Goff Organizes Tri-Campus Research Collaborative Workshop

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More than a dozen researchers from three UMass system campuses met recently for a daylong workshop to develop cross-campus collaborations on research related to Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs).

ACEs are traumatic events such as abuse, neglect or witnessing domestic violence experienced by children and adolescents. Numerous studies have shown that individuals who have been exposed to one or more ACEs have a significantly increased risk for developing certain physical and mental health disorders during their lifetime. The risk is cumulative in that the more ACEs someone experiences, the higher their risk for poor health outcomes. ACEs have a particularly strong association with development of a substance use disorder.

Organized by Sarah Goff, formerly of UMass Medical-Baystate and now an associate professor of health promotion and policy at UMass Amherst, the tri-campus research collaborative aimed to spark new ideas and proposals to help prevent and mitigate harm from these experiences.

“I’ve been talking with collaborators at the three institutions about overlapping interests in our research and within our extended research networks for several years now,” says Goff. “This workshop developed from our shared desire to come together to think about how we can tap into these complementary interests and skills to pursue research that has high potential for public health, clinical and policy impact.”

The group was charged with generating ideas for new research proposals that would involve investigators from at least two of the three campuses. Attendees came prepared to “pitch” new ideas to the group, with two to three ideas being advanced toward pursuit of funding. The full day included presentations by keynote speaker Dr. Catarina Kiefe, founding chair of the department of population and quantitative health sciences at UMass Memorial Medical School Worcester, and Amy Schalet, UMass Amherst associate professor of sociology and an expert on public engagement.

The group identified important areas to consider for further development into research proposals, including developing interventions to support workers in the Department of Children and Families who are tasked with helping families at risk for experiencing ACEs and working with the jail and prison systems to recognize and reduce potential bias towards incarcerated persons with substance use disorder. The group also identified potential mechanisms to support cross-campus collaborations between the three institutions, including development of a fellowship modeled on other grant development programs at UMass Amherst.

“I’m excited about the possibilities for collaborative research in this area,” says Goff. “Now we have to put all the ideas into action.”