Active Research Grants

Research event at UW

Training Self-Knowledge to Improve Learning and Problem Solving

Project Duration: 02/01/2024 - 01/31/2027
Dept. Investigator(s): Chantel Prat
Abstract: Click to expand...
The study explores the potential for using self-knowledge training to improve learning and problem-solving performance. It deploys the PIs expertise in the biological and experiential factors that drive individual differences in cognition and social learning theory.

Rear and Release Population Augmentation of the Åga or Mariana Crow

Project Duration: 10/01/2023 - 09/30/2026
Dept. Investigator(s): Sarah K. Faegre
Abstract: Click to expand...
This project continues research on survival of an endangered species, including artificial incubation and hand rearing, native foraging and pre-release antipredator training, sampling to monitor for disease in hand-reared birds, and investigation of factors leading to nesting failure of wild and captive-reared birds using nest monitoring cameras.

Åga Genomics and Disease

Project Duration: 10/01/2023 - 09/30/2024
Dept. Investigator(s): Sarah K. Faegre
Abstract: Click to expand...
This project will primarily benefit the critically endangered Åga bird and may also benefit other native forest birds on Rota, in Northern Mariana Islands. Objectives are to protect extant genetic diversity in the Åga, identify genes and develop a screening tool for wild fledglings.

Promoting Intraminority Solidarity Through Intergroup Relations Framings

Project Duration: 10/01/2023 - 09/30/2026
Dept. Investigator(s): Sapna Cheryan
Abstract: Click to expand...
This project investigates how different framings of racism influence Asian Americans’ intraminority solidarity with Black Americans. It explores whether framing racism against Black Americans as the result of anti-Blackness increases Asian Americans’ sense of solidarity with Black Americans, compared to framing racism as the result of White supremacy.

Corticolimbic dynamics of naturalistic risky decision-making in a model of Alzheimer’s disease

Project Duration: 09/16/2023 - 09/15/2024
Dept. Investigator(s): Eun Joo Kim
Abstract: Click to expand...
This project uses naturalistic behavioral paradigms to understand Alzheimer's disease at the level of neural network function.

Effects of Direct and Vicarious Discrimination on Alcohol and Cannabis Cravings: Virtual Reality Experiment

Project Duration: 09/15/2023 - 07/31/2027
Dept. Investigator(s): Priscilla Lui
Abstract: Click to expand...
This project examines effects of both direct and vicarious racial discrimination on alcohol and cannabis use and co-use.

Exploring affect-motivated alcohol use as a value-based decision-making process.

Project Duration: 09/06/2023 - 08/31/2025
Dept. Investigator(s): Kevin King, Jonas Dora
Abstract: Click to expand...
K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award launches a career as an independent scientist. This K99 phase will provide intensive training in the combined study of alcohol use with experimental, ecological momentary assessment, and computational approaches, and will position Dr. Dora to make substantial contributions to the field of alcohol research

Heterogeneity in joint real-time and developmental influences of positive and negative social media experiences on socioemotional vulnerability and psychopathology across adolescence

Project Duration: 09/04/2023 - 07/31/2028
Dept. Investigator(s): Lucía Magis-Weinberg, Katherine T. Foster
Abstract: Click to expand...
This project seeks to characterize positive and negative online experiences as sources of risk and resilience for loneliness and psychopathology, studying in early and mid adolescents, key developmental points of transformation of peer interactions.

Ethical and Responsible Practices for Research Participant Demographic Information

Project Duration: 09/01/2023 - 08/31/2025
Dept. Investigator(s): Yuichi Shoda
Abstract: Click to expand...
This project seeks to improve research practices to obtain and report racial identity information in ways that recognizeand respect individuals’ identity and avoids reinforcing essentialized views of race.

Attention allocation as a computational mechanism for altered sensory processing in autism

Project Duration: 08/01/2023 - 05/31/2028
Dept. Investigator(s): Scott Murray
Abstract: Click to expand...
This project tests the hypothesis that spatial- and feature-based attention is more narrowly focused and that rapidoscillations of attention occur at a slower rate in people with autism spectrum disorder ASD.

Anatomical, neural, and computational constraints on sensory cross-modal plasticity following early blindness

Project Duration: 04/01/2023 - 03/31/2025
Dept. Investigator(s): Ione Fine, Woon Ju Park
Abstract: Click to expand...
This is a K99/R00 award for Woon Ju Park. This project investigates how early blindness affects auditory processing within the deprived visual cortex.

