Active Research
Research Grants
Principal Investigator: Trudy Mallinson
Funding Source: Genentech, Inc.
Project Period: 07/01/2012 – 06/30/2013
Award Number: C4-152315
Total Award: $313,704
Co-Investigators: Rohit Varma
Abstract: Self-reports are commonly used to evaluate changes in everyday activities due to progressive visual loss among patients with diabetic macular edema (DME) and geographic atrophy (GA). Because the vision loss is insidious it is reasonable to hypothesize that patients may make multiple accommodations in the performance of everyday activities in order to adapt to altered vision, without being fully aware of the impact of such changes on day-to-day task performance (e.g., increased effort, diminished efficiency, reduced safety and independence). Although there is a pressing need to understand how patient self-report of visual function correlates with patient performance on everyday activities, there is currently little literature on this topic. Therefore, this study will investigate the relationship between scores on two patient self-reported outcomes measures i.e., the Functional Reading Independence Index (FRII) and the National Eye Institute Visual Function Scale (NEI VFQ), and a measure of observed functional performance, the Assessment of Motor and Process Skills (AMPS). This study will determine the extent to which self-reported measures and observed performance measures provide comparable information about patient functional status. Examining the relationship between these two types of measures would provide information about how accurately the NEI VFQ and FRII reflect patient function in everyday activities.
Principal Investigator: Shawn Roll
Funding Source: USC Keck School of Medicine-Southern California Clinical Translational Science Institute (SC CTSI)
Project Period: 07/01/2012 – 06/30/2013
Award Number:
Total Award: $30,000
Co-Investigators: Jason Kutch
Abstract: Chronic Prostatitis/Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome (CP/CPPS) is present in 6-12% of men and is the most frequent urological diagnosis for men younger than 50 years old. CP/CPPS significantly reduces quality of life, even below that of other prevalent chronic conditions (e.g. congestive heart failure, diabetes). CP/CPPS patients are a highly heterogeneous group, with varied pathophysiology. One identified mechanism for CP/CPPS is involuntary localized neuromuscular activity. Physical therapy has emerged as one primary treatment modality for CP/CPPS, but up to 41% of patients report little to no improvement or a worsening of symptoms after a course of physical therapy treatment. There is currently no method for stratifying CP/CPPS patients to ensure that appropriate treatments are being provided. There is an urgent need to identify patients, before treatment begins, who are likely to respond positively to physical therapy. We aim to identify a set of neuromuscular biomarkers for CP/CPPS patients using sonographic imaging (i.e. 2D & 3D, spectral analysis, and elastography) and EMG recording, and to determine the ability of neuromusuclar biomarkers to enhance current clinical phenotyping.
Principal Investigator: Lisa Aziz-Zadeh
Funding Source: The Dana Foundation
Project Period: 01/01/2012 – 12/31/2014
Award Number: CADF/AZIZ-ZADEH/2012
Total Award: $200,000
Collaborators: Carolee Winstein, Hanna Damasio, and Nerses Sanossian
Abstract: Investigators will use MRI and fMRI imaging to examine whether, and how best, the mirror neuron system can be activated following stroke to optimally tailor stroke rehabilitation for individual patients. Investigators will determine: 1) how cortical motor regions in stroke patients respond to action observation versus imitation; 2) how the location and extent of the lesion affect these neural responses; and 3) how neural activation patterns during action observation and imitation, as well as structural information about lesion location, correlate with functional motor ability. Findings are anticipated to identify the most effective method (action observation alone or imitation) for activating motor-related regions in the brain following stroke, how these patterns are influenced by the underlying neural anatomy, and whether structural information on lesion characteristics or functional motor ability can be used as predictors of which patients will benefit the most from specific types of MNS-based therapy.
Principal Investigator: Sharon Cermak
Funding Source: National Institute of
Dental and Craniofacial Research
Project Period: 09/15/2011 – 08/31/2013
Award Number: 1 R34 DE022263-01
Total Award: $531,376
Co-Investigators:
USC: Jose Polido, Marian Williams, Michael Dawson, Christianne Lane
Consultants:
USC: Joel Hay
Beit Issie Shapiro, Israel: Michele Shapiro
Abstract: The goal of this project is to collect information that will support a later clinical trial on the effectiveness of a specially adapted dental environment for children, including children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and typically developing children, who have difficulty tolerating oral care in the dental clinic. This project pilot tests a sensory adapted dental environment (SADE) that has a strong potential to reduce anxiety and behavioral problems among the targeted groups of children, including such adaptations as dimmed lighting, exposure to soothing music, and application of a special vest which provides deep pressure sensations that are calming. Because the planned research will contribute to safer, more efficient, less costly treatment, it has the potential to revolutionize clinic-based dental care for the growing population of children with ASD, as well as for typically developing children who have dental anxieties.
