Recent HRI Grant Submissions
- Helping Everyone Achieve a LifeTime of Health – Future Addiction Scientist Training.
National Institutes of Health – National Institute on Drug Abuse
Ezemenari M. Obasi (Principal Investigator) and Lorraine R. Reitzel (Principal Investigator). 9/1/19 – 9/31/24. $1,304,996.- The HEALTH-FAST Program will focus on advancing the careers of 60 Doctoral, Postdoctoral, and Early Stage Investigators (ESI) Trainees from underrepresented backgrounds in the health sciences. This will be achieved by developing an enriching educational experience, advancing the Trainees’ skills needed to effectively distribute innovative scientific research while simultaneously accelerating their competitiveness to secure future NIDA grant funding; and providing cutting-edge substance abuse research education curriculum that will include an array of diverse activities reflective of emerging national trends.
- Project Impact: Culturally Tailored and Adherence-Enhancing Intervention for Latino Smokers.
National Institutes of Health – National Institute on Minority Health and
Health Disparities
Marcel A. de Dios (Principal Investigator) and Lorraine R. Reitzel (Co-Investigator).
4/01/20 – 3/31/25. $2,460,848.- This study aims to test a culturally tailored adherence-enhancing intervention with 284 Latino smokers attempting to quit smoking through the use of counseling and nicotine replacement therapy. Findings from the study will inform clinical practice to help Latino smokers quit. Given the size of the Latino population in the U.S. (59.8 million) and the estimated number of Latinos that smoke (~6.2 million), findings can have a significant public health impact in the U.S.
- Transforming Cataract Surgery Through Development of a Novel Artificial Hydrogel.
National Institutes of Health – National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering
Kamran Alba (Principal Investigator)
4/1/20 - 3/31/25. $1,606,141.- With over three million operations per year, cataract removal is the most common surgery performed in the United States. The inflexible intraocular lenses (IOLs) currently used in cataract surgery lack accommodative ability (the eyes natural ability to adjust from distant to near focus), so many patients need to use glasses post-cataract surgery to see clearly at different distances. Through a transformative approach, Investigators from the University of Houston and Baylor College of Medicine with multidisciplinary expertise in engineering and ophthalmology, aim to develop a novel artificial viscoelastic hydrogel as a substitute for current IOLs that would resolve complications of current surgeries and give back patients their eye accommodation, thus eliminating the need to use glasses post-cataract surgery.
Faculty Member