Brain-wide dynamics underlying behavioral multitasking in Drosophila

Project Duration: 03/01/2023 - 02/28/2026
Dept. Investigator(s): Osama Ahmed
Abstract: Click to expand...
This project combines recent advances in behavioral analysis, in vivo brain-wide neural imaging, and neurogenetics to investigate the coordination of locomotion and acoustic signal production (courtship song) in a genetically tractable model: Drosophila melanogaster.

Development of A Behavioral Intervention Program for Families of Autistic Adults

Project Duration: 02/01/2023 - 01/31/2025
Dept. Investigator(s): Wendy Stone
Abstract: Click to expand...
This grant supports the research of Dr. Daina Tagavi. The project develops a protocol to offer autistic adults and their families a tool for adaptive skill development to engage in desired community activities and to live independently.

Strengthen Computational Neuroanatomy Using DIPY

Project Duration: 11/12/2022 - 10/31/2024
Dept. Investigator(s): Ariel Rokem
Abstract: Click to expand...
DIPY is a Python library for analysis of 3D/4D+ imaging data. This project proposes to extend DIPY’s capabilities and grow its community: extend the image registration, parallelization of processing, and improve documentation.

Early Age-Related Hearing Loss Investigation (EARHLI): A Randomized Controlled Trial to Assess theMechanisms Linking Early Age-Related Hearing Loss and Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias

Project Duration: 09/15/2022 - 08/31/2027
Dept. Investigator(s): Ione Fine
Abstract: Click to expand...
This study measures brain organization/connectivity. It is an early Phase II randomized controlled trial to obtainpreliminary data on mechanisms and efficacy of a hearing aid-based intervention to prevent cognitive decline in those atrisk for Alzheimer’s Disease and Alzheimer’s Disease Related Dementias.

STEM Ed PRF: Social Psychological Intervention to Increase Gender Diversity in Tech Companies

Project Duration: 09/01/2022 - 08/31/2024
Dept. Investigator(s): Sapna Cheryan
Abstract: Click to expand...
This research is to be conducted by Dr. Gregg Muragishi, with sponsor Dr. Sapna Cheryan. This project investigates whether microinclusions improve organizational outcomes for women, including women of color, in tech companies, as mediated by sense of fit; and distinguishes microinclusions from other inclusive treatment. It will test an intervention to establish, convey, and reinforce company norms of microinclusions and examine whether the intervention increases their employees’ fit, motivation, job satisfaction, company trust, performance, and retention.

Genetic Risk for Serious Mental Illness and Development

Project Duration: 08/01/2022 - 05/31/2027
Dept. Investigator(s): Jennifer Forsyth
Abstract: Click to expand...
This project builds upon our existing infrastructure for large-scale studies of adult serious mental illnesses serious mental illness SMI in the region to establish a new cohort of 3,000 children and early adolescents at elevated or low risk for SMI. Study findings will clarify the associations between genomic risk profile and premorbid clinical markers of psychopathology; clarify the relative power of genetic versus clinical, neurobehavioral, and environmental factors for predicting clinical outcomes; and establish a unique resource for the scientific community for rich longitudinal investigation for years to come, and quantify the relative power of genetic versus clinical and neurobehavioral characteristics for predicting clinical outcomes.

Auditory Neuroscience Training Program

Project Duration: 07/01/2022 - 06/30/2027
Dept. Investigator(s): Joseph Sisneros
Abstract: Click to expand...
The Auditory Neuroscience Training Program, established in 2002, helps train basic neuroscience researchers in clinical disciplines. Trainees participate in research programs in neuroanatomy, development, genetics, cell and molecular biology, neuropharmacology, and electrophysiology of the peripheral and central auditory system as well as psychoacoustics, language perception and processing, and communication behavior. They have the opportunity to combine research through collaborative efforts.

ECR:Core: Promoting spatial skill development through spatial structuring and language

Project Duration: 06/15/2022 - 05/31/2027
Dept. Investigator(s): Ariel Starr
Abstract: Click to expand...
This project will provide new insights into the development of spatial skills and their relation to STEM achievement in order to best set students up for success. Alongside this research is a plan to provide intensive research experience for undergraduate students and a plan to create a bidirectional relation between community participation in research and scientific outreach activities.

Digital Phenotyping of Anxiety and Anxiety-Related Alcohol Comorbidity and Treatment

Project Duration: 05/01/2022 - 04/30/2024
Dept. Investigator(s): Katherine T. Foster, Marilyn Piccirillo
Abstract: Click to expand...
This K99R00 award to postdoc Marilyn Piccirillo provides training in passive sensing data collection methods and conduct of clinical trials, as well as continued training in alcohol research. The K99 phase builds on expertise constructing person-specific models and identifying person-specific factors testing self-medication models of AARD-AUP, to develop a method for personalizing a CBT skills-based intervention.

