RAP Impact Awardees: Spring & Fall 2020 (compiled: May/June 2025)
Patience Afulani, PhD, MD, MPH
Associate Professor – OB/GYN, Reproductive Sciences
School of Medicine
Pilot for Early Career Investigators in Basic an Clinical/Translational Sciences
Understanding the drivers of poor person-centered maternal health care in Ghana
Awarded $ 40K – Spring, 2020
The objective of the project was to examine the drivers of poor Person-Centered Maternal Health Care (PCMC) in Ghana. In addition to an exploratory approach to examine the drivers of PCMC more broadly, we focused on understanding the role of three factors—provider stress, implicit bias, and difficult situations—that we posited to be key elements driving poor PCMC and contributing to disparities in PCMC. We focused on these three factors because they had received little attention in the quality-of-care dialogue in SSA, although literature from high-income settings shows that these factors contribute to poor patient-provider interactions as well as to disparities in care. We plan to use the findings to inform a multi-country R01 application for an intervention to improve PCMC in SSA.
How did the RAP grant allow for further funding and/or publications?
The RAP seed-fund led to an R01 award implemented in Ghana and Kenya and now entering the grant’s third year. We published three papers from the initial study funded by RAP, with two additional ones led by mentees in progress.
What was the type of follow-up funding since the initial RAP award?
I received an R01 award from the NICHD (National Institute of Child Health & Human Development).
What is the focus of your research today?
My research continues to be focused on maternal health and person-centered care, but I have expanded from just measurement and examining drivers to evaluating interventions.
Additional/final comments:
The RAP award had a great impact for me and was instrumental in providing the preliminary data for my R01. I am very grateful for the RAP funding mechanism.
Edilberto Amorim De Cerquera Filho, MD
Associate Professor – Neurology/UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences
School of Medicine
Pilot for Early Career Investigators in Basic an Clinical/Translational Sciences
Quantitative electroencephalography for early brain edema prediction in overdose-related cardiac arrest
Awarded $ 40K – Spring, 2020
How did the RAP grant allow for further funding and/or publications?
The RAP 2020 award supported me in launching a new area of research in my laboratory and led to producing three publications. The award also helped our lab-team members’ advancement to the next step of their careers in medical school and residency.
What was the type of follow-up funding since the initial RAP award?
I have received funding from the Department of Defense (DoD) and a pilot award for a clinical trial supported by a foundation.
What is the focus of your research today?
I continue to work on brain monitoring in cardiac arrest and have expanded this work to traumatic brain injury and stroke.
Joel Ernst, MD
Professor – Medicine
School of Medicine
Shared Technology Awards
Single-Cell Transcriptomics of Biohazardous Infectious Diseases
Awarded $ 35K – Spring, 2020
How did the RAP grant allow for further funding and/or publications?
Funds from the RAP grant provided the foundation for introducing a new technology in the BSL3 facilities: the capability to perform single cell RNA sequencing. One publication so far resulted directly from the funding:
Zheng W, Borja M, Dorman LC, Liu J, Zhou A, Seng A, Arjyal R, Sunshine S, Nalyvayko A, Pisco AO, Rosenberg OS, Neff N, Zha BS. Sci Adv. 2025 Jan 17;11(3):eadq8158. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adq8158. Epub 2025 Jan 15. PMID: 39813329
Additional projects have benefited, as data generated with funds from the award have been used in grant applications and in projects not yet mature enough for publication.
What was the type of follow-up funding since the initial RAP award?
An NIH R21 (AI189792) has been awarded, an NIH K08 is pending, and an NIH R01 is being resubmitted.
What is the focus of your research today?
My current research focuses on immunity to tuberculosis.
Additional/final comments:
This is a great program! It has been very impactful!
Aaron J. Fields, PhD
Associate Professor – Orthopaedic Surgery
School of Medicine
Pilot for Established Investigators in Basic and Clinical/Translational Sciences
Enhancing cartilage endplate permeability to improve disc nutrition
Awarded $ 50K – Spring, 2020
How did the RAP grant allow for further funding and/or publications?
