Congratulations to Alyssa Bilinski for winning the Salomon Award. The Richard B. Salomon Faculty Research Awards are competitively awarded and support excellence in scholarly work by providing funding for selected faculty research projects deemed to be of exceptional merit.

The Diamond Fund provides resources to the School of Public Health (SPH) through the Center for Gerontology and Healthcare Research to support several types of activities for SPH faculty and students. This support is intended to facilitate aging research collaborations Rhode Island community-based organizations, healthcare providers, or state agencies (e.g., Department of Health).

Ellen McCreedy, assistant professor of health services, policy and practice, and Ann Reddy, project director in the Center for Gerontology and Healthcare Research were granted funding for their collaborative projects with community health organizations. Their work focuses on addressing public health challenges that impact children and older adults.

A recent study evaluating COVID-19 vaccine safety was conducted by adjunct faculty member Kevin McConeghy in collaboration with Veteran Health Administration researchers in the Center for Medication Safety and other faculty members in the Brown Departments of Health Systems, Policy and Practice and Epidemiology. The researchers acknowledged concerns about vaccine safety and hesitancy and sought to evaluate overall risk of death with the primary series vaccination. The study utilizes target trial emulation methods to compare risk of death from to any cause in the first 60 days among 3 million Veterans assigned to either COVID-19 vaccination versus no vaccination from March 1, 2021, and July 1, 2021. Veterans assigned to a vaccination strategy experienced a 12–14% lower risk of death at 60 days versus unvaccinated, although the difference was not statistically significant. These findings align with prior scientific knowledge suggesting that vaccination is safe and emphasizes the importance of observational studies, and the VA healthcare system, to assess the risks of rare adverse events and long-term complications.

A study led by Andrew Zullo and his research team reveals notable differences in antibiotic prescribing in nursing homes by the prescriber's type (physician versus advanced practice practitioners) and their specialization in nursing home care. Published in JAMDA, the study examined antibiotic prescriptions for urinary tract infections and pneumonia in over 140,000 U.S. nursing home residents between 2016 and 2018. Notably, nursing home specialists were found to prescribe fluoroquinolones less frequently for urinary tract infections but more often for pneumonia, compared to their non-specialist counterparts. The findings underscore the need for targeted antibiotic stewardship programs that consider the unique roles and specialties of prescribers in nursing home settings. Moreover, the research highlights an encouraging trend: over time, nursing home specialists have significantly reduced their prescriptions of fluoroquinolones for pneumonia more than non-specialists. This suggests a growing adherence to antibiotic stewardship principles among specialized care providers, which is crucial for combating antibiotic resistance and ensuring the safe and effective use of antibiotics.

Although hospitalized patients with opioid use disorder (OUD) qualify for referral to post-acute care or SNFs at higher rates than patients without OUD, patients with OUD are substantially less likely to be accepted to a SNF. Published in JAMA Network Open, this qualitative study highlights challenges and opportunities for providing evidence-based care for OUD in SNFs through semi-structured interviews from 29 SNF administrators in Rhode Island. Researchers found that gaps in institutional capacity overlap with stigmatizing beliefs about OUD, contributing to discrimination of people with OUD. Adequate SNF funding and staffing combined with OUD-specific interventions (e.g., anti-stigma training, community
partnerships for MOUD and recovery support) have the potential to incentivize SNFs to serve people with OUD and facilitate OUD care consistent with practice guidelines.