Hormonal and acoustic regulation of the dopaminergic auditory efferent system: improving detection of social acoustic signals at the level of the inner ear

Project Duration: 05/01/2022 - 04/30/2025
Dept. Investigator(s): Joseph Sisneros
Abstract: Click to expand...
This UW subaward project will set up and help run sound playback experiments where female midshipman fish are exposed to recorded male midshipman advertisement calls vs. controls, and will measure female behavioral response (phonotaxis) to synthesized advertisement call.

Annual meeting of the Vision Sciences Society: Travel grants for junior investigators

Project Duration: 01/01/2022 - 12/31/2024
Dept. Investigator(s): Geoffrey Boynton
Abstract: Click to expand...
This project provides travel awards for early-career investigators to attend annual meetings of the Vision Sciences Society.

Optimizing Evidence-Based Practice Implementation for Clinical Impact: the IMPACT Center

Project Duration: 09/01/2021 - 07/31/2025
Dept. Investigator(s): Shannon Dorsey
Abstract: Click to expand...
This ALACRITY (Advanced Laboratories for Accelerating the Reach and Impact of Treatments for Youth and Adults with Mental Illness) Center goal is to improve evidence-based practices. It develops an open-source, database of methods and guidelines for strategies that can be utilized by practitioners and researchers.

NIPreps: integrating neuroimaging preprocessing workflows across modalities, populations, and specie

Project Duration: 07/19/2021 - 07/18/2024
Dept. Investigator(s): Ariel Rokem
Abstract: Click to expand...
This project will expand NeuroImaging Preprocessing tools ("NiPreps") framework functionality to operate on new imaging modalities and fields. This research focuses on the development of a new end-user NiPrep for diffusion MRI data.

Learning to see again: biological constraints on cortical plasticity and the implications for sight restoration technologies

Project Duration: 05/01/2021 - 04/30/2026
Dept. Investigator(s): Ione Fine
Abstract: Click to expand...
Within a decade, many blind individuals are likely to be offered a wide range of options for sight restoration - including electronic prostheses, gene therapy and optogenetics. However the vision provided by almost all of these technologies will differ substantially from normal sight. The question of this proposal is – What role can cortical plasticity play in helping patients make use of the artificial visual input provided by sight recovery technology?

University of Washington Developmental AIDS Research Center for Mental Health

Project Duration: 04/01/2021 - 02/28/2025
Dept. Investigator(s): Jane Simoni
Abstract: Click to expand...
The University of Washington Developmental AIDS Research Center for Mental Health, based in Seattle, catalyzes new mental health and HIV research and develops new research leaders across the multidisciplinary spectrum of clinical, epidemiologic, statistical, behavioral, and implementation science expertise necessary to bend the curve of the global HIV epidemic. Our team blends expertise in HIV prevention, care and treatment, management of complex patients with HIV and co-morbidities, models of mental health care delivery in primary care, user-centered design for effective deployment of evidence-based psychological interventions in diverse care settings, care for co-morbid traumatic stress and substance use disorders, management of co-occurring mental disorders and other medical conditions, and rigorous quantitative methods for social science research. We bring experience in the conduct of impactful research with partners in regional and global HIV care settings and through the work of our four Cores we aim to catalyze and support innovative and impactful research to curb the HIV epidemic, with a focus on integrated intervention strategies that address HIV and mental disorders.

Passive mobile sensing and machine learning for the detection of drinking episodes

Project Duration: 02/15/2021 - 01/31/2026
Dept. Investigator(s): Kevin King
Abstract: Click to expand...
The proposed research study will use passive mobile sensing data in a large ambulatory assessment sample of regular drinkers, to develop models linking passive mobile sensing data with predictors of drinking episodes (such as stress, social context, and impulsiveness) and the drinking episodes themselves.

