Core Projects

Asthma in the Adolescent

Approaches to asthma management in obese adolescents

This project seeks to improve asthma control among overweight or obese adolescents. The goal of this project is to conduct in-depth interviews and have comfortable conversations with adolescents and their parents regarding asthma and weight status. The information gathered from the interviews will help to create a physician discussion guide that incorporates the benefits of behavioral strategies, including Motivational Interviewing, to facilitate physician-patient discussions about weight, asthma, and ultimately, achieving a healthy lifestyle.

The project is being developed and conducted by:

• Christine LM Joseph, PhD, PI
• Allergist, Rachel Kado, M.D.
• Pediatrician, Stacy Leatherwood, M.D.
• Gwen Alexander, PhD, Research Scientist.

Recruitment for this study is now closed. Thank you to all who participated! 

Hysterectomy Guidelines for Patients

Hysterectomy surgical approach guidelines

This project focuses on patient experiences and expectations before and after hysterectomy, an operation that removes a woman’s uterus. A hysterectomy can be performed for many different reasons; therefore, this study aims to determine which outcomes are of interest to the pre-surgery hysterectomy patient and whether those expectations are met.

Utilizing focus groups of pre-hysterectomy and post-hysterectomy women, questions of expectations, goals, type of hysterectomy, and recovery will be asked.

Surveys will be developed for the observational study phase, in which women will be recruited before they receive a hysterectomy and will be asked to complete surveys at pre-determined intervals.

Recruitment for this study is now closed.  We recruited 451 women to participate in the observational phase of our study.  Thank you to those who participated!

We are currently reviewing data and writing manuscripts.  Results from our study can be found in the following journal articles:

• Bossick, A. S., Sangha, R., Olden, H., Alexander, G. L., & Wegienka, G. (2018). Identifying What Matters to Hysterectomy Patients: Postsurgery Perceptions, Beliefs, and Experiences. Journal of patient-centered research and reviews, 5(2), 167-175.
• Kassem, Z., Coleman, C.M., Bossick, A.S., Su, W., Sangha, R., & Wegienka, G. (2019). Patients Perceptions of Planned Organ Removal During Hysterectomy. Journal of patient-centered research and reviews, 6(1), 28-35.

This project is led by Epidemiologist and Associate Scientist Ganesa Wegienka, Ph.D. and Director of Residency Training Program Roopina, Sangha, M.D., M.P.H., FACOG.

This project is coordinated by Mr. Chad Coleman, MPH.

Well-Child Care

Pediatric preventative health screenings

This project is a research study that focuses on healthy weight messaging during children/adolescent’s annual checkup. Through patient-centered information gathered from focus groups made up of providers, teens, and parents, the study used surveys to collect experiences, expectations, and recommendations that will improve the pediatric checkup experience and increase positive health outcomes.

Recruitment for this study is now closed.  We had 468 parents and 235 children complete our surveys.  Thank you to all who participated!  Data analyses and manuscript writing are ongoing.

This project is led by Epidemiologist and Assistant Scientist Andrea Cassidy-Bushrow, Ph.D. and the Department Chair of Pediatrics, Physician, Charles Barone, M.D.

The project is coordinated by Mr. Chad Coleman, MPH.