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From left to right: Margaret Bell, Justin Maresh, Daniel Schober, Joanna BuscemiHow does early exposure to a class of forever chemicals interact with diet and metabolism in adolescence? What role can community health workers play in patient therapy for short sleep duration, a condition known as SSD? These are research questions being explored by two pairs of College of Science and Health faculty who were recently awarded a new grant for interdisciplinary research collaboration. They begin work this summer on projects that tackle health equity and justice from multiple disciplinary lenses, with a range of applications.
The CSH Interdisciplinary Research and Innovation Initiative, known as CSH-IRII, awarded the inaugural grants this past May. The program funds faculty-led research teams of two to three collaborators and three to five graduate students for projects lasting up to 18 months, with up to $25,000 in funding. The purpose of the grant is to support projects that address timely social challenges while enhancing the College's research impact and engagement across fields and between both faculty and graduate students. The program highlights a range of themes for collaborative research - from health equity, homelessness, and social justice to environmental health and sustainability, to artificial intelligence in STEM education and health, among others.
Connecting Environmental and Health Equity
DePaul biologist and health sciences Associate Professor Margaret Bell and Associate Professor of chemistry and biochemistry Justin Maresh will be conducting work on per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances, better known as PFAS. This group of synthetic chemicals can be found in a wide variety of consumer products, including cookware, waterproof goods, and personal care products. The 'forever chemicals' have been associated with a range of potential health effects.
“This proposal will test the central hypothesis that early life exposure to PFAS alters brain and metabolic processes in adolescence, which may only be revealed in the context of a 'Western' high -sugar and -fat diet. The results of this study will shed light on how converging environmental challenges may predispose our modern societies to metabolic syndrome, a constellation of symptoms related to dysregulation of sugars, lipids, and inflammation throughout the body," Bell and Maresh explain.
The researchers will use a rat model to test the interaction between exposure and diet by exposing pregnant rats to PFAS throughout gestation and lactation. The juvenile pups will then be fed either a standard chow diet or a diet with constant access to chips, cookies, candy, and processed meat, in addition to the chow. They will then be screened in adolescence for a range of metabolic outcomes.
“Clearly, PFAS exposure is an issue of environmental health, as the compounds are ubiquitous, harmful, and not well-regulated…Known disparities in access to high quality food options and rates of metabolic syndrome based on socioeconomic status and systemic racism also raises this as an issue of health equity," the researchers elaborate on the project's interdisciplinary themes and importance.
A Community Health Effort
Health sciences Associate Professor Daniel Schober and Associate Professor of psychology Joanna Buscemi, who is also an associate dean in the College of Science and Health, will be studying the role of community health workers in assisting patients with short sleep duration, a condition that affects over 30% of adults in the US. It is characterized by sleep interruptions, insomnia, and the risk of long-term health complications like hypertension and diabetes. The condition disproportionately affects persons of color, particularly non-Hispanic Blacks, and in Chicago chronic conditions related to SSD contribute to a 9-year difference in life expectancy between Black and White populations. The first-line treatment for diagnosed patients is cognitive behavioral therapy – however, a shortage of qualified therapists has left a gap in care access and follow-up. Their research will explore how community health workers can potentially mitigate that gap.
“Community health workers, or CHWs, are trusted members of the community who supplement the health system. Our project examines how CHWs could play a role in helping their patients recognize the symptoms of SSD, refer them to providers, and support adherence to treatment (which can be delivered face-to-face, via telemedicine, or digitally/asynchronously)," Schober and Buscemi state.
The research team will conduct three focus groups with CHWs to explore their role in supporting healthy sleep among patients, in addition to a focus group with cognitive behavioral therapists.
“Results of this study can inform a growing body of literature on public health efforts to address short sleep and its harms to population health," Schober and Buscemi share.
Both research teams anticipate sharing their outcomes once projects are completed, and to advance the real-world impact of their findings. You can follow updates on their research progress on the College of Science and Health's Instagram page.