Treatment of Stress-Related Psychopathology: Targeting Maladaptive and Adaptive Event Processing

Project Duration: 07/01/2020 - 06/30/2025
Dept. Investigator(s): Lori Zoellner
Abstract: Click to expand...
Exposure to destabilizing, stressful life events is common, ranging from 50-89.5% in the U.S. population. The impact of such events is both psychological, such as anxiety and depression symptoms, and physiological, with activation of sympathetic nervous system and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal-cortical system. PTSD and depression both have strong etiologic links to stressful life events, share common distress-related symptoms, often co-occur (upwards of 60%), and are associated with impairment and reduction in disease-adjusted years of life. Evidence based psychotherapies for PTSD and depression are helpful for many. However, these interventions also have significant dropout and a large minority of individuals who are left with debilitating symptoms and are vulnerability to relapse upon future stressors. Current treatments typically focus on specific disorders rather than on common mechanisms maintain psychopathology and do not target adaptive mechanisms. Decades of experimental and prospective studies have identified central maladaptive and adaptive processes associated with persistent psychopathology or recovery following stressful, destabilizing events. These processes include: 1) unproductive/constructive event processing (e.g., re-experiencing, rumination, overgeneralization); 2) avoidance/approach (e.g., blunting, disengagement) and 3) anhedonia/reward (e.g., loss of pleasure). These processes prolong negative mood, interfere with adaptive coping and processing of emotional material, and increase sensitivity to future stressful life events. We have developed an intervention, Positive Processes and Transition to Health (PATH) that directly targets maladaptive processes (unproductive processing, avoidance, and anhedonia), while also teaching parallel adaptive skills (constructive processing, approach, and reward seeking). Six, 90-min sessions target individuals who have experienced a destabilizing life stressor and have persistent stress-related symptoms. PATH utilizes systematic event processing (revisiting, discussing), focusing repeatedly on the identified destabilizing life event, positive life events, and future events to teach adaptive processing skills. In a small open trial, we will examine whether PATH engages proposed targets. Next, we will conduct a randomized trial of PATH compared to waitlist control and assess patients over a three-month period. We are interested in improving both stressor-related psychopathology and potentially influencing stress-related markers of immune functioning and neural plasticity (brain-derived neurotrophic factor, BDNF, a significant factor driving brain changes in response to and recovery from stress). Stress related psychopathology is common, impairing and very costly. Evidence based treatments leave substantial room for improvement. Our mechanism based intervention has the potential to improve outcomes and reduce burden with substantial public health impact.

Mariana Crow Population Monitoring

Project Duration: 07/01/2020 - 09/30/2024
Dept. Investigator(s): Sarah K. Faegre
Abstract: Click to expand...
The Mariana Crow Recovery Team has identified determining sources of juvenile and adult mortality as a critical need. Population modeling indicates that low juvenile and adult survival are likely the primary drivers in the current population decline and a major obstacle to overcome for recovery (Ha et al., 2008). We are currently monitoring sources of mortality, habitat use and home range size, and dispersal in juveniles. Other tasks such as nest searching, capture and banding, bird surveys, and education and outreach are also required.We are also involved in tracking recovered and released individuals back into the wild population. We are working with the local and federal government, as well as San Diego Zoo on a rear and release program. In summary, we have now shifted our immediate research emphasis towards monitoring the status of the wild population and using science and technology to intervene to save the species.

Navigation with complex odor dynamics: computational principles and neural circuit implementation in mice

Project Duration: 07/01/2020 - 06/30/2025
Dept. Investigator(s): David Gire
Abstract: Click to expand...
This project studies the neural circuits in the brain that integrate and process complex sensory information to guide natural behaviors. This research will have applicability to psychiatric disorders that involve deficits in sensory integration, such as schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorders. They will also provide insight into the cognitive deficits seen in pathological conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease.

