Past Research Projects

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Past Projects

HIV 

Tailoring HIV/PrEP Education Messages for Adolescents (THEMA) Study 

This study's aim was to harness behavioral economic strategies to develop a novel intervention that improves PrEP messaging and decision-making as well as increases discussions and prescribing of PrEP by health care providers.

Principal Investigator: Carly Guss

Funder: National Institutes of Health/Harvard University Center for AIDS Research

Recent Publications:

  1. Guss CE, Gluskin B, DeMaio D, Wisk L, Krakower D. "To reach the new generation… TikTok:" Applying behavioral economics to adolescent and young adult HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis education. Patient Educ Couns. 2025;140:109277. doi:10.1016/j.pec.2025.109277
  2. Guss CE, DeMaio D, Gluskin B, Daddario S, Addison J, Fitzgerald S, Mayer KH, Wisk LE, Krakower D. Pediatrician Preferences for Electronic Clinical Decision Support to Facilitate HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis. J Adolesc Health. 2024;75(2):368-371. doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2024.04.005

Health Care Transition

Motivating parental support of youth skill-building during health care transition        

The goal of this project was to develop and evaluate a novel intervention designed to assist parents in preparing their adolescent children with Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) for the transition from pediatric to adult-focused care. 

Principal Investigator: Lauren E. Wisk

Funder: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases 

Recent Publications: 

  1. Yama C, Rook JM, Wisk LE, Dudovitz R, Hernández D, Eisenman DP, Leifheit KM. Expiration of the Expanded Child Tax Credit and Energy Insecurity in US Households With Children, 2021-2022. Am J Public Health. 2025;115(8):1312-1321. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2025.308105
  2. Wisk LE, Sharma N. Prevalence and Trends in Pediatric-Onset Chronic Conditions in the United States, 1999-2018. Acad Pediatr. 2025;25(4):102810. doi:10.1016/j.acap.2025.102810
  3. Tsevat RK, Weitzman ER, Wisk LE. Psychosocial correlates of alcohol and substance use in college youth with type 1 diabetes. J Pediatr Psychol. 2025;50(2):197-204. doi:10.1093/jpepsy/jsae103
Parent and his child with child's doctor

Health Care Transition

Motivating parental support of youth skill-building during health care transition        

The goal of this project was to develop and evaluate a novel intervention designed to assist parents in preparing their adolescent children with Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) for the transition from pediatric to adult-focused care. 

Principal Investigator: Lauren E. Wisk

Funder: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases 

Recent Publications: 

  1. Yama C, Rook JM, Wisk LE, Dudovitz R, Hernández D, Eisenman DP, Leifheit KM. Expiration of the Expanded Child Tax Credit and Energy Insecurity in US Households With Children, 2021-2022. Am J Public Health. 2025;115(8):1312-1321. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2025.308105
  2. Wisk LE, Sharma N. Prevalence and Trends in Pediatric-Onset Chronic Conditions in the United States, 1999-2018. Acad Pediatr. 2025;25(4):102810. doi:10.1016/j.acap.2025.102810
  3. Tsevat RK, Weitzman ER, Wisk LE. Psychosocial correlates of alcohol and substance use in college youth with type 1 diabetes. J Pediatr Psychol. 2025;50(2):197-204. doi:10.1093/jpepsy/jsae103

Delivering contextualizing population data to motivate health care transition preparation

The aims of this project was to evaluate hierarchical predictors of individual disease and health care transition outcomes among adolescents and young adults with Type 1 Diabetes and to develop and prospectively test the effectiveness of feeding back this population data for improving transition preparation.