Community Discharge After Hip Fracture
K12 Scholar: Natalie Leland 
Funding Source: National Institutes of Health, NICHD/NINDS Rehabilitation Research Career Development Program
Project Period: 09/11/2011 – 08/31/2014
Award Number: HD055929 (PI: Ottenbacher)
Total Award: $75,000 
Faculty Mentor: Florence Clark
Abstract: Among community-dwelling older adults who experience an acute hospitalization and are discharged to post-acute care, the primary rehabilitation goal is community discharge. Yet, little is known about getting post-acute care Medicare beneficiaries back to the community and have them remain there. Re-hospitalization often limits the time spent at home. The goal of this K12 mentored research project is to further develop quantitative methodological skills to examine the national and temporal variation in the patient outcome of getting back to the community and remaining there among post-acute care Medicare patients who have experienced their first hip fracture.
Principal Investigator: Elizabeth Pyatak 
Funding Source: National Institutes of Health/National Center for Research Resources (NCRR)/USC Keck School of Medicine-Southern California Clinical Translational Science Institute (SC CTSI) for KL2
Mentoring Research Career Development Award/
The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust
Project Period: 08/16/2011 – 06/30/2014
Award Number: KL2RR031991
Total Award: $146,279
Faculty Mentor: Florence Clark
Abstract: The primary contributions of the proposed project
are to develop and validate an innovative context-sensitive, community-based manualized lifestyle intervention for diabetes management, and conduct a pilot study to analyze the intervention’s potential to improve health and quality of life
outcomes among urban, low socioeconomic status Latino young adults with diabetes.
Principal Investigator: Florence Clark 
Funding Source: National Institutes of Health
Project Period: 09/01/2008 – 07/31/2013
Award Number: 1 R01 HD056267-01A1
Total Award: $2,820,242
Collaborators:
USC: Stan Azen, Erna Blanche, Joel Hay, Jennifer Unger
Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Hospital: Salah Rubayi, Michael Scott
Abstract: Advanced pressure ulcers are a common and medically serious complication of spinal cord injury (SCI) and are associated with extremely high treatment costs and reduced quality of life. However, preventive interventions that address this problem have received very little research attention. To address this gap, we will investigate the efficacy of a promising lifestyle intervention designed to prevent pressure ulcers among at-risk members of the SCI population. The resulting five-year study will involve collaboration between researchers from the University of Southern California (USC) and Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center (RLANRC), who have developed the intervention based on the results of a qualitative investigation of lifestyle and ulcer risk among adults with SCI. The long-term objective of this project is to identify an intervention option that can enhance the health and life quality of the population of adults with SCI while simultaneously diminishing the heavy healthcare burden that results from the problem of SCI-related pressure ulcers.
Principal Investigator: Lisa Aziz-Zadeh
Funding Source: NIH/National Institute of Child
Health and Human Development
Project Period: 07/01/11 – 06/30/13
Award Number: 1 R03 HD067475-01A1
Total Award: $162,000
Collaborators: Carolee Winstein and Nerses Sanossian
Abstract: The mirror neuron system (MNS) – motor brain regions that respond when we perform an action and when we observe similar actions being performed by others – may be engaged to promote motor recovery after stroke in patients with limited voluntary movement ability. By studying how the brain perceives actions after stroke, we will better understand how to use methods that engage the MNS for stroke rehabilitation, for example, action observation. By asking how the brain perceives actions that use the counterpart to the paretic limb, we will better understand the role of the MNS and the mentalizing system for action perception, imitation, and social cognition.
Principal Investigator: Lisa Aziz-Zadeh 
Funding Source: American Heart Association
Project Period: 07/01/10 – 06/30/13
Award Number: 10SDG3510062
Total Award: $231,000
Collaborators: Carolee Winstein
Abstract: This study aims to understand how individuals with stroke process actions. In particular, are similar brain regions active when they make an action and when they watch someone else make an action? What parts of the brain are active when they observe an action that, due to their stroke, they themselves can no longer make? We will use functional brain imaging (fMRI) to investigate which brain regions are active when individuals with stroke make an action. We will then see if these neural regions overlap with regions that are active when they watch other people make either actions that they themselves can perform or actions that they themselves can no longer perform. It is our goal to understand how actions are processed in the brain after an individual experiences a stroke that causes motor weakness. The results of this study can be used to develop better rehabilitation methods for motor recovery after stroke.