Science Communication for a Politically Charged Risk

Project Duration: 06/16/2020 - 05/31/2024
Dept. Investigator(s): Susan Joslyn
Abstract: Click to expand...
Key mechanisms behind global warming are misunderstood or understood in ways that lead people to endorse ineffective solutions, wait-and-see strategies or no action at all. We argue that these misunderstandings are due to cognitive simplifications (e.g. focusing on superficial features and correlational relationships among them) that are inherent in the human cognitive architecture. In contrast, core attributes of scientific knowledge and expertise include appreciating underlying causal mechanisms as well as the ability to make conceptual distinctions such as the difference between CO2 emissions and common air pollutants. Therefore a primary challenge for science communication is to provide explanations of key scientific issues that are targeted at the way people process information and shift non-experts’ focus from superficial features to deeper level causal thinking, but are still simple. Much remains to learn about how to communicate science effectively, especially for contentious topics like climate change. As a recent National Academies report noted, most people don’t think much about science unless it impinges on their own decisions. When they do think about complex scientific issues, people tend to use shortcuts, deal with uncertainty differently than do scientists, and more readily accept information consistent with their priors. Prior attitudes and mental models have a powerful effect on how people find, filter, and make sense of scientific information. An essential first step in successful science communication is thus to understand how people think about and process complex information. For climate change and other politically charged topics, this requires understanding how they process information in a political charged domain. This knowledge is necessary to design communication strategies that improve understanding to support decision making, and are also robust against manipulation. However, understanding of how these processes play out in specific science communication contexts remains incomplete. To help fill this gap, the project proposed here will test science communication strategies targeting specific cognitive processing mechanisms, with an emphasis on those that lead to misunderstandings serving to reduce the perceived seriousness of climate change and the urgency of responding to it. In a set of survey experiments, we investigate whether targeted communication strategies influence individual reasoning, attitudes, emotions, and willingness to take action, in the context of climate change. Simplification is inherent in almost all science communication. The exact form of simplification is key, especially with controversial topics. This is because some simplifications may confuse people, or worse, may be exploited to mislead them, and thereby influence the perceived seriousness of the problem. It is clear that vested interests use this very strategy to promote doubt. There is considerable evidence suggesting that people hold simplified beliefs about climate change that may lead them to: (a) be susceptible to misleading information about climate change; (b) endorse ineffective, wait-and-see, or no strategies to address climate change; and (c) reduce their interest and attention to climate change. Three such widely held simplifications are: (1) greenhouse gases are the same as common air pollution (i.e., smog, particulate matter); (2) a decreasing rate of emissions means decreasing greenhouse gas concentrations (rate matching); and (3) current climate variability is due entirely to “natural” climate variability. This project tests communications strategies designed to replace these simplifications.

1/4: Improving the Part C Early Intervention Service Delivery System for Children with ASD: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Project Duration: 06/01/2020 - 05/31/2025
Dept. Investigator(s): Wendy Stone
Abstract: Click to expand...
Despite strong consensus that early, specialized intervention for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) can have a dramatic impact on outcomes, the public health system’s capacity to provide such services is severely challenged by the rapid rise in ASD prevalence. The goal of this research is to increase timely and equitable access to ASD-specialized early intervention during the critical first three years of life by capitalizing on the existing infrastructure of the Part C Early Intervention (EI) system, which is publicly funded and available in all U.S. States. This project will train EI providers to use an evidence-based, inexpensive, parent-mediated intervention that can improve child and family outcomes as well as mitigate the substantial economic costs associated with ASD.

Individual Differences in Complex Skill Learning: Relating Natural Language Learning to Learning Programming Languages

Project Duration: 06/01/2020 - 05/31/2024
Dept. Investigator(s): Chantel Prat
Abstract: Click to expand...
This project extends an existing program of research funded by CSOL entitled “Learning Complex Cognitive Skills: Bridging Neuroscience and Education through Individual Differences Research.” One of the most recent, and novel findings of this research is that the neurocognitive predictors of natural language learning in adulthood predicted up to 72% of the variance in learning to program in Python. Among these predictors were characterizations of resting-state brain activity, which provided tremendous predictive utility both for learning natural languages and learning to program in Python, with both considerable overlap and differences in the predictors of each skill. These findings are both novel and important, as the ability to program computers has moved from a niche skill to one that is of increasing centrality to all fields of science and technology. Over the past decade, the nature of programming languages has also rapidly evolved, and many have come to increasingly resemble the structure and form of natural languages. Thus, the goal of this new proposal will be to extend our understanding of the similarities and differences in the neurocognitive bases of learning to program and learning natural languages. In doing so, we will continue to adopt a neuropsychometric approach, extending our ability to map characteristics of individual brains at rest to complex skill learning. Four interrelated aims will be addressed: (1) to investigate the role of natural language experience on learning to program; (2) to explore the extent to which language-based pre-training versus non-linguistic programming pre-training may facilitate learning to program in Python, (3) to compare the neurocognitive predictors of learning programming languages that vary in their structural similarity to natural languages (e.g., R versus Python); and (4) to understand the degree of specificity versus generality of neurocognitive measures of language aptitude. The results of this proposed program of research will significantly increase our understanding of the nature of individual differences in learning computer programming languages. They will also more broadly facilitate our efforts to improve both assessment and training of complex skills.

