Clinical and Translational Science Institute
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Paola Malerba, PhD, Spark Award Recipient

Paola Malerba, PhD is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at The Ohio State University and Principal Investigator at the Center for Biobehavioral Health at the Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. She applied for a Spark Award to support her project “Neurophysiological Sleep Correlates of Cognitive Difficulties After Concussion.”

“The overall goal of my project is to understand how sleep relates to cognitive and emotional difficulties in adolescents with persistent post-concussion symptoms,” says Malerba. “Missed connections between sleep quality and recovery may contribute to ongoing challenges for these patients.”

This cross-sectional study compares adolescents with persistent post-concussion symptoms to healthy controls. Participants completed a 90-minute nap with EEG recording, along with self-reported and objective assessments of sleep, cognition and emotion regulation. Data collection, funded by a 2020 neurology pilot grant, concluded in 2024 and the team is now analyzing sleep EEG using advanced methods developed in the Malerba group. The next step is to statistically evaluate relationships and group differences emerging in the dataset.

The Spark Award will support statistical analyses for three aims:

  1. Determine the link between sleep quality, mood and cognition in adolescents with persistent symptoms
  2. Examine differences in sleep rhythm coordination between concussion and control groups
  3. Explore correlations between sleep oscillations and cognitive or emotional outcomes

Funding will enable collaboration with a statistician from BRANCH to ensure high-quality analyses of data from 60 participants, including 41 who completed sleep EEG. These analyses will establish differences in sleep and cognitive variables between groups and explore relationships between sleep and psychological measures, including covariates. The resulting publication will strengthen the team’s research line and support future grant applications.

Congratulations to Paola on receiving a Spark Award and using it to advance research on concussion recovery.

Julie Johnson, PharmD, is the Director and Principal Investigator at The Ohio State University Clinical and Translational Science Institute. 

Matthew Wysong, DO, and Jenna Merandi, PharmD, Spark Award Recipient

Matthew Wysong, DO is a Pediatric Hospital Medicine Fellow in the Department of Pediatric Hospital Medicine and Jenna Merandi, PharmD is a Medication Safety Officer in the Department of Pharmacy. They applied for a Spark Award to support their project “Building a Safer Future: Evaluating Learning Teams in a Pediatric Hospital.”

“The overall goal of our project is to explore the implementation of Learning Teams a proactive Safety II-informed approach that brings multidisciplinary frontline staff together to strengthen operational knowledge and build safeguards through system-level change,” says Wysong. “We aim to understand how participation influences perceptions of empowerment, communication and safety culture and identify structural elements that make Learning Teams effective.”

The Spark Award will provide critical support for the team’s initial perception-based evaluation of Learning Teams. “These insights will help us understand both how participants experience Learning Teams and how feasible this approach is in practice,” adds Merandi. “Ultimately we hope this work lays the foundation for larger-scale research and system-level safety improvements.”

Funding will primarily support qualitative expertise from the Center for Biobehavioral Health including coding, thematic analysis and mentorship to guide interpretation and dissemination.

Congratulations to Matthew and Jenna on receiving a Spark Award and using it to advance proactive safety strategies in pediatric care.

Julie Johnson, PharmD, is the Director and Principal Investigator at The Ohio State University Clinical and Translational Science Institute. 

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