University of Michigan center to focus on chronic disease

A newly established center at the University of Michigan School of Nursing will focus on complexity and self-management of chronic disease.

Funded by a $1.4 million, five-year grant from the National Institutes of Health and the National Institute of Nursing Research, the Center for Complexity and Self-management of Chronic Disease (CSCD) will study conditions such as obesity, cancer, heart disease, allergies and Alzheimer’s, among others.

CSCD will award $25,000 for interdisciplinary pilot projects and will serve as University of Michigan’s resource and area of collaboration to increase research output and integrate advanced scientific methods, according to the university.

“A very strong tenet of nursing science is self-management, both in terms of preventing disease and living well with chronic disease,” said Debra L. Barton, RN, PhD, a professor at the University of Michigan School of nursing, in a related press release. “We can look at process issues at the systems level, healthcare delivery and we can leverage big data to understand complex systems. We have a comprehensive variety of expertise that fits under this umbrella of health and wellness.”