Research

April 26, 2021

Lack of educational opportunities influence drug use for rural youth

April 27, 2021 Having grown up poor in a rural village in Zimbabwe, Wilson Majee saw firsthand as a child the lack of educational opportunities that were easily accessible and how that impacted the youth in his village. Now an associate professor of Health Sciences and Public Health in the University of Missouri School of Health Professions, Majee researches the challenges facing disadvantaged, rural youth. He found in a recent study that young people who are disengaged from their communities are much more likely to participate in risky behaviors such as substance abuse, particularly in rural areas that lack educational…

April 7, 2021

MU study finds racial inequality within heart transplant process

April 8, 2021 A new study from the University of Missouri found that Black patients with advanced heart failure were more likely to receive a left ventricular assist device, or LVAD, later in their disease progression compared to white patients, ultimately resulting in worse health outcomes. Adrianne Frech, an associate professor in the MU School of Health Professions, is a medical sociologist interested in addressing inequalities within the health care system. She was curious if race affected a patient’s ability to access newer versions of LVADs, which are implanted into the chest of a patient with advanced heart failure to…

March 23, 2021

Audio-enhanced storybooks can improve vocabulary of at-risk preschoolers

March 24, 2021 A new study by the University of Missouri has found that using interactive, pre-recorded storybooks can improve the vocabulary of at-risk preschoolers – good news for getting a vulnerable population of children ready for school. “While we are working with children who are only 4 or 5 years old, we teach them the vocabulary words they will need to know when they eventually enter elementary or middle school,” said Elizabeth Kelley, an assistant professor in the MU School of Health Professions, who collaborated with Howard Goldstein at the University of South Florida, on the project. “If we can teach…

March 21, 2021

Crisis Intervention Training reduces stigma of mental illness in prisons

March 22, 2021 Before joining the School of Social Work at the University of Missouri, Professor Kelli E. Canada worked as a community clinical social worker in Chicago. There, many of her clients struggled with mental illness and were dealing with long stints in the prison system. What she discovered was corrections officers play an important role in prisoners’ lives, but often don’t understand how to deal with behaviors associated with mental illness. With that in mind, Canada partnered with the Missouri Department of Corrections (MODOC) to study how adjusting de-escalation techniques could improve corrections officers’ interactions with inmates with mental…

March 16, 2021

Physical Therapy represents at 2021 APTA Combined Sections Meeting

March 17, 2021 The Department of Physical Therapy is proud to highlight the scholarly activity of Mizzou DPT faculty, clinical partners, and students at the 2021 Combined Section Meeting of the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA). Impressively, the department had over a dozen presentations, offered virtually, at the profession’s largest annual event. Presentations focused on sub-specialty topic areas including pediatrics, neurology, chronic pain, and educational research.  While live presentations were offered throughout February, recorded and on-demand content available will be available until the end of March 2021. We hope you join us by visiting the 2021 Combined Sections Meeting…

March 11, 2021

Michelle Teti receives Fulbright Scholar Award

Dr. Teti will travel to South Africa to collaborate with University of Western Cape researchers March 12, 2021 The University of Missouri School of Health Professions is pleased to announce that Michelle Teti, associate department chair and associate professor of Public Health, has received a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program award in public health for the 2020–21 academic year from the U.S. Department of State and the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. Dr. Teti, who is also affiliated with the MU Black Studies department, is one of more than 800 U.S. citizens who will conduct research and/or teach abroad for the 2020–21…

Jan. 14, 2021

Special interests can be assets, not hindrances, for youth with autism

Jan. 15, 2021 Kerri Nowell, assistant clinical professor in the Department of Health Psychology and a pediatric clinical psychologist at the MU Thompson Center, together with colleagues Stephen Kanne, Cynthia Brown and Courtney Jorgenson, developed the survey for caregivers of youth with autism to assess various special interests they may have and determine if those special interests were interfering with the child’s development. After analyzing nearly 2,000 responses, in addition to possible reductions of anxiety and improvements of mental health, Nowell found that many caregivers also recognize the child’s special interests as outlets that can potentially benefit them in social…

Oct. 13, 2020

Improving health care autonomy for young adults with autism

Independence has always been a driving force in Nancy Cheak-Zamora’s life. Now an associate professor at the University of Missouri School of Health Professions, she grew up undiagnosed with dyslexia, a learning disorder that can lead to difficulty reading. “Although I wasn’t receiving all the assistance or services I probably needed because I was undiagnosed, I always had supportive people in my life who encouraged me and gave me opportunities to be successful,” Cheak-Zamora said. “That encouragement fundamentally allowed me to take on more independence and work through challenges in a way that has helped me succeed in both academia…

Sep. 28, 2020

A retrospective view of COVID-19

A multidisciplinary research project at the University of Missouri is collecting survey data and voluntary blood samples from a randomized sample population of MU students, faculty and staff to examine the prevalence of COVID-19 antibodies in the MU community. The goal is to better understand how well the MU community is responding to risk mitigation strategies already in place, as well as provide researchers with valuable information regarding individuals’ immune system responses to the coronavirus after exposure. “The risk survey asks individuals about behaviors and activities they have engaged in during the past few months, as well as their perceptions about COVID-19…

July 20, 2020

Weightlifting with lighter weights at faster speeds can improve mobility and cardiovascular health for older adults, MU researcher finds

Stephen Sayers has been exploring the effectiveness of low weight, high-speed weightlifting on muscle performance and function in older adults.