Friday, July 11, 2025

Have a news story, publication, event or staff highlight for us? Submit it by 5 p.m. July 21 here.

Dear LSI’ers,

It’s been a while since I updated you all on happenings here at LSI. Despite the chaos at the federal level with respect to research, there has not been much solid and reliable news to communicate. We have worked to try and convey reliable information over the last few months, and despite the abundance of rumor and speculation, it’s only been in the last few days that we have a better handle on what is happening. 

OK, so first, the bad news.

The Republican-backed budget bill (along with its reconciliation form) passed through Congress last week. Mainstream media coverage has focused on the tax implications of the bill, cuts to Medicaid, and the significant thinning of the safety net for at-risk individuals in society, especially individuals with disabilities. However, not much has been said about the effects of the budget on higher education throughout the nation. The budget will negatively affect students, as there will be increased difficulty in procuring student loans, and increased taxes on university endowments.  Details of the effects on federal funding are still sketchy but here is what has been reported:

NIH: cuts of approximately 40% (nearly $18 billion) is possible, as well as the consolidation of 19 institutes down to 8.

IES: overall funding cut significantly, with possible rescissions of previously enacted funds

NSF: possible elimination of over half of NSF's $9 billion budget, with particular targets of clean energy, and behavioral/economic sciences

A number of IES grants at LSI had continuations due July 1. All of the current fiscal years for those grants were extended to September 1, allowing currently awarded projects to continue to spend to that date, but we have received no continuations for any of these. After that time, it is unclear as to what their fate will be. A number of awards face the same situation for September 1.

The Office of Research has responded to possible cuts in federal funding (and in indirect rates)  by asking all of KU’s designated centers to prepare scenarios for budget cuts of anywhere from 10% to 40%.  We have begun working on these scenarios, but the scenarios are not due until August.  As you all are aware, as a function of our growth over the last several years, we have very little flexibility or slack in our budget, and so these cuts would be particularly difficult to sustain.

And we will end with some good news.  

The LSI 5-year review was completed earlier this spring and the results were extremely positive.  Our grant services (notably, pre- and post-award, and research/design services garnered particular praise), and the productivity, impact, and scholarship of the institute was singled out as exceptional.  As part of the review process, we should receive a one-page summary of findings, and we received a statement to the LSI community about the review via email from the Office of Research. Congratulations again to our staff and our scientists for a job that continues to be well done.

I encourage all of you to hang in there.  Anti-intellectual forces have always been part of the American political landscape, and much of what is happening is a direct outgrowth of those forces. You have all shown remarkable grace and dignity in this time and I hope you will all continue to look out for yourselves and one another in these times.  

We may not have much, but we have each other, and that counts for a lot.

-- John
 
John Colombo, PhD
Professor of Psychology
Director, Schiefelbusch Institute for Life Span Studies

On the public radio program Up to Date, KCUR recently interviewed Jomella Watson-Thompson and Barry Anderson, a former participant in Watson-Thompson’s federally funded ThrYve project and now a KU graduate.

The website iCanConnect, which provides information about the National Deaf-Blind Equipment Program, recently featured the story of 94-year-old Kansan Franz Pickett, who received equipment and training via the Assistive Technology for Kansans program administered at the Life Span Institute.

KCUR's Up to Date interviewed KUCD Director Karrie Shogren and George Gotto, director of the UCEDD based at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, for an episode focused on the value of UCEDDs and the potential impact of eliminating funding for them.

Michael Amlung was listed among the top 10 most productive authors in the field of behavioral science in “The Current State of Behavioural Economics Studies: A Bibliometric Analysis,” published in the International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues.

Trina Spencer, director of the Juniper Gardens Children's Project, was interviewed on two podcasts recently, for "Differentiating Difference from Disability: The DYMOND" on the SLP Nerdcast, and for a "Takeaway Tuesday" episode of the Literacy View.

News outlets such as Medical and Life Sciences News and MSN shared research authored by Daiil Jun, Kelly Knowles and Tera Fazzino, published in PLoSOne, about hyper-palatable foods based on data from food labels in 17 countries.

In the article "Proposed federal budget cuts could have ‘grim impact’ on Kansans with disabilities," the Kansas Reflector (and later, Yahoo News) described how federal budget proposals and legislation could impact disability services, organizations and the Kansas University Center on Disabilities.

Research authored by Calissa Leslie-Miller was the focus of the blog “Why You Shouldn’t Rely on ChatGPT for Health Advice.”

Publication highlights

Researchers earn national recognition for study on long COVID's effect on people with disabilities:
Institute for Health and Disability Policy Studies researchers documented how people with preexisting disabilities face more than double the risk of long COVID than double the general population; the paper was singled out by NARRTC, which promotes and supports disability research.

