PROJECT SUMMARY
This application is for an NIDDK K23 award for Dr. Gabriela E. Halder, a Female Pelvic Medicine and
Reconstructive Surgeon (FPMRS) at the University of Texas Medical Branch. Dr. Halder has shown promise
as an early investigator in patient-centered research but needs further training to achieve her goal of becoming
a leader in the use of Human Centered Design (HCD) and Dissemination and Implementation (D&I) methods
to address disparities in access to treatments for urogynecologic conditions. This award will provide protected,
mentored support to obtain the following career goals: 1] acquire proficiency in HCD methods to systematically
design intervention procedures and materials; 2] obtain advanced skills in applying appropriate D&I
frameworks, measures, design methods, and implementation strategies for behavioral interventions; 3] develop
expertise in health equity research methods and outcome measures; 4] develop and strengthen research
leadership, management, and grantsmanship skills. Her mentors for this K23 are Dr. Heidi Brown (Primary), an
NIH NIDDK funded FPMRS and leader in D&I; Dr. Elizabeth Lyons (Co-mentor), an NIH funded expert in HCD;
and Dr. Rebecca Rogers (Co-mentor), an NIH funded FPMRS and leader in patient-centered research. Dr.
Halder also has 4 advisors with expertise in health equity, clinical research, and academic leadership.
Latinas suffer more perioperative complications that their non-Hispanic peers when undergoing
urogynecologic surgery, in part, because of lower surgical preparedness. We previously developed Telehealth
Intervention to Increase Patient Preparedness for Surgery (TIPPS) which is one of the few interventions proven
to successfully increase surgical preparedness for patients undergoing urogynecologic surgery. Unfortunately,
our intervention studied mostly White women, excluded non-English speakers, and was not cost-effective nor
practical. Therefore, there is a gap in knowledge on culturally appropriate, language-sensitive, and sustainable
interventions that increases Latina surgical preparedness for urogynecologic surgery. Dr. Halder’s proposed
research will use HCD and D&I methods to center stakeholder input to develop TIPPS-Latina – a usable and
sustainable intervention that considers the cultural and societal needs of Latina patients and their clinical
environments, an approach not used thus far in development and testing of other surgical preparedness
interventions. Aim 1 will identify factors associated with surgical preparedness using a participatory action
research framework. Aim 2 will use the HCD framework of Discover, Design/Build to develop TIPPS-Latina. Aim
3 will pilot test TIPPS-Latina using a mixed methods approach that determines feasibility and implementation
outcomes.
The expected outcome of this mentored research is to provide a foundation for a larger randomized
clinical trial that assess the effectiveness of the developed intervention and a successful transition to research
independence for Dr. Halder.