MIRECC / CoE

2020 VISN 20 MIRECC Staff Research Articles and Presentations

VISN 20 MIRECC Staff Research Articles and Presentations

The findings of NW MIRECC research are disseminated through MIRECC Presents, lectures and presentations, and publications. Below is a list of publications and presentations by VISN 20 NW MIRECC researchers and fellowship program faculty that were published in 2020.

Bahraini, N. H., Matarazzo, B. E., Barry, C., Post, E., Forster, J., Dollar, K., Dobscha, S., & Brenner, L. (2020). Protocol: examining the effectiveness of an adaptive implementation intervention to improve uptake of the VA suicide risk identification strategy: a sequential multiple assignment randomized trial. Implementation Science, 15 (1), 58. doi:10.1186/s13012-020-01019-6

Bourassa, K. J., Edwards-Steward, A., Smolenski, D. J., Campbell, S. B., Reger, G. M., & Norr, A. M. (2020). The impact of prolonged exposure therapy on social support and PTSD symptoms. Journal of Affective Disorders, 260, 410-417. doi:10.1016/j.jad.2019.09.036

Bourassa, K. J., Stevens, E., Katz, A. C., Rothbaum, B. O., Reger, G. M., & Norr, A. M. (2020). The impact of exposure therapy on stigma and mental health treatment attitudes among active duty U.S. soldiers with combat related PTSD. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 126, 98-104. doi:10.1016/j.jpsychires.2020.05.005

Bourassa, K., Stevens, E., Katz, A., Rothbaum, B., Reger, G., & Norr, A. M. (2020). The Impact of Exposure Therapy on Resting Heart Rate and Heart Rate Reactivity Among Active-Duty Soldiers With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Psychosomatic Medicine, 82 (1), 108-114. doi:10.1097/PSY.0000000000000758

Braun, M., & Iliff, J. J. (2020). Chapter Fifteen: The impact of neurovascular, blood-brain barrier, and glymphatic dysfunction in neurodegenerative and metabolic diseases. International Review of Neurobiology, 154, 413-436.

Chen, D., Latimer, C., Yagi, M., Ndugga-Kabuye, M., Heigham, E., Jayadev, S., Meabon, J., Gomez, C., Keene, C., Cook, D. G., Raskind, W., & Bird, T. (2020). Heterozygous STUB1missense variants cause ataxia, cognitive decline, and STUB1 mislocalization. Neurology Genetics, 6 (2), e397. doi:10.1212/NXG.0000000000000397

Coffey, K. R., Lesiak, A. J., Cohen, J., Liang, K., Chavkin, C., & Neumaier, J. F. (2020). Sequencing the serotonergic neuron translatome reveals a new role for FkbpS in stress. Molecular Psychiatry. Advance online publication. doi:10.1038/s41380-020-0750-4

Coffey, K. R., Marx, R. G., Vo, E. K., Nair., S. G., & Neumaier, J. F. (2020). Chemogenetic inhibition of lateral habenula projections to the dorsal raphe nucleus reduces passive coping and perseverative reward seeking in rats. Neuropsychopharmacology, 45, 1115–1124.

Cross, D., Meabon, J., Cline, M., Richards, T., Stump, A., Cross, C., Minoshima, S., Banks, W., & Cook, D. G. (2019). Paclitaxel Reduces Brain Injury from Repeated Head Trauma in Mice. Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, 67 (3), 859-874. doi:10.3233/jad-180871

Dennis, E. L., Disner, S. G., Fani, N., Salminen, L. E., Logue, M. W., Clarke, E., Haswell, C., Averill, C. L., Baugh, L. A., Bomyea, J., Hayes, J. P., Krystal, J. H., Li, G., May, G. J., Menefee, D. S., Nelson, S. M., Simmons, A. N., Sullivan, D. R., Abdallah, C., Gordon, E. M., Kremen, W. S., Stein, M., Tate, D. F., Wee, N. J., der, V., Wang, L., Wilde, E. A., Thompson, P. M., Kochunov, P., Jahanshad, N., & Morey, R. (2019). Altered white matter microstructural organization in post-traumatic stress disorder across 3,049 adults: Results from the PGC-ENIGMA PTSD consortium. Molecular Psychiatry. Advance online publication. doi:10.1038/s41380-019-0631-x

Figlewicz, D. P., & Witkamp, R. (2020). Fatty acids as cell signals in ingestive behaviors. Physiology and Behavior, 223, 112985. doi:10.1016/j.physbeh.2020.112985

Freeman, M., Ayers, C., Kondo, K., Noonan, K., O’Neil, M., Morasco, B., & Kansagara, D. (2019). Guided imagery, biofeedback, and hypnosis: a map of the evidence. Evidence-based Synthesis Program (ESP) Portland VA Health Care System Project #05-225.