Scientists call for renewed focus on in neglected area of developmental psychology: A recent paper co-authored by John Colombo raises key questions such as whether infants demonstrate a sense of agency during contingency learning, how they respond when their actions no longer produce results, and how these patterns might vary across populations, such as clinical vs. typically developing groups. 

Recent publications by Life Span Institute researchers:

Amalet AB, Ndzondo F, Moussoumy G, et al. Gabon’s Experience: Factors Enabling and Impeding the COVID-19 Response. Health Promotion Practice. 2025;0(0).
https://doi.org/10.1177/15248399251337648

Cuevas, K., & Colombo, J. (2025). A quarter century of research on infant contingency learning: Current and future directions. Infant Behavior & Development, 80, Article 102068. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.infbeh.2025.102068

Christifano, D. N., Liao, K., Mathis, N. B., Carlson, S. E., [et al.] (2025, May 22). Neuroprotective nutrients in pregnancy and infant brain function. Clinical Nutrition ESPEN, 68, 417–422. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clnesp.2025.05.030

Bourque, K., Buzhardt, J., Kamps, D. et al. Interventions Benefitting Young Autistic Children. Educ. Treat. Child. (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43494-025-00158-z

Forbush, K. T., S. Negi, M. L. Thomeczek, A. R. Bottera, and E. E. Like. 2025. “From Consensus to Innovation: Advancing the Science of Eating-Disorder Measurement.” International Journal of Eating Disorders 1–4. https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.24482.

Forbush, K. T., Chen, Y., Joo, S., Chapa, D. A. N., Hagan, K. E., Richson, B. N., Johnson-Munguia, S., Christensen Pacella, K. A., Bottera, A. R., Thomeczek, M. L., Bohrer, B. K., Perko, V., Negi, S., Sharma, A. R., Like, E. E., Morgan, R. W., Vanzhula, I. A., Tregarthen, J., Palacios, J., & Gould, S. R. (2025). Preliminary development and validation of the Eating Pathology Clinical Outcomes Tracker. Psychological Assessment. https://doi.org/10.1037/pas0001388

Brett W. Gelino, Bryant M. Stone, Geoffrey D. Kahn, Justin C. Strickland, Julia W. Felton, Brion S. Maher, Richard Yi, Jill A. Rabinowitz. From error to insight: Removing non-systematic responding data in the delay discounting task may introduce systematic bias. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, Volume 256, 2025, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2025.106239.

Greenwood, C.R., Bourque, K., Carta, J.J. et al. Introduction to the Juniper Gardens Children’s Project. Educ. Treat. Child. (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43494-025-00157-0

Hall JP, Thomas K, McCormick B, Kurth NK. (2025). Undercounts of people with serious mental illness using the Washington Group Short Set. Frontiers in Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1606154

Hanson‑Abromeit, D. (2025, May 13). The Therapeutic Function of Music Plan: A tool to specify the theory of music in music‑based interventions. Frontiers in Psychology, 16. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1577176

Jun D, Knowles K, Fazzino TL. Examination of hyper-palatable foods and their nutrient characteristics using globally crowdsourced data. PLoS One (2025), https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0325479

Kim, G., Kurth, J. A., & Andzik, N. R. (2025). Supporting Self-Determination for Students with Complex Support Needs Using Augmentative and Alternative Communication. Inclusive Practices, 4(3), 42-48. https://doi.org/10.1177/27324745251338211 

Scott D Landes, Bonnielin K Swenor, Jean P Hall, Anjali J Forber-Pratt, Nastassia Vaitsiakhovich, Kate Caldwell, Mihir Kakara, Deborah Lefkowitz, Andrew Myers, Susan J Popkin, Nicholas S Reed, Emily F Rothman, Maggie Salinger, The Disability Mismatch: The Case for a Comprehensive Disability Status Measure, Health Affairs Scholar, 2025;, qzaf137, https://doi.org/10.1093/haschl/qxaf137

Landes SD, Swenor BK, Hall JP, & Forber-Pratt A. (2025). In measuring disability, do not abandon US standards. Health Affairs Forefront. June 25, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1377/forefront.20250623.803072

Meule, A., Ertl, S., Forbush, K.T. et al. Psychometric properties of the German version of the Eating Pathology Symptoms Inventory. J Eat Disord 13, 60 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40337-025-01253-7

Suzanne Myers, Jocelyn Washburn, Amber Rowland and Sean Joseph Smith (31 May 2025): Developing an adaptive professional learning model: educator insights on their infrastructure needs, Teacher Development, https://doi.org/10.1080/13664530.2025.2511739

