KU School of Medicine-Wichita

19 You want to create interventions that can help people and improve their lives. With digital interventions, perhaps we can reach more people. — Michelle Redmond, Ph.D., M.S., associate professor development grants, according to the NIH, is to provide financial support that allows the researcher to have dedicated time to engage mentors and further develop their research skills and experience. In Redmond's case, she initially sought out Tracie Collins, M.D., MPH, MHCDS, who was chair of the Department of Preventive Medicine & Public Health. After Collins' departure from KUSM-Wichita in 2019, Nicole Nollen, Ph.D., from KU Medical Center in Kansas City became Redmond's mentor. To dive into developing her digital intervention skills, Redmond worked with Barbara Chaparro, Ph.D., a human factors professor with expertise in user experiences ranging from gadgets to websites. Chaparro had run a usability research lab at Wichita State before leaving for Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in 2017. of Health fellowship at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, has had a longtime interest in researching health disparities. She has extensive experience conducting program evaluations for community-based and local government organizations along with expertise in developing and designing community-based research projects. "She's amazing in what she does," said Joyea Marshall-Crowley, a program director with the Kansas Breastfeeding Coalition and founder of the Wichita Black Breastfeeding Coalition. "She's making a huge mark in representation and improving health care and that's important." In 2018, Redmond received a five-year career development award of more than $500,000 from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. The purpose of career "When I was writing this grant, I thought of how this could have helped my aunt who died from complications from diabetes," Redmond said about creating an online and easily accessible resource for diabetes self-management. "I could see her getting on her computer, using this information and really trying to figure out how to manage her diabetes." The eDECIDE portal for diabetes self-management, found at edecide.org, is one of two digital health interventions that Redmond has undertaken in the past few years. In spring 2024, she started collecting survey data to create a music therapy intervention program to help reduce every day and situational stressors among pregnant and postpartum women. While anyone can end up having complications from diabetes or a stressful pregnancy, statistics show that non-white populations often encounter more challenges, with many of them coming from outside influences — known as social determinants of health — that have led to disparities or gaps in health care. Applying new skills Redmond, who earned her doctorate in community psychology from Wichita State University in 2006 and completed a three-year postdoctoral National Institutes While new grant opportunities are allowing KU School of Medicine-Wichita Associate Professor of Population Health Michelle Redmond, Ph.D., M.S., to expand research methods, the real catalyst behind her work is finding innovative and user-friendly options to help improve health outcomes for vulnerable communities. Michelle Redmond, Ph.D., M.S. associate professor Population Health

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