Collaborative Research: Cell signaling regulation of hormonally mediated auditory plasticity

Project Duration: 05/01/2020 - 04/30/2024
Dept. Investigator(s): Joseph Sisneros
Abstract: Click to expand...
Hormonal modulation of sensory plasticity related to reproductive cycles is widespread among vertebrates, but the underlying molecular and genetic mechanisms responsible for these steroid-dependent changes remain poorly understood. This project takes an integrated molecular, anatomical, and physiological approach to determine the effects of gonadal steroids on the adaptive auditory plasticity for encoding socially relevant acoustic signals. The proposed research focuses on the plainfin midshipman fish, a species for which acoustic communication is vital for reproductive success. During the breeding season the female midshipman's auditory system is "re-tuned" to detect and encode the dominant components of the male's advertisement call. This seasonal shift is thought to improve mate detection and localization in the acoustic environment where these fish spawn. Increased auditory sensitivity in midshipman fish is mediated by estrogen and is correlated with increased sensory receptor density in the primary auditory organ. The objective of this study is to determine how estrogen regulates cellular and molecular changes in the inner ear of the female plainfin midshipman, leading to seasonal, steroid-dependent changes in hearing that enhance intraspecific acoustic communication to facilitate reproduction. The central hypothesis is that estrogen upregulates inner ear gene networks for cell proliferation, hair cell differentiation, and cell survival, leading to increased hair cell addition and enhanced auditory sensitivity in reproductive female midshipman. The collaborative research team combines cell and molecular biology expertise on hair cell death and protection with electrophysiological expertise in the midshipman auditory system, and cellular mechanisms of auditory hair cell regeneration, uniquely positioning us to perform integrated research spanning molecules to function. There are three Specific Aims: 1) Determine the estrogen dependent-effects on cell proliferation in the saccule and the relative contribution of Wnt signaling, 2) Assess the role of estrogen on saccular hair cell fate determination and the contribution of Notch signaling, and 3) Determine estrogen-dependent effects on cell survival in the saccule and the contribution of heat shock proteins. These experiments will use both in vitro and in vivo approaches to manipulate cellular signaling in female midshipman from different reproductive states, allowing for precise assessment of the specific contributions of each signaling pathway to estrogen-mediated auditory plasticity. This integrated, multidisciplinary approach to the study of neuroendocrine modulation of sensory function, linking molecular and genetic changes with physiological plasticity that drives socially relevant behavior, is thus innovative and will significantly enhance understanding of adaptive hormonally-driven plasticity that influences reproductive behavior.

Acceptability of Sustained-Release Antiretrovirals for Treatment in the US and sub-Saharan Africa

Project Duration: 09/17/2019 - 07/31/2024
Dept. Investigator(s): Jane Simoni
Abstract: Click to expand...
In 2017, UNAIDS estimated that 23% of diagnosed persons living with HIV (PLWH) were not accessing antiretroviral therapy (ART), and 18% of PLWH taking ART had unsuppressed viral loads. The development of sustained-release or long-acting injectable antiretroviral therapy (LAI ART) is an important technological advance that could increase ART uptake and adherence by providing new options to support viral load suppression. Research is urgently needed to understand factors that will drive end-user acceptability, so that developers can iteratively formulate more desirable products and funders can identify and prioritize the products most likely to have high uptake and sustained use. This proposal has the following aims: (1) To design and pilot test a discrete choice experiment (DCE) to identify product and delivery attributes related to LAI ART acceptability among patients in the United States (US), based on our prior work and key informant interviews; (2) To recruit 200 ART naïve-individuals and 500 ART-experienced individuals in Seattle and Atlanta for a DCE to estimate LAI ART product preferences and identify patient characteristics associated with acceptability among these two key potential end-user groups; and (3) To design and pilot test a similar DCE instrument for use in Kenya, then recruit 200 ART naïve-individuals and 500 ART-experienced individuals in Nairobi to learn about patient preferences in the region most impacted by the HIV epidemic. Innovations in the proposed research include a focus on novel LAI ART products in development, inclusion of two patient perspectives (i.e., those just starting treatment and those considering a switch), and exploration of how individual characteristics including prior ART adherence and treatment outcomes influence patient preferences. Our multidisciplinary team includes clinical researchers, behavioral scientists, and health economists with expertise in DCE design and modeling from the University of Washington (UW), RTI International, and Emory University in the US, and from Kenyatta National Hospital in Kenya. The proposed work will take place at two AIDS Clinical Trials Group clinical research sites in the US (i.e., the UW AIDS Clinical Trials Unit in Seattle and the Ponce de Leon Center in Atlanta), and at two HIV clinics within Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi, which has been a site for collaborative research with the UW’s Kenya Research and Training Program for over 25 years. Supported by preliminary studies conducted as part of an ongoing UM1 project to develop LAI ART (AI120176, Ho/Collier, NIAID Targeted Long-Acting Combination Antiretroviral Therapy), the proposed work will advance LAI ART product development efforts by providing key estimates of acceptability and patient preferences, enabling funders, product developers, and policy makers to optimize products for the greatest likelihood of uptake, adherence, and long-term viral suppression.

