Karen Ingersoll, PhD
Karen Ingersoll, PhD, a professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences, was recently awarded the first 2 years of funding for a 5-year R61/R33 project to develop a digital intervention for Native women at risk of an alcohol-exposed pregnancy using a multiphase optimization strategy (MOST). The intervention will be based in part on a previous NIAAA-funded eHealth alcohol-exposed pregnancy risk reduction intervention for a general population called CARRII, a nickname for “Contraception and Alcohol Risk Reduction Internet Intervention.” The MOST process will identify the best combination of intervention features at an acceptable cost to indigenous communities.
UVA investigators include Lee Ritterband, PhD, and Phil Chow, PhD, as co-investigators with expertise in digital interventions and MOST designs, respectively. Ingersoll and team are partnering with colleagues at Hopkins’ Center for American Indian Health serving Navajo and Apache people, and with University of Minnesota-Duluth with established relationships with Ojibwe, Lakota Sioux, and other indigenous people in the Great Lakes and Great Plains regions.
The R61/R33 grant mechanism provides 2 years of preparatory work via R34 level funding in the R61 phase, followed by 3 years of R01 level funding in the R33 phase, if researchers hit the R61 benchmarks. During the R61, Ingersoll and her team will accomplish Aims 1 and 2, consistent with the preparation phase of the Multiphase Optimization (MOST) Design. In Aim 3, she will conduct a full factorial MOST trial to identify the optimal set of intervention components at acceptable cost to Native communities. The requested award was 2,867,159 for this 5-year project.
Filed Under: Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, Faculty, Research