Six Penn Medicine researchers will be awarded nearly $30 million in research funding contracts by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI):

Justin Bekelman, assistant professor of radiation oncology and medical ethics and health policy and senior fellow in the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, will receive $11.9 million for a five-year study comparing the effectiveness of proton radiation therapy vs. traditional photon radiation therapy in treating breast cancer patients, while monitoring collateral damage of healthy tissue.

Mark Neuman, assistant professor of anesthesiology and critical care and senior fellow in the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, will receive $11.9 million to compare functional and survival outcomes among older adults receiving spinal versus general anesthesia for surgery to treat hip fractures.

George E. Woody, professor of psychiatry, will receive $2.05 million to study the use of an XR-NTX, a drug used to treat opiate addiction, and its effectiveness when given to prisoners before and after re-entry.

Benjamin Abella, clinical research director at the Center for Resuscitation Science, will receive $1.87 million for a study that will compare two methods—an app vs. a video—of instructing family members of cardiac patients on how to perform CPR.

Richard Aplenc, associate professor of pediatrics, will receive $1.99 million to compare outcomes such as risk for infection, quality of life and delays in treatment associated with in-hospital stays vs. discharge to home among children receiving chemotherapy.

James Guevara, associate professor of pediatrics, will receive $2.11 million to assess how effective a care manager is when helping a patient use a portal for ADHD care.

Two studies from faculty in the Perelman School of Medicine’s department of pediatrics who practice at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia will also be funded by PCORI.