Mismatched team of researchers aspire to improve infant and mother health outcomes By AMANDA SCOTT In an unlikely pairing, a geography professor, an engineering professor,… Read More »Kangaroo care in the NICU: On the way to better health
When a child arrived at Alfred I. Dupont in April 2020 with symptoms feigning appendicitis, myocarditis, Rheumatic fever, toxic shock syndrome, or possibly, Kawasaki Disease,… Read More »ACCEL Researcher studying new, rare pediatric condition associated with COVID-19
Children with chronic health conditions are the most vulnerable to poor outcomes without appropriate outpatient care. Delivery of pediatric cardiac care via the traditional in-person method through which care is typically delivered was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Meet Dr. Stephanie Deutsch, Co-Medical Director of the Children At Risk Evaluation (C.A.R.E) Program and Section Chief of Child Abuse Pediatric Medicine (within the Division of General Pediatrics) at Nemours Children’s Hospital. Dr. Deutsch, along with her partner Dr. Allan De Jong, MD have been conducting an ACCEL-supported project researching child welfare involvement among prenatally substance exposed infants.
Meet Dr. Shabbir Merchant, ACCEL Researcher of the Quarter and recipient of a 2019
Mentored Research Development Award (MRDA). Dr. Merchant is a movement disorder
neurologist and assistant professor of neurology at the Medical University of South
Carolina. His clinical work involves treating patients with Parkinson’s disease, tremors,
and other movement disorders. He uses therapies such as deep brain stimulation and
precision tools like ultrasound guided botulinum toxin injections for treatment of a wide
variety of neurological disorders such as dystonia, spasticity, etc.
Meet Sue Giancola, PhD, ACCEL’s Core Lead for Tracking and Evaluation. Dr. Giancola has over twenty years of experience in the field of evaluation. Beginning in July 2018, she joined the ACCEL team and has been working to restructure and refocus the evaluation. The ACCEL evaluation uses a theory-based approach, and is both stakeholder-driven and results-focused. Evaluation is built into the logic of the ACCEL Program, and is outcomes-oriented within a continuous improvement framework.
Dr. David Chen, MD, MPH, is a CTR ACCEL Program Mentored Research Development Award recipient and Community Engaged Clinical and Translational Pilot Awardee. He is researching the impact of personal and community violence on the health and quality of life on exposed individuals. Dr. Chen lived in the north side of Wilmington city while he attended residency at Christiana Hospital and saw first-hand the need for advocacy and research related to Community Violence Exposure (CVE).
Dr. Meg Sions, PhD, DPT, PT of the University of Delaware is an ACCEL Pilot Project Grant Awardee studying sensory impairment manifestations among adults with chronic limb pain following an amputation. Dr. Sions is conducting a cross-sectional study of 50 adults with a unilateral, below-the-knee amputation (25 with long-standing pain in the amputated limb and 25 without), who are compared to 25 controls. The purpose of the study is to (a) explore differences in sensory thresholds, including vibration and light touch detection, among adults with and without chronic limb pain following amputation, as compared to controls and (b) how these differences relate to prosthetic use and physical function. Knowledge gained from this study may result in shifting of post-amputation rehabilitation to include novel interventions to address sensory impairments and pain, and also inform future prosthetic design, particularly if such impairments can be linked with clinically important outcomes, such as prosthesis fit and function.
Dr. Allison Karpyn, PhD., is Senior Associate Director of the Center for Research and Education and Social Policy (CRESP) and Associate Professor of Human Development and Family Sciences at the University of Delaware. She is also an ACCEL Community Engaged (ACE) Research Awardee and member of the CEO Core. With the help of the ACE Pilot funding, Dr. Karpyn and her team were able to kick start their research on the impact of animal zoo characters on healthy food sales at a zoo concession stand.
Let me introduce myself, Dayna Littleton, the new Program Coordinator supporting the ACCEL Program at Delaware State University. I am originally from Connecticut and grew up in a “science education” household where my mother was a high school Biology teacher and my stepfather was a professor of Biology; his research focused on birds of prey worldwide and he published articles on avian ecology and authored some books, “The Great Horned Owl” being just one. I have a bachelor’s degree in Political Science. I am a mother to two teenage girls. My one daughter is a senior interested in studying biology in college. Their father is also a high school Biology teacher, so it must be in her blood. We have resided in Smyrna, DE for the past 17 years.