This RAP grant enabled me to test how a newly developed enzymatic treatment ameliorates spinal cartilage fibrosis and improves nutrient transport and cell survival. These experiments led to one publication and to provisional and PCT patent filings.
Publications:
Intradiscal treatment of the cartilage endplate for improving solute transport and disc nutrition. Front Bioeng Biotechnol. 2023 Feb 27:11:1111356. Habib M, Hussien S, Jeon O, Lotz JC, Kung Wu PI, Alsberg E, Fields AJ. PMID: 36923455; PMCID: PMC10008947.
What was the type of follow-up funding since the initial RAP award?
Data from this RAP award were a key part of an R01 proposal submitted to the NIH/NIAMS in October 2024. This proposal scored highly (9%-tile), and a funding decision is expected in the next few months.
What is the focus of your research today?
My research today focuses on the role of nutrient transport in spinal disc degeneration/regeneration and on developing multi-modal approaches for phenotyping patients with low back pain and selecting appropriate treatments.
Additional/final comments:
I'm incredibly grateful for the RAP support, which has been instrumental in propelling a new line of research in my lab. Thank you!
Matthew Hickey, MD
Assistant Professor – Medicine: HIV, Infectious Diseases & Global Medicine
School of Medicine
Mentored Scientist Award Program in HIV/AIDS
Weight gain and metabolic consequences of switch to dolutegravir in western Kenya
Awarded $ 50K – Spring, 2020
How did the RAP grant allow for further funding and/or publications?
The awarded RAP seed grant provided important preliminary data to support a successful NIH K23 application.
Publications:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36787723/
What was the type of follow-up funding since the initial RAP award?
As follow-up funding to the RAP award, we received an NIH K23 award.
What is the focus of your research today?
My research focuses on two main areas:
1) implementation research to improve delivery of hypertension and cardiovascular disease preventive care in rural East Africa
and
2) developing and testing low-barrier models of HIV care for people experiencing homelessness and other barriers to retention in care in urban US-based settings.
Additional/final comments:
RAP is a wonderful mechanism to support pilot projects and sets the stage for future high impact publications and larger grants.
Paul Wesson, PhD
Assistant Professor – Epidemiology & Biostatistics
School of Medicine
Mentored Scientist Award Program in HIV/AIDS
Application of quantitative intersectionality methods to identify the most vulnerable populations in the HIV continuum of care
Awarded $ 50K – Spring, 2020
How did the RAP grant allow for further funding and/or publications?
The RAP grant provided funding to support my continued investigation into quantitative intersectionality methods and application to my population health research portfolio. Since receiving the RAP award, I (in working with my mentee) published a systematic review of quantitative intersectionality methods (Guan et al. “An investigation of quantitative methods for assessing intersectionality in health research: A systematic review” SSM Population Health 2021). I have another manuscript (“Identifying the Vulnerable among the Vulnerable: Applying Quantitative Intersectionality Methods to Assess Potential Inequities in the HIV Continuum of Care for People Living with Schizophrenia in the United States”) that is under review at Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology.
In furtherance of my broader research agenda around intersectionality, I also received an NIH/NIMH administrative supplement to study facilitators and barriers to HIV care linkage post-release from jail for people living with HIV with criminal legal involvement (more details provided in next response).
What was the type of follow-up funding since the initial RAP award?
NIH/NIMH Ending the HIV Epidemic administrative supplement (3P30MH062246-23S1; “Implementation strategies to optimize post-incarceration continuity of care for people living with HIV with criminal legal involvement”).
What is the focus of your research today?
Strategies to improve post-incarceration linkage to and retention in HIV care for people living with HIV with criminal legal involvement.
Additional/final comments:
I am very appreciative for the opportunity provided by this RAP award to advance my knowledge in intersectionality, develop new skills, and utilize it as a theoretical and methodological framework to advance my research on population health and health disparities.