMS College of Medicine. Arthur was able to find 31 participants for his research studying bacteria in the gut of chronic kidney disease patients.

Using the ARresearch.org registry, John Arthur, M.D., Ph.D., found 31 Arkansans to participate in his kidney disease study.
Using the ARresearch.org registry, John Arthur, M.D., Ph.D., found 31 Arkansans to participate in his kidney disease study.

“We really couldn’t have conducted this research without the ability to find fairly large numbers of healthy volunteers, and ARresearch has been fabulous for that,” said Arthur, also associate director of the Translational Research Institute. In addition to helping UAMS researchers, the registry is also popular with Arkansans.

Nathaniel Noble, of Little Rock, joined the ARresearch.org registry last year after hearing about it at a Rotary Club luncheon. He checked the “Healthy Volunteer” option on the form and soon received an email from UAMS asking if he would be interested in participating in Arthur’s kidney research study.

“It hit home because my dad was on dialysis the last years of his life,” Noble said. “I felt that I needed to do my part so maybe someone else’s dad won’t have to go through the same experience.”

Noble said his participation was a good experience. “They were very personable and walked me through the tests they were running. Mine was in three parts and they did whatever it took to work around my schedule.”

Anita Rose, of North Little Rock, helped put the registry over the 5,000 mark when she joined during the Back to School Bash at North Little Rock Academy on Aug. 11. She said the word “research” immediately got her attention when she saw the

Anita Rose, of North Little Rock, said her mother's breast cancer inspired her to join the ARresearch.org volunteer registry.
Anita Rose, of North Little Rock, said her mother’s breast cancer inspired her to join the ARresearch.org volunteer registry.

ARresearch.org booth.

“My mom had breast cancer and we need that researched more,” Rose said, adding that as an African-American, she wants to be sure her race is represented. “It needs to be done with people of color, Hispanics, and others because everybody is different.”

Jean McSweeney, Ph.D., R.N., who led development of ARresearch.org, noted that the registry’s diversity compares well to Arkansas census data. In fact, it has a higher percentage of African-Americans, Asians, Native Americans and Pacific Islanders than is reflected in Arkansas census data.

“We’ve worked hard to ensure that we are recruiting a diverse pool of registrants, and we are proud to have registrants from all 75 Arkansas counties,” said McSweeney, professor and associate dean for research in the College of Nursing. “I think our success can be attributed in part to the early involvement of diverse community representatives when we were developing ARresearch.”

Nationally, up to 48 percent of research studies fail to meet their enrollment goals and most require twice the amount of time to meet their recruitment goals than originally planned, according to a 2013 Tufts University study. As a result, increasing public participation in research has become a priority for the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The Translational Research Institute represents UAMS as part of a national consortium of Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) Program institutions supported by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) of the NIH.

UAMS is the state’s only health sciences university, with colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Professions and Public Health; a graduate school; hospital; northwest Arkansas regional campus; statewide network of regional centers; and six institutes: the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, Psychiatric Research Institute, Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging and Translational Research Institute. It is the only adult Level 1 trauma center in the state. UAMS has 2,834 students, 822 medical residents and six dental residents. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 10,000 employees, including 1,200 physicians who provide care to patients at UAMS, its regional campuses throughout the state, Arkansas Children’s Hospital, the VA Medical Center and Baptist Health. Visit www.uams.edu or www.uamshealth.com. Find us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or Instagram.