Active Research
Research Grants
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.
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
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 – 8/31/2012
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.
Contracts
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: 01/01/07 – 12/31/11
Current Award: $71,389
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.
