Despite its safety and effectiveness, COVID-19 vaccine uptake declined later in the pandemic.

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In a study co-authored by Board Member Dr.  Karen Seal, and Drs. Jennifer K. Manuel; Natalie Purcell and Brian Borsari, researchers evaluated the effectiveness of a Motivational Interviewing (MI)-informed educational intervention for healthcare providers and staff on vaccination communication. They hypothesized that educating providers and staff about non-judgmental, collaborative discussions would enhance vaccine uptake in Veterans.

Heart failure and its main subtypes, heart failure with preserved ejection fraction and heart failure with reduced ejection fraction, impose an enormous health burden on elders. Assessment of the circulating proteins to illuminate the development of heart failure could open new opportunities for treatment.

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The researchers identified and replicated 55 novel protein markers of heart failure or its subtypes, and 7 new, possibly causal proteins. These proteins may enhance risk prediction, improve understanding of pathobiology, and help prioritize targets for therapeutic development of these foremost disorders in elders.

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Dr. Jorge Kizer co-published the study titled “Large-Scale Proteomic Profiling of Incident Heart Failure and Its Subtypes in Older Adults”.

Neisseria gonorrhoeae is a major global pathogen and the second most commonly reported cause of sexually transmitted infection in the United States. In 2023, a total of 601,319 gonorrhea cases were reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Notably, adults aged 55 and older experienced a 16.8% increase in cases between 2020 and 2023.

The CDC has designated gonorrhea as an urgent public health threat due to the absence of a vaccine and the bacterium’s growing resistance to all but one remaining class of antibiotics.

In response to this challenge, Drs. Constance John and Gary Jarvis co‑published a study detailing the development and testing of novel inhibitors targeting an enzyme that may carry a lower risk of driving treatment resistance. The researchers also identified a potential dual‑therapy strategy incorporating these new inhibitors, offering promising avenues for future clinical application.

Veterans are among the populations most affected by posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), yet participation in trauma‑focused, evidence‑based psychotherapy (TF‑EBP) remains low, even with extensive efforts by the US Department of Veterans Affairs to increase awareness of these treatments. To better understand the factors contributing to reluctance or limited engagement, Drs. Natalie Purcell, Shira Maguen, and NCIRE Board Member Dr. Thomas C. Neylan interviewed 30 Veterans who had recently begun TF‑EBP to learn about their experiences with the therapy model. From these interviews, seven key themes emerged, offering valuable insights into how TF‑EBP participation and overall mental health care engagement can be improved.

Estimating mortality risk in incarcerated adults is important for identifying individuals who may benefit from palliative care and compassionate release referrals.

Dr. John Boscardin, with Drs. Sei Lee and Alexander K. Smith, and colleagues set out to develop and internally validate a 2-year mortality prediction model in incarcerated adults with the study titled, “Development of a Mortality Prediction Model for Incarcerated Adults to Identify Palliative Care Needs”, published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.

NCIRE congratulates Dr. Bruce Ovbiagele for his receipt of the 2026 Edgar J. Kenton III award from the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association!