MedStar Health Research Institute Awarded Research Grants From the Charles and Mary Latham Fund

I am proud to announce that MedStar Health Research Institute was awarded grant funding for four research initiatives through the Charles and Mary Latham Fund, established by Ella O. Latham to support medical research in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.

The following MedStar Health physician-investigators were awarded funding for their research projects. We are MedStar Health proud of our investigators and the work they're doing to advance health through research.
  Investigator: Victoria Lai, MD, MS 
Research Project: Diving deep into the social factors that affect outcomes and quality of life in endocrine surgery patients: a qualitative study of patients and clinicians 
 
The purpose of this study is to identify the nuanced individual and contextual social factors that influence the quality of life of endocrine surgery patients living in the metropolitan Washington, DC area. Prior work in this patient population showed that many patients face social factors that negatively affect their quality of life and that Black patients are disproportionately affected by such factors. For this proposal, Dr. Lai will leverage and build on prior quantitative work and conduct a multi-level qualitative study that includes patients and clinicians to define the factors that affect medical care and quality of life.  
  
Investigator: Rachel K. Scott, MD, MPH 
Research Project: Advanced Placental Aging in Pregnancies of Women with HIV 
 
Pregnancies complicated by HIV have increased fetal and neonatal complications, such as growth restriction/small for gestational age and preterm delivery, with long-term detrimental impact on development. The impact of HIV on placental maturation remains unstudied, though premature aging may provide a mechanism of placental dysfunction associated with adverse fetal-neonatal outcomes. Understanding and potentially preventing complications for mothers and infants living with HIV is a foremost important public health priority.  
 
Investigator:  Leila Shobab, MD 
Research Project: Spatial Molecular Profiling of Differentiated Thyroid Cancer 
 
The goal of this project is to identify molecular mechanisms that regulate sex-bias in Differentiated Thyroid Cancer (DTC). Thyroid cancer has a strong sex-bias with 4 times higher incidence among women although men have more aggressive disease and higher mortality. The molecular basis for this observation is unknown. Current treatment is not specific to patient sex and is not effective in prolonging survival for 6-20% of patients who develop distant metastasis with majority becoming refractory to conventional treatment. There is a need for novel treatment strategies for advanced Differentiated Thyroid Cancer.
 
Investigator: Erin C. Hall, MD 
Research Project: Law Enforcement in the Emergency Department: on reAssessing Impact and Opportunities for Change Among Patients, Providers and Police 
 
In a national survey of trauma providers on the subject of law enforcement presence in the emergency room, a number of problematic law enforcement behaviors were reported including intrusion into patient care, questioning without allowing for consent or while incapacitated, overbroad searches and seizures, inappropriate disclosures of protected health information, and control of disclosures to family.  Each of these behaviors may have clinically important ramifications for our patients’ health, including the erosion of patient-provider trust, increased involvement in the criminal justice system, and increased risk for future violence. The focus of this proposal is to leverage MedStar Washington Hospital Center’s Community Violence Intervention Program (CVIP) and Georgetown Law Center’s Center for Innovation in Community Safety’s (CICS) history and relationships with victims of violence and the DC Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) to conduct a series of focus groups.                                                                                                                                                        

The Charles and Mary Latham Fund was established by Ella O. Latham in memory of her parents. Founded in 1972, the Fund has supported a myriad of worthwhile projects relating to medical research for the cure of diseases in the human body with a preference for clinical applications and medical, nursing, and hospital care for persons suffering from such diseases who are financially unable to provide their own care.