Principal Investigator: Lauren E. Wisk

Funder: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases 

Recent Publications:

  1. Buhr RG, Huang CX, Romero R, Wisk LE. Bolstering agreement with scarce resource allocation policy using education: a post hoc analysis of a randomized controlled trial. BMC Health Serv Res. 2025;25(1):540. doi:10.1186/s12913-025-12712-x
  2. Everett E, Han CS, Richley M, Copeland TP, Moin T, Wisk LE. Preterm Labor and Hypertensive Disorders in Adolescent Pregnancies With Diabetes Between 2006 and 2019. Pediatr Diabetes. 2024;2024:2283730. doi:10.1155/2024/2283730
  3. Buhr RG, Romero R, Wisk LE. Promotion of Knowledge and Trust Surrounding Scarce Resource Allocation Policies: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Health Forum. 2024;5(10):e243509. doi:10.1001/jamahealthforum.2024.3509

Creating a Dynamic Online Cohort to Study Health Care Transition                   

This project was a mixed methods study that proposed to ascertain health care transition (HCT) needs from the perspective of multiple stakeholders and identify alignment of HCT preferences using an innovative methodological approach (dynamic online cohort).

Principal Investigator: Lauren E. Wisk

Funder: Academic Pediatric Association Young Investigators Award Program

Developing Patient and Family Centered Approaches for Measuring and Improving Transition Readiness and Self-Efficacy

This project’s goal was to establish preferences for supporting medical and non-medical barriers to healthcare transition.

Principal Investigator: Jonathan Finkelstein

Project Lead Investigator: Lauren E. Wisk

Funder: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

Recent Publications:

  1. Wisk LE, Sharma N. Inequalities in Young Adult Health Insurance Coverage Post-federal Health Reform. J Gen Intern Med. 2019;34(1):65-74. doi:10.1007/s11606-018-4723-0
  2. Weitzman ER, Magane KM, Wisk LE, Allario J, Harstad E, Levy S. Alcohol Use and Alcohol-Interactive Medications Among Medically Vulnerable Youth. Pediatrics. 2018;142(4):e20174026. doi:10.1542/peds.2017-4026
  3. Wisk LE, Gray SH, Gooding HC. I Thought You Said This Was Confidential?-Challenges to Protecting Privacy for Teens and Young Adults. JAMA Pediatr. 2018;172(3):209-210. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2017.3927

Health Promotion in Transition: Effects of Web-Based Health Information on Disease Management and Risk Behaviors for Youth with Type 1 Diabetes in College 

The purpose of this project was to survey college students with Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) in order to advance understanding of healthcare transition and health promotion for these youth.

Co-Principal Investigators: Lauren E. Wisk and Elissa Weitzman

Funder: Boston Children’s Hospital Awards Committee Pilot Research Project Funding 

Recent Publications:

  1. Tsevat RK, Weitzman ER, Wisk LE. Indicators of Healthcare Transition Progress Among College Youth With Type 1 Diabetes. Acad Pediatr. 2023;23(4):737-746. doi:10.1016/j.acap.2022.08.012
  2. Wisk LE, Magane KM, Nelson EB, Weitzman ER. Response to the Letter to the Editor From Mayen et al Regarding "Clinical Trial Recruitment and Retention of College Students With Type 1 Diabetes via Social Media: An Implementation Case Study". J Diabetes Sci Technol. 2020;14(1):187-188. doi:10.1177/1932296819882052

Diabetes 

The Impact of Reflective Motivation on the Effect of a Shared Decision Making Intervention for Diabetes Prevention

This project proposed to investigate mechanisms by which a shared decision making intervention for diabetes prevention among overweight/obese women with a history of GDM and hemoglobin A1c between 5.7-6.4% is effective for affecting diabetes prevention behaviors and weight loss.

Principal Investigators: Kenrik Duru and Tannaz Moin

Project Lead Investigator: Lauren E. Wisk

Funder: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases

Recent Publications:

  1. Malone A, Tibbe TD, Turk N, Duru OK, Wisk LE, Mangione C, Page J, Thomas SC, Vu A, Madievsky R, Chon J, Cheng F, Liu S, Maranon R, Krong J, Krueger A, Han CS, Norris K, Moin T. Type 2 Diabetes Risk Perception and Health Behaviors Among Women with History of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus: A Retrospective Analysis. Nutrients. 2025;17(21):3360. doi:10.3390/nu17213360
  2. Everett EM, Copeland TP, Moin T, Wisk LE. Insulin Pump-related Inpatient Admissions in a National Sample of Youth With Type 1 Diabetes. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2022;107(6):e2381-e2387. doi:10.1210/clinem/dgac047

Disparities in Reproductive Health Services for Young Women with Diabetes Mellitus

The project's aim was to examine disparities in realized access to guideline-recommended reproductive health services for young women (ages 13-39 years) with type 1 or 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) compared to peers without DM.

