BERD Consultation Helps American Heart Association Mentored Clinical & Population Research Awardee

The ACTSI’s Biostatistics, Epidemiology, & Research Design (BERD) program assisted ACTSI investigator Sarah Blanton, PT, DPT, NCS, assistant professor, Division of Physical Therapy, Emory University School of Medicine, ICARE clinical trial site coordinator, Emory Center for Rehabilitation Medicine, win the American Heart Association’s Mentored Clinical & Population Research Award. BERD program director, Robert Lyles, PhD, professor, Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Emory University Rollins School of Public Health, is part of Dr. Blanton’s mentorship team. This relationship was created through an online ACTSI request. The research award encourages early career investigators who have “supportive mentoring relationships to engage in high quality introductory and pilot clinical studies that will guide future strategies for reducing cardiovascular disease and stroke while fostering new research in clinical and translational science, and encouraging community- and population-based activities.” Blanton said, “The reviewer’s comments clearly acknowledged the strength of the mentorship team and environment.”

ACTSI pilot award recipient and BERD investigator, Blanton requested a biostatistics consult during the planning of a grant application to the American Heart Association. A total of 13 applications were funded out of the 67 applications reviewed. The project, titled “A Preliminary Test of a Carepartner-Integrated Telehealth Rehabilitation Program for Persons with Stroke,” scored in the 15^th percentile among applications and will receive over $150,000 in funding over two years.