Ghai, V., Fallen, S., Baxter, D., Scherler, K., Kim, T., Zhou, Y., Meabon, J., Logsdon, A., Banks, W., Schindler, A., Cook, D. G., Peskind, E. R., Lee, I., & Wang, K. (2020). Alterations in Plasma microRNA and Protein Levels in War Veterans with Chronic Mild Traumatic Brain Injury. Journal of Neurotrauma, 37 (12), 1418-1430. doi:10.1089/neu.2019.6826

Hendrickson, R. C., Nishanth, J. H., & Michael, S. (2020). Diagnostic prevalence of common psychiatric comorbidities of alcohol use disorders in India: a systematic review and discussion of the implications. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 17(5):, 1268-1296.

Hendrickson, R. C., Thomas, R. G., Schork, N. J., & Raskind, M. A. (2020). Optimizing aggregated N-of-1 trial designs for predictive biomarker validation: statistical methods and theoretical findings. Frontiers in Digital Health. doi:10.3389/fdgth.2020.00013

Jarrahi, A., Braun, M., Ahluwalia, M., Gupta, R., Wilson, M., Munie, S., Ahluwalia, P., Vender, J., Vale, F., Dhandapani, K., & Vaibhav, K. (2020). Revisiting Traumatic Brain Injury: From Molecular Mechanisms to Therapeutic Interventions. Biomedicines, 8 (10), 389. doi:10.3390/biomedicines8100389

Katz, A., Norr, A. M., Buck, B., Fantelli, E., Edwards-Stewart, A., Koenen-Woods, P., Zetocha, K., Smolenski, D., Holloway, K., Rothbaum, B., Difede, J., Rizzo, A., Skopp, N., Mishkind, M., Gahm, G., Reger, G., & Andrasik, F. (2020). Changes in physiological reactivity in response to the trauma memory during prolonged exposure and virtual reality exposure therapy for posttraumatic stress disorder. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 12 (7), 756-764. doi:10.1037/tra0000567

Kondo, K. K., Noonan, K. M., Freeman, M., Ayers, C. K., Morasco, B., & Kansagara, D. (2019). Efficacy of biofeedback for medical conditions: an evidence map. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 34, 2883-2893.

Kondo, K., Morasco, B., Nugent, S., Ayers, C., O’Neil, M., Freeman, M., Paynter, R., & Kansagara, D. (2019). Pharmacotherapy for the treatment of cannabis use disorder: a systematic review. Evidence-based Synthesis Program (ESP) Portland VA Health Care System Project #05-225.

Lewis, M., & Loverich, T. M. (2019). Measuring experiential avoidance and posttraumatic stress in families. Behavioral Sciences, 9, 1-16.

Logsdon, A., Schindler, A., Meabon, J., Yagi, M., Herbert, M., Banks, W., Raskind, M. A., Marshall, D., Keene, C., Perl, D., Peskind, E. R., & Cook, D. G. (2020). Nitric oxide synthase mediates cerebellar dysfunction in mice exposed to repetitive blast-induced mild traumatic brain injury. Scientific Reports, 10 (1), 9420. doi:10.1038/s41598-020-66113-7

Mahmood, Z., Clark, J., Jak, A. J., Huckans, M., O'Neil, M., Roost, M., Williams, R., Pagulayan, K. F., Turner, A., Storzbach, D., & Twamley, E. W. (2020). Predictors of Intervention Adherence in Compensatory Cognitive Training for Veterans With a History of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury. Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation, 36(1), 20-24. doi:10.1097/htr.0000000000000596

Maloy, P. E., Iacocca, M. O., & Morasco, B. (2019). Implementing guidelines for treating chronic pain with prescription opioids. American Journal of Nursing, 119, 22-29.

Mastarone, G. L., Wyse, J., Wilbur, E., Morasco, B., Saha, S., & Carlson, K. F. (2020). Barriers to utilization of prescription drug monitoring programs among prescribing physicians and advanced practice registered nurses at Veterans Health Administration facilities in Oregon. Pain Medicine, 21, 695-703.

Morasco, B., Adams, M. H., Maloy, P. E., Hooker, E. R., Iacocca, M. O., Krebs, E. E., Carr, T. P., Lovejoy, T. I., Saha, S., & Dobscha, S. (2020). Research methods and baseline findings of the Improving the Safety of Opioid Therapy (ISOT) cluster randomized trial. Contemporary Clinical Trials, 90, 105957.

Morasco, B., Smith, N., Dobscha, S., Deyo, R. A., Hyde, S., & Yarborough, B...J...H... (2020). Outcomes of prescription opioid dose escalation for chronic pain: Results from a prospective cohort study. Pain, 16, 1332-1340.

