Hartford HealthCare Research Is Paving the Future of Health
In order to ultimately improve patient experience, health outcomes, and safety, Hartford HealthCare cultivates rich clinical research prior to making major announcements.
The initiatives uncover advancements in diagnosis and treatment options and pave the way for the future under the direction of Rocco Orlando, MD, senior vice president and chief academic officer, and Lizabeth Roper, senior director of research.
The principal areas of study at Hartford HealthCare are:
Behavioural Health: The Institute of Living’s three behavioural health research units include the Clinical Trials Unit under Mirjana Domakonda, MD, the Anxiety Disorders Center under David Tolin, MD, and the Olin Neuropsychiatry Research Center under Godfrey Pearlson, MD, and Michael Stevens, PhD. Recent NIMH grants totaling $1.4 million and $3.2 million have been awarded to Olin researchers to examine the treatment of people with early-course psychotic diseases in specialised programmes and the impact of social isolation on elderly patients with schizophrenia. In order to predict outcomes and create effective treatment plans, the latter researchers will also identify clinical and biological features, as well as biological subtypes, of psychotic disorders.
Health Equity: To address gaps in healthcare based on race, gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic position, HHC began a study programme with funding from the medical staff. In 2021, eight of the 32 letters of intent received funding. The subjects cover anything from minimising gaps in transgender suicide prevention to racial, ethnic, and sexual orientation representation in instructional materials on male sex dysfunction. Additionally, continuing studies on health equity are being conducted at:
Heart & Vascular Institute: African Americans and Hispanics are using cardiovascular procedures at higher rates than white people, according to research by the Heart & Vascular Institute into racial disparities in the use of transcatheter aortic valve replacements (Raymond McKay, MD).
Women’s Ambulatory Health Center: Jessica Mullins, MD, Adam Borgida, MD, and others at Women’s Ambulatory Health Center are investigating social determinants of health as a predictor of gestational weight gain, the impact of race on postpartum hemorrhage, and implicit bias as a potential barrier to equitable contraceptive care.
Neuroscience: Stroke, headaches, and movement problems are three potent study areas of the Ayer Neuroscience Institute.
A five-year grant has been given to Stroke – Hartford HealthCare, under the direction of Mark Alberts, MD, co-chief physician of Ayer, to join the National Institutes of Health StrokeNet collaborative, a system designed to facilitate clinical trials for treatment, prevention, and rehabilitation across the country. Additionally, research teams are active at St. Vincent’s Medical Center and Hartford Hospital, and studies are carried out in cooperation with academics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Current MIT studies concentrate on using machine learning to assess stroke risk following hospitalisation as well as providing cardiovascular patients with personalised stroke predictions and prescriptions.
Headache: Under the direction of Headache Center Director Brian Grosberg, MD, and Research Director Allison Verhaak, PhD, the team is concentrating on migraines during menstruation, migraine treatment with remote electrical neurostimulation, and migraine treatment with cannabis.
movement problems The Davis Phinney Foundation provided research funds to the Toni DeMarcaida, MD-led Chase Family Movement Disorders Center to look into ways to enhance the health of Spanish-speaking Parkinson’s disease patients. There are currently seven more clinical trials running.
Surgical Oncology: Jill Rubinstein, MD, PhD, of the Department of Surgical Oncology, works with The Jackson Laboratory to combine clinical, genomic, and imaging data in order to examine tumour commonalities and investigate the effects of treatment on the tumour ecology. Understanding resistance mechanisms and locating viable treatments are the main objectives of research. Dr. Rubinstein is researching the use of deep learning, an AI technology, in translational oncology. Her work could result in better cancer tumour characterization, better care, and better results.
