WSU Researchers Receive Grant Money To Study COVID-19 And Cancer Topics
READ ON
COVID-19 has become fertile ground for health sciences researchers, including those headquartered at Washington State University.
Two faculty members in the WSU College of Medicine have earned new grants for projects related to COVID-19 and cancer.
Professors Ofer Amram and Patrik Johansson have each been awarded $100,000 from the Andy Hill CARE Fund for cancer research in western Washington.
Amram’s project is looking at how cancer patients were affected by the state’s decision this spring to reserve hospital and doctor capacity for coronavirus cases.
“We read a study that was done in the UK that showed that, because of COVID, they estimated that 2,300 cancer cases are going undiagnosed weekly, so we wanted to look at Washington state,” he said.
Amram’s team will examine data from MultiCare and determine the extent to which cancer treatments and preventive visits have been delayed this year, compared to years past, because people couldn’t get in to see their doctors.
He says they’ll focus on diagnoses and treatments for cervical, breast and colon cancers because they are among the most common in the U.S.
Patrik Johansson’s research focuses on American Indians and people in rural areas who are battling cancer. He and his team will survey cancer patients in some of the Washington clinics with whom his college has affilliation agreements.
“We’re going to look at how has COVID-19 impacted their emotional wellbeing, their access to social support, their access to care, exercise, diet, employment status. Also, what is their knowledge about COVID-19 as well as how connected they feel to their community,” Johansson said.
Johansson’s project will conducted by the Northwest Health Education Research Outcomes Network, based in the WSU College of Medicine.
NOTE: WSU holds the broadcast license of this station, though NWPB is editorially independent.
Copyright 2020 Spokane Public Radio. To see more, visit spokanepublicradio.org
Related Stories:
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory studies help better understand space
The Shallow Underground Laboratory at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Washington, gives its scientists powerful abilities to detect sensitive signatures of radiation. (Credit: Andrea Starr / Pacific Northwest National
On Mount St. Helens, students dig into potential geology careers
Elise Cha, left, and Kellee Kendrick, right, learn about the viscosity of magma by pouring corn syrup on cookie sheets. (Credit: Courtney Flatt / NWPB) Watch Listen (Runtime 4:14) Read
Art and science on display from the man behind the curtain
In a big, open room in the basement of Bellingham’s old city hall, little cupboards line the walls holding spray paint, different kinds of tape, cans of WD-40, and at least four different handheld drills.
Wearing round-framed glasses and an explorer’s hat, museum preparator David Miller stands over the work table, messy with progress. He is sculpting fake dinosaur bones. They will be hidden in a box and covered with sand for children to posture as paleontologists, uncovering the creatures of prehistoric past.
