# Mentoring and Research in Self-Management for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention

> **NIH NIH K24** · COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES · 2020 · $114,458

## Abstract

Project Summary
This K24 application is from a mid-career patient-oriented researcher with a research program focused on
understanding the information needs of vulnerable patient populations and developing informatics-based self-
management tools to promote health and prevent disease. This K24 application will build on my current
portfolio of successful HIV research and enable me to focus on long-term objectives to broaden the scope of
my research in the next phase of my career and to provide the protected time to mentor the next generation of
nurse scientists in patient-oriented research (POR). Career Objectives: 1) Become a national and
international leader in combining bio-behavioral and informatics approaches for the management of chronic
illness, largely focusing on HIV-related illnesses, as a model for other underserved chronic illness populations;
2) Gain expertise in molecular genetics in symptom science to advance my program of research on informatics
strategies to improve bio-behavioral health outcomes; 3) Transform my laboratory into a local, regional,
national, and international center of excellence for precision nursing, bio-behavioral health interventions, and
self-management of chronic illness; and 4) Implement an outstanding training program in POR in self-
management and informatics for the next generation of nurse scientists. Mentoring Plan: Using an
individualized training approach, which includes a needs assessment of core research competencies and an
ongoing intensive evaluation process, each mentee will monitor their progress through an Individual
Development Plan (IDP). They will also participate in several training modules tailored to their individual needs,
e.g., Didactics; Focused Skills Training; Applied, Hands-on Training & Team Management; Research
Dissemination; and Grant Writing and Study Development. The Research Strategy of this proposal focuses
on incorporating biomarkers into my existing studies to augment the pace and scope of two HIV self-
management trials and two HIV prevention trials. My mentees and I will work to achieve the following specific
aims. Aim 1: Determine the extent that inflammatory cytokines, which may serve as biomarkers, are related to
symptom burden in persons living with HIV. Aim 2: Explore changes in cortisol concentrations in hair as a
hormonal response to changes in chronic stress over time in youth who are at high-risk for HIV. Aim 3:
Conduct a pilot study to assess the feasibility of the “mLab App Plus” which incorporates the use of the duplex
HIV/syphilis point-of-care test. This research trajectory holds promise for enhancing behavioral health research
by clarifying the influence of biomarkers as predictors of efficacy in our extant trials. Moreover, since HIV/AIDS
research has recently been shown to yield dividends across medical fields, the proposed work with persons living
with and at risk for HIV can easily be extended to other chronic illnesses, thus informing a wide array of l...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9917843
- **Project number:** 5K24NR018621-02
- **Recipient organization:** COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES
- **Principal Investigator:** Rebecca Schnall
- **Activity code:** K24 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $114,458
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-04-17 → 2024-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9917843

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9917843, Mentoring and Research in Self-Management for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention (5K24NR018621-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-21 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9917843. Licensed CC0.

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