Collaborative to improve screening for intimate partner violence approved for PCORI funding

Elizabeth Cox, MD, PhD, in collaboration with partners from the West Virginia Coalition Against Domestic Violence and West Virginia University, recently received approval for a Pipeline to Proposal Tier II award from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). This award through PCORI’s Pipeline to Proposal Awards program will support the West Virginia Asking Women About Relationship Experiences (AWARE) Collaborative for Intimate Partner Violence Screening. Although 7 million U.S. women experience intimate partner violence (IPV), only 3-10% of IPV victims are identified by healthcare professionals due to low screening rates. These rates are especially low in underserved rural areas due to geographic and social isolation. The West Virginia Coalition Against Domestic Violence will lead this project to transform the healthcare system’s response to intimate partner violence. Read the full press release here.

Heather Johnson discusses masked hypertension

Dr. Heather Johnson was recently featured in a local news story on "masked hypertension," a condition where blood pressure readings are normal when they are measured at the doctor's office, but are actually high in non-clinical settings due to stressful or fast-paced daily living. Masked hypertension is the opposite of "white coat hypertension," where anxiety about being in a clinical environment raises blood pressure temporarily. Masked hypertension can be difficult to diagnose and can result in long-term damage to the heart and kidneys, and is estimated to affect 10-15% of Americans. View the news story here.   

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