Nair, S. G., Smirnov, D., Estabrook, M., Chisholm, A. D., Silva, P., & Neumaier, J. F. (2020). Effect of chemogenetic inhibition of lateral habenula neuronal activity on cocaine- and food-seeking behaviors in the rat. Addiction Biollogy. Advance online publication.

Norr, A. M., Katz, A., Nguyen, J., Lehavot, K., Schmidt, N., & Reger, G. (2020). Pilot trial of a transdiagnostic computerized anxiety sensitivity intervention among VA primary care patients. Psychiatry Research, 293, 113394. doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2020.113394

O’Neil, M., Harik, J. M., McDonagh, M. S., Cheney, T. P., Hsu, F. C., Cameron, D. C., Carlson, K. F., Norman, S. B., & Hamblen, J. L. (2020). Development of the PTSD-Repository: A publicly available repository of randomized controlled trials for posttraumatic stress disorder. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 33, 410-419. doi:10.1002/jts.22520

Pagulayan, K. F., Petrie, E. C., MD, Cook, D. G., Hendrickson, R. C., Rau, H., Reilly, M., Mayer, C., Meabon, J., Raskind, M. A., Peskind, E. R., & Kleinhans, N. (2020). Effect of blast-related mTBI on the working memory system: a resting state fMRI study. Brain Imaging and Behavior, 14 (4), 949-960. doi:10.1007/s11682-018-9987-9

Raskind, M. A. (2020). Toward a personalized medicine approach to trauma-related nightmares. Sleep Medicine Reviews, 50, 101272. doi:10.1016/j.smrv.2020.101272

Ray, L., Iliff, J. J., & Heys, J. (2019). Analysis of convective and diffusive transport in the brain interstitium. Fluids and Barriers of the CNS. doi:10.1186/s12987-019-0126-9

Reddy, V., Grogan, D., Ahluwalia, M., Salles, É. L., Ahluwalia, P., Khodadadi, H., Alverson, K., Nguyen, A., Raju, S. P., Gaur, P., Braun, M., Vale, F. L., Costigliola, V., Dhandapani, K., Baban, B., & Vaibhav, K. (2020). Targeting the endocannabinoid system: a predictive, preventive, and personalized medicine-directed approach to the management of brain pathologies. EPMA Journal, 11, 217–250.

Shibata-Germanos, S., Goodman, J., Grieg, A., Trivedi, C., Benson, B., Foti, S., Faro, A., Castellan, R., Correra, R., Barber, M., Ruhrberg, C., Weller, R., Lashley, T., Iliff, J. J., Hawkins, T., & Rihel, J. (2020). Structural and functional conservation of non-lumenized lymphatic endothelial cells in the mammalian leptomeninges. Acta Neuropathologica, 139 (2), 383-401. doi:10.1007/s00401-019-02091-z

Shulman, G. P., Buck, B. E., Gahm, G. A., Reger, G. M., & Norr, A. M. (2019). Effectiveness of the Intent to Complete and Intent to Attend Intervention to Predict and Prevent Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Treatment Drop Out Among Soldiers. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 32 (5), 784-790. doi:10.1002/jts.22427

Sorg, S., Merritt, V., Clark, A., Werhane, M., Holiday, K., Schiehser, D. M., Bondi, M., & Delano-Wood, L. (2020). Elevated Intraindividual Variability in Executive Functions and Associations with White Matter Microstructure in Veterans with Mild Traumatic Brain Injury. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 2, 1-10. doi:10.1017/S1355617720000879

Stewart, T., Bai, L., Li, X., Xu, T., Iliff, J. J., Shi, M., Zheng, D., Yuan, L., Wei, T., Yang, X., & Zhang, J. (2020). Coniferaldehyde attenuates Alzheimer’s pathology via activation of Nrf2 and its targets. Theranostics, 10(1), 179-200.

Sweigert, J., Pagulayan, K. F., Greco, G., Blake, M., Larimer, M., & Kleinhans, N. (2020). A multi-modal investigation of cerebellar integrity associated with high risk cannabis use. Addiction Biology, 25(6), e12839. doi:10.1111/adb.12839

Vaibhav, K. *., Braun, M., Alverson, K., Khodadadi, H., Kutiyanawalla, A., Ward, A., Banerjee, C., Sparks, T., Malik, A., Rashid, M. H., Khan, M. B., Waters, M. F., Hess, D. C., Arbab, A. S., Vender, J. R., Hoda, N., Baban, B., & Dhandapani, K. M. (2020). Neutrophil extracellular traps exacerbate neurological deficits after traumatic brain injury. Science Advances, 6(22), eaax8847.

Verstaen, A., Rau, H., & Trittschuh, E. H. (2020). Healthy Aging Project-Brain: a Psychoeducational and Motivational Group for Older Veterans. Federal Practitioner : for the Health Care Professionals of the VA, DoD, and PHS, 37(7), 309–315.