Nagata, J.M., Otmar, C.D., Kim, A.E. et al. Factor structure, internal consistency, and measurement invariance of the Eating Pathology Symptoms Inventory (EPSI) in a national U.S. sample of cisgender gay men and lesbian women. J Eat Disord 13, 83 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40337-025-01277-z

Smith, A. R., B. Salley, D. Hanson-Abromeit, R. A. Paluch, and K. L. Kong. 2025. “The Impact of a Community-Based Music Program on the Quality of Parent–Child Language Interactions: A One-Year Follow-Up.” Infant and Child Development 34, no. 3: e70012. https://doi.org/10.1002/icd.70012

Spencer, T. D., Kirby, M. S., Gardner, C., & Petersen, D. B. (2025). Effect of oral academic narrative language intervention on listening comprehension and generalised word learning: A proof of concept study. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1080/17549507.2025.2510235

Sullivan DL, Goddard DS, Kurth NK & Hall JP. (2025). "I'm in Hell …": Experiences of unmet health care needs among people with pre-existing disability and Long COVID. Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved: 36(2). 572-589. 10.1353/hpu.2025.a959114. https://doi.org/10.1093/haschl/qxaf137

Townsend, R. J., Shogren, K. A., & Kurth, J. A. (2025). Promoting Self-Determination in Clinical Supervision. Inclusive Practices, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/27324745251338206

Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission (MACPAC). (2025). Differences in demographics and access to care by source of health coverage for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. MACPAC Issue Brief, June 26, 2005.

Clinical Trials Finder meeting: A One KU task force of KU-Lawrence and KU Medical Center staff began meeting this summer about a proposal to create a single KU online portal for clinical trial participant recruitment. Jen Humphrey and Lisa Hallberg serve on this committee and are gathering information to help inform the process from the perspective of Life Span Institute investigators. Researchers are invited to join a hybrid meeting to discuss the proposal and identify needs for such a public portal for research trials. The meeeting will be 2-3 p.m., Tuesday, July 29, in Dole 1031 and on Zoom (code: 812120). Request a calendar invitation. 

Public events

Kansas University Center on Disabilities and several other organizations invite the public to celebrate and learn more about the 35th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) from 2-5 p.m. July 26th at the Lawrence Public Library.

Assistive Technology for Kansans plans in-person and online meetups and technology demonstrations in the months ahead. There will be an in-person event for individuals to try assistive technology tools designed to support independence and improve quality of life, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025 at the Topeka & Shawnee County Library, Room 123. Online chats will be held on Zoom (code: 1234) at 9 a.m. Aug. 26, Sept. 23 and Oct. 28.

Institute for Health and Disability Policy researchers request that you remind people in your network to take the 2025 National Survey on Health and Disability (NSHD), which will conclude at the end of the month. The survey is available at kuhealthsurvey.org, and can be easily shared on social media via Facebook and Instagram. 

The KU Office of Research shared new F&A rates for federally funded projects. While legal proceedings continue over proposed cuts to indirect costs for federally funded research grants, federally negotiated facilities & administrative (F&A) rates remain in effect. KU has received its new rates, which are intended to extend through June 30, 2028, for the Lawrence/Edwards campuses. The rate for organized research projects has increased from 53% to 54.5%. Current awards are not affected by the new rates unless a project enters a new competitive cycle. More information about the rates is available on the Office of Research website. 

KU Human Resources asks that supervisors review staff self-evaluations and 2026 goal plans. Relevant dates and requirements include:

* June 30: Self-evaluations were due
* Sept. 1: Deadline for supervisors to review employee self-evaluations and complete the performance evaluation
* July 1, 2025-June 30,2026: All employees and supervisors add at least one goal to goal plans

Parking permits expire July 31 and do not automatically renew. KU Transportation Services announced that 2025-26 rates increased by 2.7% for annual and semester parking permits. Log into the KU parking portal to make your selections, including advance payment or payroll deduction.

You can't get there from here: In addition to lane limitations along the edge of the main campus on Iowa Street, the City of Lawrence has closed the section of 19th Street that sits just west of Iowa Street and east of Constant Avenue. The section will be closed until the beginning of August. For the latest on road and parking lot construction projects, visit the Construction Information and Closures webpage.

Connections is produced by communications staff at the Life Span Institute for affiliated researchers, staff and students. 

Writing and editing by Jen Humphrey and Christina Knott.
Image credits: KU Marketing, KUCD and Christina Knott

Please submit news, kudos, achievements and other items for consideration here.

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