Principal Investigator: Lauren E. Wisk

Funder: UCLA Faculty Career Development Award

Housing Cost

Health Disparities Among Women Displaced in California’s Affordable Housing Crisis    

This project was a retrospective, population-based study designed to understand how the health of female renters is impacted by residential moves due to excess housing cost. 

Project Lead Investigator: Katherine Chen

Funder: Iris Cantor-UCLA Women’s Health Center/CTSI Young Investigator Award

Recent Publications:

  1. Chen KL, Wisk LE, Nuckols TK, Ong PM, Ponce NA, Elmore JG, Choi KR, Nau C, Zimmerman FJ. Association of Cost-Driven Residential Moves With Health-Related Outcomes Among California Renters. JAMA Netw Open. 2023;6(3):e232990. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.2990

COVID-19 

Innovative Support for Patients with SARS-CoV-2 Infections (INSPIRE) Registry

The INSPIRE Registry was a multi-site study at academic medical centers across the U.S. seeking to use digital health application tools to conduct longitudinal tracking of a diverse patient group tested for SARS-CoV-2 for up to 24 months from testing date. The ultimate goal was to create an approach that efficiently provides real-time data, analysis and reporting, while also promoting an open science approach that protects patient privacy but promotes rapid dissemination of knowledge surrounding COVID-19 and factors, particularly age, that contribute to outcomes.

Site Principal Investigator: Joann Elmore

Funder: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/National Center of Immunization and Respiratory Diseases 

Recent Publications: 

  1. Openshaw JJ, Chen J, Rodriguez R, Gottlieb M, McCullough K, Santangelo M, Hill MJ, Gatling K, Idris AH, McDonald S, Wisk LE, Dyal J, Wang RC, Rising KL, Kean E, O'Laughlin KN, Stephens KA, Malicki C, Lin Z, Spatz ES, Yu H, Weinstein RA, Elmore J. The Effect of SARS-CoV-2 Reinfection on Long-Term Symptoms in the Innovative Support for Patients With SARS-CoV-2 Infections Registry (INSPIRE). Clin Infect Dis. 2025;81(3):416-426. doi:10.1093/cid/ciaf225
  2. Wisk LE, Gottlieb M, Chen P, Yu H, O'Laughlin KN, Stephens KA, Nichol G, Montoy JCC, Rodriguez RM, Santangelo M, Gatling K, Spatz ES, Venkatesh AK, Rising KL, Hill MJ, Huebinger R, Idris AH, Willis M, Kean E, McDonald SA, Elmore JG, Weinstein RA. Association of SARS-CoV-2 With Health-related Quality of Life 1 Year After Illness Using Latent Transition Analysis. Open Forum Infect Dis. 2025;12(6):ofaf278. doi:10.1093/ofid/ofaf278
  3. Gottlieb M, Yu H, Chen J, Spatz ES, Gentile NL, Geyer RE, Santangelo M, Malicki C, Gatling K, Saydah S, O'Laughlin KN, Stephens KA, Elmore JG, Wisk LE, L'Hommedieu M, Rodriguez RM, Montoy JCC, Wang RC, Rising KL, Kean E, Dyal JW, Hill MJ, Venkatesh AK, Weinstein RA. Differences in Long COVID severity by duration of illness, symptom evolution, and vaccination: a longitudinal cohort study from the INSPIRE group. Lancet Reg Health Am. 2025;44:101026. doi:10.1016/j.lana.2025.101026

Understanding Community Considerations, Opinions, Values, Impacts, and Decisions for COVID-19 (UC-COVID Study)

This project aimed to undertake broad community engagement to understand how patients and health care workers receive and provider care during the COVID-19 pandemic, and will investigate opinions about scarce resource allocation policies and disparities in access to care and health management behaviors.