Wheeler, J., McMillan, P., Strovas, T., Liachko, N. F., Amlie-Wolf, A., Kow, R., Klein, R., Szot, P., Robinson, L., Guthrie, C., Saxton, A., Kanaan, N., Raskind, M. A., Peskind, E. R., Trojanowski, J., Lee, V., Wang, L., Keene, C., Bird, T., Schellenberg, G., & Kraemer, B. C. (2019). Activity of the poly(A) binding protein MSUT2 determines susceptibility to pathological tau in the mammalian brain. Science Translational Medicine, 11 (523), eaao6545. doi:10.1126/scitranslmed.aao6545

Yarborough, B...J...H..., Stumbo, S. P., Stoneburner, A., Smith, N. X., Dobscha, S., Deyo, R. A., & Morasco, B. (2019). Correlates of benzodiazepine use and adverse outcomes among patients prescribed long-term opioid therapy. Pain Medicine, 20, 1148-1155.

VISN 20 encompasses 23% of the US land mass with medical centers in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. VISN 20 is home to 273 federally recognized American Indian and Alaskan Native tribes, 229 of which are located in Alaska. Serving 135 counties, VISN 20 is the largest geographic region of VA spanning three time zones, across 817,417 square miles, including Del Norte County California and Lincoln County Montana. In the fall of 1997, VISN 20 leaders from VA Puget Sound Health Care System (VAPSHCS) and the Portland VA Health Care System (VAPORHCS) were commissioned by Congress and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to establish one of the first three Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Centers (MIRECCs) in the United States. VAPSHCS serves Veterans from a five-state area in the Pacific Northwest with two main divisions: American Lake VA Medical Center and Seattle VA Medical Center. VA Outpatient Clinics and Vet Centers in Washington are located in Bellingham, Bellevue, Bremerton, Chehalis, Edmunds, Everett, Federal Way, Lacey, Mount Vernon, Olympia, Port Angeles, Puyallup, Richland, Renton, Silverdale, Seattle, Spokane, Union Gap, Vancouver, Walla Walla, Wenatchee, and Yakima. Veterans in Washington are also served by VA Medical Centers in Spokane, Vancouver, and Walla Walla. VAPORHCS serves Veterans in Oregon and Southwest Washington with two main divisions: Portland VA Medical Center and Vancouver VA Medical Center. VA Outpatient Clinics and Vet Centers in Oregon are located in Bend, Boardman, Brookings, Enterprise, Eugene, Fairview, Grants Pass, Hines, Hillsboro, Klamath Falls, LaGrande, Lincoln City, Newport, Portland, Salem, The Dalles, Warrenton, and West Linn. Veterans in Oregon are also served by VA Medical Centers in Roseburg, White City, and Vancouver, Washington.

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VA provides health care for Veterans from providers in the local community outside of VA. Veterans may be eligible to receive care from a community provider when VA cannot provide the care needed. VA launched its new and improved Veterans Community Care Program (VCCP) on June 6, 2019, implementing portions of the VA Maintaining Internal Systems and Strengthening Integrated Outside Networks Act of 2018 (MISSION Act), which both ended the Veterans Choice Program and established VCCP. Types of care under the new VCCP include General Community Care, Urgent Care, Emergency Care, Foreign Medical Care, Home Health and Hospice Care, Indian and Tribal Health Services, In Vitro Fertilization, State Veterans Home, and Flu Shots. Veterans work with their VA health care provider or other VA staff to see if they are eligible to receive community care based on new criteria. The VA Community Care Network (CCN) is VA’s direct link with community providers to ensure Veterans receive timely, high-quality care.

Vet Centers in the VISN 20 Health Care Network are community-based counseling centers that provide a wide range of social and psychological services, including professional readjustment counseling to eligible Veterans, active-duty Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Air Force, and Space Force service members, including National Guard and Reserve components, and their families. 1-877-WAR-VETS is an around the clock confidential call center where Veterans, service members and their families can talk about their military experience or any other issue they are facing in transitioning after military service or trauma and get connected to their nearest Vet Center.

Vet Centers in VISN 20

Vet Centers provide counseling to make a successful transition from military to civilian life or after a traumatic event experienced in the military. Individual, group, marriage and family counseling is offered in addition to referral and connection to other VA or community benefits and services. If you can’t make it to a nearby Vet Center, VA offers satellite Vet Center locations and Mobile Vet Centers that may be closer to you.

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VA has a variety of mental health resources, information, treatment options, and more — all accessible to Veterans, Veterans’ supporters, and the general public. Explore the pages below to learn more about a specific mental health topic. Each of these pages includes resources, information on treatment options, and more.

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