*SPeCTr/Kristina Foster DO NOT own the rights to any of these photos/recipe. No copyright infringement intended.

It's technically a little early for Spring proper, but we have definitely had some spring-like weather. I have called this season "WiSpr" -- kind of should be still winter, still may have freezing temps at night (forecast for next weekend), but also seeing whispers of spring ;-)

This is the season of Mardi Gras, St. Patrick's Day, Spring Equinox, Lent, Passover, Easter, etc.  As Spring brings renewal to the earth, so Spring is bringing new things to the network. Read on to learn more.

ACT NOW Eat, Sleep, Console (2 sites)

Early results published NEJM. Enrollment ended 03/21/2022.

Follow up through 24-mo of age (ending spring/summer 2024).

KUMC – all 24-mo follow up complete. Preparing for closeout.

AHSM – 2 more pending 24-mo follow up (by Spring 2024)

ACT NOW Weaning (1 site)

Children’s Mercy/University Health. Ended enrollment, and we have 13. Follow up will be like ESC and extends to participant 24-month age.

Site PI: Dr. Rao

Coordinator: Allie Scott

BREATHE

Overall study enrollment completed way ahead of schedule. Our site is in Wichita. Enrolled 11 babies. Follow up period will be complete by summer. 

PI: Dr. Gretch Homan (took over for Dr. Kirsten Bjorkman who left KUMC.    

Co-Is: Drs. Aimee Daccache & Nicolas Lammoglia

Coordinators: Sarah Krogman & Julie de la Garza

TWMB

SPeCTr has one of only five Jr Investigator pilots accepted by the network for full protocol development and implementation. Our second site for the study is West Virginia and we get to do a site visit in April. Anticipating study start in May.

Study/Site PI: Dr. Brenda Salley            Clinic Site: KU MedWest Peds

Coordinator: Kristina Foster                   Clinic SubI's: Drs. Petelin & Breeden 

PhiTT

We have been selected as one of 10 sites for PhITT. We will run this one from Children's Mercy (and PCRU) targeting teens living in Kansas and from CM primary care clinics (NOT weight-management clinics). 

PI: Dr. Helena Laroche; Co-I Dr. Bridgette Jones; Sub-I: Dr. Kate Kyler

Coordinator: Pete Muenks, PCRU Team, (Kristina Foster assist)

*Study descriptions were included in the Fall 2023 SPeCTr update.

ECHO ISPCTN Cycle 3 announced:

We are pleased to report that the third cycle RFA was released in January, and we are planning for an April grant application submission.

Click here for a description of the ECHO program and ongoing work.

Jr Investigator Updates:

In the last couple of years, SPeCTr has worked with a variety of Jr Investigators who are having an impact in the world of research. I thought we should highlight some of their accomplishments. This list is only other funding opportunities and does not include publications, proposals to the network for clinical trials or presentations, etc. They are a busy bunch!

Two prior Jrs with KL2 awards that started 7/1/23 – April McNeill-Johnson & Kathryn Unruh

Alice Zhang: K23 submitted, scored & resubmitting

Alice Zhang: Sub-award PI for an IES grant, under review 

Brittany Lancaster: NIH F32 Grant Application (status pending funding decision) Impact Score: 17

Bethany Forseth: LRP submission (Nov 2023), KL2 submission (Jan 2024) & K01 submission (Feb 2024)

Gretchen Homan: CCOM – Clinician Communication for HPV vaccine; collaboration with Dr. Sean O’Leary from Colorado, 5-year project funded by the National Cancer Institute; 22 clinic sites across KS/MO year

Lisette Jacobson awarded Women’s Health administrative supplement to KC-MORE Center grant

Brenda Salley R01 3rd %ile!!

NETWORK SPECIFIC: At our April Face-to-Face meeting, we’ll have two pre-meeting workshop opportunities.

PhiTT bootcamp: Partnering with our PhiTT sites to work through operations to ensure the highest quality clinical trial

Budget bootcamp: We’ll work through budget development & how it relates to trial design, using PhiTT as an example. Budget can provide a valuable boundary to help us focus on the most critical endpoints and approaches to answer our research questions.

FOR ANYONE:

Virtual & Face-to-Face Conference Opportunity: Enhancing Adoption of Innovative Clinical Trial Approaches Enhancing Adoption of Innovative Clinical Trial Approaches (duke.edu) March 19-20, 2024

Our SPeCTr Research Training page has many other useful resources.

In addition to our SPeCTr YouTube channel.

For questions or comments, contact Kristina Foster at:     kfoster6@kumc.edu or 913-485-4216 (cell)