Prototypes and Perceptions of Sexual Harassment

Project Duration: 08/01/2019 - 04/30/2024
Dept. Investigator(s): Cheryl Kaiser
Abstract: Click to expand...
Sexual harassment is widespread, and has deleterious effects on its targets, including disengagement and withdrawal from work and school, decreased performance, anxiety, depression, and physical symptoms that adversely affect health. Despite it prevalence, sexual harassment is notoriously under-reported by both its targets and others in society. This proposal describes four sets of experiments that draw upon theoretical perspectives on prototypes to explore how a narrow prototype of women (as White, straight, traditionally feminine) prevents the recognition of sexual harassment when it targets women who do not fit the prototype, such as those who are not traditionally feminine on characteristics and attributes and those who possess intersectional identities that overlap less fully with the prototype of women (e.g., Black women). The A-Series studies investigate whether sexual harassment targets are viewed as overlapping with the prototype of women, such as feminine, White, and straight. The B-series studies explore how the prototype of women hinders perceiving sexual harassment when it targets women who do not fit with the prototype. The C-Series studies extend this reasoning to self-perceptions and explore how women's own prototypicality shapes their perceptions of sexual harassment when they are the targets of this behavior. The D-Series studies experimentally broaden the representation of women who experience sexual harassment to test whether this increases perceptions of sexual harassment targeting nonprototypical women and alters the prototype of women so it is more inclusive. Perceptions of sexual harassment are critical; these perceptions serve as the catalyst to remedying sexual harassment and realizing the protections offered by federal civil rights laws. It is thus important to understand the barriers that prevent both targets and observers from perceiving sexual harassment. This research will be of interest to scholars and practitioners who address civil rights law, as well as to organizations seeking to address sexual harassment. #Metoo is likely to put pressure on organizations to get sexual harassment training right, and evidence concerning best practices will be important in the development of more effective approaches to sexual harassment. This can in turn improve workforce diversity and mitigate the deleterious effects of sexual harassment on its targets.

Testing a computational model of neural responses in autism

Project Duration: 08/01/2019 - 05/31/2024
Dept. Investigator(s): Scott Murray
Abstract: Click to expand...
This proposal will test a novel, computationally-motivated hypothesis about neural dysfunction in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). ASD is a heterogeneous neurodevelopmental disorder of unknown etiology. However, a unifying theme of numerous proposals is that there is a pervasive disruption of neural excitatory/inhibitory (E/I) balance. A major limitation of the E/I hypothesis is that it describes a property of individual neurons; how that property scales up to neural circuits and how it relates to behavior – the level at which ASD is described – is not well specified. Neural computational models offer a way to bridge the divide between single-unit properties and behavior, and bring the necessary specificity to test possible changes in E/I in ASD. One well-established neural computation that directly relates to E/I is “divisive normalization”, a computational framework that characterizes neural responses as the ratio of net excitatory relative to net suppressive input. Here we aim to test the hypothesis that ASD involves disrupted divisive normalization using vision as a model system. We will test two possible mechanisms of weakened divisive normalization. The first is the traditionally posited disruption of local, within-area circuits that mediate suppressive drive. The second is a novel hypothesis based on recent empirical findings in our lab. We have shown enhanced suppressive feedback of responses from higher stages to lower stages of visual processing in individuals with ASD. We suggest this enhanced suppressive feedback reduces responses of neurons that would otherwise participate in divisive normalization. This hypothesis makes specific predictions about the conditions under which disrupted divisive normalization will be observed in ASD. We will test these predictions using a combination of functional MRI, ERP, and diffusion MRI.

Two Axes of Subordination: Disaggregating Racial Groups to Understand the Contexts that Shape Discrimination

