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Fisher
to head national programs for Robert
Wood Johnson Foundation
By Jim Dryden Edwin B. Fisher, Ph.D., professor of psychology and of medicine, has been selected to direct two newly created national programs for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the largest U.S. foundation devoted to improving the health and health care of all Americans.
Although medical advances have greatly enhanced its treatment, individuals with diabetes remain responsible for managing their disease every day of their lives. "Advancing Diabetes Self-Management," a $3.2 million program, will provide up to six 15-month grants to demonstrate and evaluate improved ways of integrating multicomponent diabetes self-management programs into primary care settings. The second program, "Building Community Supports for Diabetes Care," will offer up to eight 12-month grants totaling $3.1 million to develop and evaluate partnerships among health provider organizations and other community groups to encourage and reduce barriers to diabetes management in people's daily lives. Calls for proposals for both programs on the foundation's and program office's Web sites netted more than 300 applications from groups around the country. "We solicited grant requests from primary care provider organizations and community groups to test innovative approaches to self-management and community support for diabetes management," Fisher said. "Currently, we are evaluating the proposals and over the next few months we anticipate funding 14 projects." Fisher also is head of the Division of Health Behavior Research in the Departments of Pediatrics and Medicine and head of Prevention and Control Research in the DRTC and the Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center at the School of Medicine and Barnes-Jewish Hospital. The two Robert Wood Johnson Found-ation Programs will fund an initial group of projects that continue into 2004. Based on the findings from these grants, the Diabetes Initiative expects to fund a second round of multiyear projects in the future. "We are extremely pleased and honored to be chosen to coordinate these programs for such an outstanding foundation," said William A. Peck, M.D., executive vice chancellor for medical affairs and dean of the medical school. "This award recognizes the excellent research in diabetes prevention, treatment and adherence that Ed Fisher and his colleagues have conducted over the years and reflects the role of Washington University as a first-rate institution not only in basic research but also in health behavior research." Over the past three decades, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has supported the University through its Minority Medical Faculty Development, Substance Abuse Policy Research, Health Services for High-Risk Young People, Health Policy Fellowships, Addressing Tobacco in Managed Care and ambulatory preventive medicine programs. The foundation's grant efforts focus on four goal areas: To ensure that all Americans have access to basic health care at reasonable cost; to improve care and support for people with chronic health conditions; to promote healthy communities and lifestyles; and to reduce the personal, social and economic harm caused by substance abuse, such as tobacco, alcohol and illicit drugs. In addition to the new Diabetes National Program Office, the foundation currently funds the University's Faith in Action and Generalist Physician Faculty Scholars programs. |
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