The University of Louisville Alumni Magazine: for alumni, faculty, staff, students and anyone that is a UofL Cardinal fan.
Issue link: https://louisville.epubxp.com/i/535203
2 2 | L O U I S V I L L E . E D U Research Rate of prescribing psychotropic drugs to Kentucky kids studied at UofL Researchers with the University of Louisville's Child and Adolescent Health Research Design and Support Unit (CAHRDS) initiated a study examining the higher-than-average rate of psychotropic medication prescribed to children in Kentucky. Of almost 600,000 children receiving Medicaid in Kentucky, one in seven — 14 percent — has been prescribed at least one of these powerful psychiatric drugs. Almost half — 42 percent — of the children in Kentucky's foster care system have been prescribed at least one. Both statistics approach twice the national average. An eight-member team at the CAHRDS Unit in the Department of Pediatrics is working to f nd out why, funded by a $75,000 Improved Health Outcomes Program grant from Passport Health Plan. Gilbert Liu, MD, heads the team which includes Charles Woods, MD; Michael Smith, MD; Deborah Winders Davis, PhD; David Lohr, MD; John Myers, PhD; Michelle Stevenson, MD; and Michael Rowland, PhD. UofL researchers to examine asthma triggers in older adults Although often considered a childhood health problem, asthma — a chronic inf ammatory disease that causes recurrent cough, wheezing and chest tightness or shortness of breath — can cause seri- ous illness for people age 60 and older, and little is known about asthma triggers specif c to seniors. Barbara Polivka, PhD, Shirley B. Powers Endowed Chair in Nursing, and her interdisciplinary team received a $2.3 million National Institute on Aging grant to study personal and environmental inf uences of asthma in older adults. The researchers hope to recruit 190 asthma sufferers age 60 and older who are non-smokers and have no other lung diseases. They'll gather informa- tion related to health history, occupational exposures and age at asthma onset. Blood work, pulmonary function tests and a skin-allergy test will be a part of the data collection process for each participant. During this f ve-year study, the team will measure chemical emissions from outdoor and common indoor materials and allergens associated with higher risks of asthma. Experts know that volatile organic compounds (VOCs) found in cleaning products, room fresheners, carpets and paints cause problems for children with asthma, but this study will explore VOC exposure and asthma control in older adults for the f rst time. UofL leads new study to map disease genes in horses Morris Animal Foundation awarded a three-year, $155,000 grant to a team of Kentucky and Danish research- ers to build a new reference genome sequence for the domestic horse. The sequence will be a much needed tool for animal researchers worldwide and the equine industry in particular be- cause it will signif cantly improve the ability to understand the role of genetics in animal health and well-being. Ted Kalbf eisch, PhD, of the Uni- versity of Louisville Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, is the principal investigator. Ludovic Orlando, PhD, of the University of Copenhagen and James MacLeod, PhD, of the University of Kentucky will join him in the research. Genome sequencing allows researchers to decipher genetic information found in DNA and is important in mapping disease genes — discovering the diseases a horse might be genetically predisposed to develop- ing. "In 2009, Morris Animal Founda- tion helped fund the f rst genome reference sequence for the domestic horse," Kalbf eisch said. "Since then, there have been dramatic improve- ments in sequencing technology, as well as the computational hardware and algorithms required to analyze the data generated by the technology. We now have the tools necessary to vastly improve the reference genome for the horse." Kalbfl eisch Liu Polivka