Project Duration: 07/01/2019 - 06/30/2024
Dept. Investigator(s): Sapna Cheryan
Abstract: Click to expand...
Racial minority groups have been Othered in U.S. society, but not in uniform ways. This proposal draws on our model of racial stereotyping (Zou & Cheryan, 2017)—integrating a dimension of cultural foreignness along with the more commonly studied dimension of perceived inferiority—to suggest that different racial and ethnic groups face qualitatively different experiences of discrimination. Using a combination of large-scale audit studies and controlled laboratory experiments, we investigate 1) whether racial and ethnic minority groups face different forms of discrimination, 2) the implications of these different forms of discrimination for the likelihood of reporting it, and 3) the strategies that are required to ameliorate discrimination based on which racial and ethnic group is targeted. Systematically integrating two dimensions of perceived inferiority and cultural foreignness gives us insight into forms of discrimination faced by groups less frequently studied in social psychology, such as Latinos, Asian Americans, and Arab Americans. Knowledge about how perceived cultural foreignness and inferiority contribute to discrimination is important so that these forms of discrimination can be recognized, attended to, and eventually eliminated. For instance, knowledge of which groups are most susceptible and when could be used to inform policies and strategies that bring racial and ethnic minority groups together to fight against discrimination. This work would further demonstrate that laws, policies, and community and individual efforts to reduce racial discrimination may benefit from paying attention to discrimination based on perceived cultural foreignness because perceivers and targets may be particularly unaware or less likely to report these forms of discrimination when they occur. In recent decades, the U.S. has seen unprecedented growth in its Latino and Asian American populations (Colby & Ortman, 2014). The rising population of Arab Americans has also drawn much political attention (Asi & Beaulieu, 2013). Such contemporary demographic changes, along with the longtime presence of many racial and ethnic groups in the U.S., underscore the importance of incorporating multiple groups into our research and studying the distinct ways in which they are perceived and treated.

Ecological Momentary Assessment of Negative Urgency’s Effects on Alcohol and Marijuana Misuse

Project Duration: 06/16/2019 - 04/30/2024
Dept. Investigator(s): Kevin King
Abstract: Click to expand...
This project will describe individual differences in impulsive responses to negative emotions in the real-world. We will test what situational factors and emotion regulation skills make some people more or less impulsive in the face of negative emotions, and how the interplay between negative emotions and impulsive behaviors could lead to alcohol and marijuana misuse in the real world. This project will be able to elucidate when, how and for whom impulsive responses to emotion leads to alcohol and marijuana misuse.

Summer Institute in Neuroimaging and Data Science

Project Duration: 06/01/2017 - 02/28/2027
Dept. Investigator(s): Ariel Rokem
Abstract: Click to expand...
The Summer Institute in Neuroimaging and Data Science provides training in modern data science tools and methods, such as programming, data management, machine learning and data visualization. Through lectures, hands-on training sessions and team projects, it will empower scientists from a variety of backgrounds in the use of these tools in research on the human brain and on neurological and psychiatric brain disorders.

BRAINS: Broadening the Representation of Academic Investigators in NeuroSciences - A national program to increase the advancement of neuroscience researchers from diverse backgrounds

Project Duration: 12/01/2016 - 11/30/2026
Dept. Investigator(s): Sheri Mizumori
Abstract: Click to expand...
The BRAINS (Broadening the Representation of Academic Investigators in NeuroScience) Program, established in 2011, explicitly addresses the inclusion, retention, and advancement of early career (post Ph.D. to pre-tenure) neuroscientists from historically underrepresented and marginalized groups (URMGs: individuals from marginalized racial and ethnic identities and persons with disabilities). BRAINS has pioneered a unique cohort-based professional development approach that positively impacts participants’ career trajectories, especially in academic neuroscience, by building a community of neuroscience peers, enabling mentoring networks, activating participants’ cultural capital, and increasing participants’ career self-efficacy. The success of BRAINS is evident by our findings that 90% of the 144 participants continue to remain in neuroscience careers. Moreover, 50% are currently in tenure track positions, compared to 24% at time of joining BRAINS. With this renewal project, Aim 1 builds on the successes of BRAINS by expanding our program through an increase in the number of the BRAINS community participants, as well as deepening the engagement of all participants with core BRAINS skills and concepts. When compared to other national professional development programs, the BRAINS program stands out in terms of the extent to which BRAINS participants continue to engage deeply with the community long after their first year in the program. In its first decade, evaluation data show that BRAINS programming is a consistent transformational and foundational resource for its participants. Thus, the BRAINS program is uniquely positioned to explore and identify the essential factors that increase retention of neuroscientists from URMGs in academic and nonacademic science careers. Therefore, in Aim 2, we will introduce a new 10-year evaluation instrument to help us to better understand why the program is impactful and what sticks with participants as they progress through their careers. In summary, these Aims will allow BRAINS to expand in terms of participant numbers and in terms of continuing to empower over 200 neuroscientists from URMGs to thrive and advance in their careers. Further, this work will shed new light on the important factors that can improve the long term retention of neuroscientists from URMGs in science careers, which in turn can inform the development of future programs and institutional policies aimed at increasing the retention of URM scientists in biomedical careers.