Training Grants
Project Director: Florence Clark 
Funding Source: NIH Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA); National Institute of Child Health and Human Development - National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research
Project Period: 05/1/11 – 04/30/16
Award Number: 1T32 HD064578-01A1 
Total Award: $1,068,942
Co-Directors: James Gordon, Stanley Azen
Abstract: Reflecting a strong interdisciplinary emphasis, faculty members from three program branches (occupational therapy, physical therapy, and advanced technology) will oversee a coordinated training experience that includes individualized mentorship plans, core coursework, participation in training seminars, immersion in externally funded projects, and writing of grant proposals and research publications. The training will be organized around five core themes: (1) the identification of effective interventions for children (pediatric rehabilitation); (2) protective and risk factors in adults with disabilities; (3) the rehabilitation and subsequent reintegration of people with disabilities into the community (acute and community-based rehabilitation); (4) applications of innovative technology; and (5) neurorehabilitation. Anticipated trainee outcomes include an increased capacity to independently conduct randomized clinical trials and an increase in the quantity and rigor of rehabilitation science publications. The initial five-year program will train each of nine doctoral level scholars over a two-year period.
Project Director: Karrie Kingsley
Funding Source: U.S. Department of Education
Project Period: 09/01/08 – 8/31/2013
Award Number: H325K080306
Total Award: $800,000
Abstract: The purpose of this project is to train 60 occupational therapy master’s students (15 per year) of high academic quality to provide occupational therapy services for infants, toddlers and young children with disabilities and their families. The project design will be implemented in the culturally diverse and low-income communities and schools of inner city Los Angeles (same wording you used in budget). The project outcomes will be to 1) recruit entry-level occupational therapy students of high academic quality and from diverse backgrounds; 2) prepare occupational therapy students to provide evidence-based and culturally sensitive intervention for children with disabilities from birth to five years of age and their families; 3) assist to employ project graduates in settings that serve young children with disabilities; 4) institutionalize and disseminate the project outcomes to foster the specialized preparation needed for entry-level occupational therapists to serve infants, toddlers and young children with special needs throughout California and nationally. This project represents the first of its kind in the USC Occupational Therapy program and in the State, as no California occupational therapy school offers a focus on services for children from birth to five years of age. USC has pledged substantial support for the project to include generous in-kind contributions of faculty time, allowing 77% of the funds to be dedicated to student support.
Lifestyle Redesign® for Pressure Ulcer Prevention in Rural Veterans with SCI
Project Director: Florence Clark
Funding Source: Intergovernmental Personnel Act — VA Long Beach Health Care System (Long Beach, California)
Project Period: 08/16/2012 – 8/15/2013
Award Number: VALBHS/IPA/2012
Total Award: $180,511
Collaborators: Erna Blanche, Michael Carlson, and Brent Liu (Viterbi School of Engineering)
Abstract: The Long Beach VA Health Care System is collaborating with the USC Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy on a demonstration project to develop a sustainable Lifestyle Redesign® program tailored for pressure ulcer prevention in rural veterans with spinal cord injuries to be delivered via telehealth systems. USC collaborators will first conduct a needs assessment in which rural veterans, through a series of interviews, will provide input that will guide researchers in customizing the intervention to address the specific lifestyle needs and circumstances that present challenges to pressure ulcer prevention. After USC researchers develop a tailored manual, they will train and supervise VA occupational therapists in delivering the intervention and collect treatment outcome data.
Measurement and Outcomes Post Severe Brain Injury
Project Director: Trudy Mallinson
Funding Source: Intergovernmental Personnel Act — Edward Hines, Jr. VA Hospital (Hines, Illinois)
Project Period: 08/01/2012 – 07/31/2013
Award Number: 578/151
Total Award: $9,891
Abstract: The aims are to provide health services research expertise in rehabilitation outcomes and psychometrics for research being conducted on the measurement and outcomes of traumatic brain injury.
