OKLAHOMA CITY — The TSET Health Promotion Research Center (HPRC) at OU Health Stephenson Cancer Center announced Fiscal Year 23 awardees for its seed grant program. Each grantee will receive up to $50,000 for their innovative research project.

Dr. Amy Cohn, an associate professor in the department of Pediatrics at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine and HPRC researcher, was awarded a grant for her project titled, “Time-Sensitive Drug Abuse Research: Evaluating the impact of medical marijuana legalization on cannabis attitudes, substance use behaviors, and health outcomes in Oklahomans.” This study will examine the prevalence, correlations, patterns and trends of medical and non-medical cannabis use in a large sample of youth and adults .

Dr. Jason Oliver, an assistant professor in the department of Family and Preventive Medicine at the OU College of Medicine and HPRC researcher, has been awarded a grant for his project titled, “Translational research on beta-adrenergic medications as potential smoking cessation agents: A pilot efficacy study with mechanistic outcomes.”

Even with the best treatments currently available, two out of three smokers who quit relapse within six months. This project will build off translational research conducted in Dr. Oliver’s lab examining whether propranolol – a widely prescribed blood pressure medication – can help with smoking cessation by targeting a different brain pathway from current medications.

Dr. Ashlea Braun, assistant professor in the department of Nutritional Sciences at Oklahoma State University, has been awarded a grant for her project titled, “Examination of Implicit Drivers of Ultra-Processed Food Consumption According to Weight Status and Retail Exposure.” This study will advance our understanding of factors that drive people to consume ultra-processed foods.

The mission of the HPRC is to reduce the burden of disease in Oklahoma by addressing modifiable health risk factors such as tobacco use, sedentary lifestyle, poor diet, and risky alcohol and other substance use through research, novel intervention development, and dissemination of findings.

For more information, go to www.healthpromotionresearch.org.