Co-Principal Investigators: Lauren E. Wisk and Russell Buhr

Funder: University of California Office of the President 

Recent Publications:

  1. Wisk LE, Buhr RG. Rapid deployment of a community engagement study and educational trial via social media: implementation of the UC-COVID study. Trials. 2021;22(1):513. doi:10.1186/s13063-021-05467-3

Substance Use

Evaluation of SBIRT in Massachusetts Public Schools

The goal of this project was to advance a model for school-based adolescent substance use Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) that identifies organizational features of impactful models and evaluates behavioral and normative effects of school-based SBIRT on adolescents.

Co-Principal Investigators: Elissa Weitzman and Sharon Levy

Funder: Peter and Elizabeth C. Tower Foundation

Recent Publications:

  1. Levy S, Wisk LE, Minegishi M, Ertman B, Lunstead J, Brogna M, Weitzman ER. Association of Screening and Brief Intervention With Substance Use in Massachusetts Middle and High Schools. JAMA Netw Open. 2022;5(8):e2226886. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.26886. Erratum in: JAMA Netw Open. 2022;5(10):e2238734. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.38734

Trial of a novel brief intervention for substance use for youth with chronic conditions   

The aims of this project were to 1) develop and refine measures of adolescent substance use and patient centered outcome measures and 2) conduct a randomized controlled trial of a brief intervention to prevent alcohol and marijuana use for youth with chronic conditions.

Co-Principal Investigators: Elissa Weitzman and Sharon Levy

Funder: Conrad N. Hilton Foundation/Clinical Research 

Recent Publications: 

  1. Weitzman ER, Minegishi M, Dedeoglu F, Fishman LN, Garvey KC, Wisk LE, Levy S. Disease-Tailored Brief Intervention for Alcohol Use Among Youths With Chronic Medical Conditions: A Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Netw Open. 2024;7(7):e2419858. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.19858
  2. Weitzman ER, Minegishi M, Wisk LE, Levy S. Substance Use and Educational Impacts in Youth With and Without Chronic Illness. Am J Prev Med. 2024;66(2):279-290. doi:10.1016/j.amepre.2023.09.029
  3. Levy S, Wisk LE, Minegishi M, Lunstead J, Weitzman ER. Pediatric Subspecialist Alcohol Screening Rates and Concerns About Alcohol and Cannabis Use Among Their Adolescent Patients. J Adolesc Health. 2022;71(4S):S34-S40. doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2022.03.001

Rheumatic Disease

Leveraging social media to engage adolescent participants in patient-centered cohort research for the clinical care of rheumatic disease

The study's aim was to ascertain the feasibility of engaging an unbiased sample of chronically ill youth enrolled in a pediatric rheumatic disease registry in sharing health information using social media, and assess the value of social media for augmenting clinical and patient-reported data.

Principal Investigator: Elissa Weitzman

Funder: National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases 

Recent Publications:

  1. Weitzman ER, Minegishi M, Cox R, Wisk LE. Associations Between Patient-Reported Outcome Measures of Physical and Psychological Functioning and Willingness to Share Social Media Data for Research Among Adolescents With a Chronic Rheumatic Disease: Cross-Sectional Survey. JMIR Pediatr Parent. 2023;6:e46555. doi:10.2196/46555
  2. Weitzman ER, Magane KM, Wisk LE. How Returning Aggregate Research Results Impacts Interest in Research Engagement and Planned Actions Relevant to Health Care Decision Making: Cohort Study. J Med Internet Res. 2018;20(12):e10647. doi:10.2196/10647

Screening Tool

Building an Empirically-Derived Screen to Detect Vulnerability to High Health Care Burden for Youth with Chronic Medical Conditions

The aim of this project was to create a novel screening tool that can identify youth who are most vulnerable to adverse outcomes and need intervention and psychosocial support.  

Principal Investigator: Lauren E. Wisk

Funder: Office of Faculty Development/Basic Translational Research Executive Committee/Clinical and Translational Research Executive Committee Faculty Career Development Fellowship 

Recent Publications:

  1. Gooding HC, Brown CA, Wisk LE. Investing in our future: The importance of ambulatory visits to achieving blood pressure control in young adults. J Clin Hypertens (Greenwich). 2017;19(12):1298-1300. doi:10.1111/jch.13100