MetaNet: A Multilingual Metaphor Extraction, Representation, and Validation System
Project Director: Lisa Aziz-Zadeh
Funding Source: International Computer Science Institute, Berkeley, CA (S. Narayanan, PI)
Project Period: 1/1/2012 – 12/31/2017
Award Number: 804USC
Total Award: $293,273
Abstract: The scope of the USC-led experiment is to conduct a fMRI study on metaphorical language processing and emotion processing to approximately 20 subjects.
Improving Adherence in Type 1 Diabetes by Peer Mentoring: A Feasibility Study
Subcontract Principal Investigator: Beth Pyatak
Funding Source: Children’s Hospital Los Angeles
Project Period: 2011 – 2013
Award Number: 8029-RGF007016-00
Abstract: Treatment regimen non-adherence is prevalent among adolescent and young adult patients with Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) which directly contributes to poor glycemic control, faster progression to secondary complications, higher healthcare costs, and shorter survivals. This R03 study will provide preliminary data on the feasibility of peer mentoring to improve adherence in T1D patients. Peer mentorship, while novel to T1D disease management, has been proven effective in other fields such as alcohol abuse reduction where individuals also need to constantly monitor their behaviors. The study will recruit 70 potential mentee patients and 30 potential mentor patients from two pediatric endocrinology clinics in Los Angeles and the ongoing Helmsley T1D Transition “Let’s Empower and Prepare” (LEAP) Program (2010PG-T1D011; PI: A Peters). Investigators will develop surveys to gather information from potential T1D mentees and mentors in order to assess and evaluate the feasibility of peer mentoring for T1D patients in adolescence and young adulthood, with the goal to improve self-management and glycemic control, and to delay and ameliorate T1D-related complications. This feasibility study will lay the groundwork for a future randomized clinical trial in T1D adherence improvement.
Medicare Payment Reform Demonstration and CARE Tool Development Initiatives
Project Director: Trudy Mallinson
Funding Source: RTI International
Project Period: 2010 – 2013
Award Number: 21-312-0209853 Task Orders 4 and 5
Total Award: $44,352
Abstract: The demonstration will provide standardized information on patient health and functional status, independent of site of care, and will examine resources and outcomes associated with treatment in each type of setting. This will allow Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to determine the extent to which similar patients are treated in different settings. Similarly, good information on resource use within each setting is needed to understand differences in patient treatment, outcomes, and current costs of care in order to create appropriate payment reform recommendations. As a part of the Post Acute Care Payment Payment Reform Demonstration (PAC-PRD), a standardized patient assessment tool was developed for use at acute hospital discharge and at PAC admission and discharge. This tool was named the Continuity Assessment Record and Evaluation (CARE) tool. Data collected using the CARE tool will serve as a major source of information in the demonstration. CARE will measure the health and functional status of Medicare acute discharges and measure changes in severity and other outcomes for Medicare PAC patients. CMS has contracted with RTI International to carry out the demonstration and instrument development projects. RTI International has subcontracted work to multiple clinical and research experts to contribute to the completion of the projects. Previously at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, and currently at USC, Dr. Mallinson collaborates on these initiatives in the areas of instrument development, training, and measurement psychometrics.
Developing Outpatient Therapy Payment Alternatives
Project Director: Trudy Mallinson
Funding Source: RTI International
Project Period: 2010 – 2013
Award Number: 21-312-0209853 Task Order 12
Total Award: $31,298
Abstract: The purpose of this project is to identify, collect, and analyze therapy-related information tied to beneficiary need. This five-year project was conceived to address that lack of therapy-related information tied to beneficiary need and the effectiveness of outpatient therapy services. The Developing Outpatient Therapy Payment Alternatives (DOTPA) initiative is collecting standardized patient assessment information in institutional (e.g., nursing facilities) and community settings across the country and using these data to guide the development of recommendations for Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to consider as payment method alternatives. The project will provide standardized information on patient health and functional status, independent of site of care, and will examine outcomes associated with treatment in each type of setting. The ultimate goal is to develop payment method alternatives to the current financial cap on outpatient therapy services. CMS has contracted with RTI International to carry out the demonstration and instrument development projects. RTI International has subcontracted work to multiple clinical and research experts to contribute to the completion of the projects. Previously at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, and currently at USC, Dr. Mallinson collaborates on these initiatives in the areas of instrument development and measurement psychometrics.
Project Director: Florence Clark
Funding Source: Western Psychological Services
Project Period: 06/01/98 – 6/30/13
Awarded to Date: $1,025,924
Abstract: Under this contract, the USC Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy provides updates to the teaching materials used in Western Psychological Services’ continuing education program and provides administrative services as related to the program.
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