Faculty Receive Grants for Diabetes Health Disparities and Mental Health Research

Two faculty members from the Brown School have been awarded grants for research aimed at addressing disparities in diabetes health management and improving mental health care delivery. 

Dan Ferris: Enhancing Diabetes Care Through Nutrition

Dan Ferris, an assistant professor of practice, has received a $50,000 one-year pilot and feasibility grant from WashU’s Center for Diabetes Translation Research (WU-CDTR) to study the impact of nutrition and Food is Medicine programs on diabetes care through a partnership with the nonprofit Food Outreach. His study, “From Translation to Transformation: Medically Tailored Meals and Food-is-Medicine Approaches for Reducing Health Disparities in Diabetes Management,” aims to evaluate how a comprehensive Medically Tailored Meals program in St. Louis can improve outcomes for adults with type 2 diabetes. The study is being conducted in partnership with Food Outreach, who designed and leads the meals program for over 150 participants.  

In 2022, Food Outreach launched a pilot Medically Tailored Meals program for individuals experiencing nutrition insecurity and uncontrolled type II diabetes (A1C greater than 8.0). Food Outreach provided the equivalent of up to two free meals per day to each patient (60 meals monthly), including scratch-prepared Medically Tailored Meals, nutritious groceries and fresh produce, and free Medical Nutrition Therapy by their registered dietitians.

Ferris will collaborate with a study team including Sarah Moreland-Russell, associate professor of practice, Stephen Roll, assistant professor, and Food Outreach staff to analyze the impact and implementation of the meals program through surveys, health data, and participant interviews. The study seeks to address gaps in policy, cost-effectiveness, and implementation science for community-based, healthcare system-partnered nutrition programs. 

“Food is medicine programs, like Medically Tailored Meals, have long supported individuals experiencing health conditions with deep connectivity to nutrition access,” Ferris said. “As U.S. policy, practice, and research move rapidly around community-level investments in social determinants of health, the WU-CDTR grant makes possible this partnership with Food Outreach to seed new insights into how programs like theirs can be replicated, improved, and expanded.”  

Katie Simpson, Director of Program Initiatives, is part of the team running the program at Food Outreach.  “Food Outreach is excited to work with Professor Ferris and Washington University to determine the impact of our Medically Tailored Meal program and nutrition supporting interventions on clinical outcomes, disease management, nutrition and food insecurity, and quality of life. We know there is power in food is medicine interventions and are grateful for the WU-CDTR grant that makes this study possible.”

Leopoldo J. Cabassa: Integrating Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies

Leopoldo J. Cabassa, a professor at the Brown School and co-director of the Center for Mental Health Services Research, has been awarded a $29,986 one-year pilot grant from WashU’s Center for Dissemination of Implementation. His project, “Learning from Early Adopters of Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies,” will focus on integrating psychedelic-assisted therapies, shown to improve conditions such as depression and PTSD when paired with psychotherapy, into routine practice settings. The goal is to make these treatments accessible in a timely, affordable, and safe manner for those most in need. 

Cabassa will lead the study in collaboration with Dani Adams from the University of Missouri School of Social Work at Columbia and Ellis Ballard, assistant professor of practice.