Two faculty members selected to help develop national scientific infrastructure to advance palliative care research

The Advancing the Science of Palliative Care Across the Lifespan (ASCENT) consortium supports early-career investigators building a research career in palliative care. It’s part of a funding mechanism through the National Institutes of Health that supports large, multi-disciplinary research projects. Two faculty members from The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Julia Agne, MD, and Amy Ogilvie, PhD, were selected for the first class of ASCENT Research Scholars, a new cohort of palliative care scientists. Along with building their research skills, together they’ll help build the national palliative care research workforce and the community which are needed to advance research in the field.

Dr. Agne’s focus is helping patients manage pain and symptoms associated with cancer and cancer treatments, while Dr. Ogilvie’s is on neuropalliative care, neurodegenerative disease and on developing innovative interventions that will improve how we care for patients in the clinical setting.

This new career development award includes these key features:

• Specific training opportunities to build the evidence base for palliative care across the lifespan of a range of populations.
• $150,000 for two years to cover direct costs, which include salary support and research-related expenses.
• Recognition of the pivotal and generous primary mentorship that Drs. Agne and Ogilvie received from Jessica Merlin, MD, professor of Internal Medicine at the Ohio State College of Medicine, who was recruited to lead supportive and palliative care research, helping catapult their research careers.

Dr. Agne’s ASCENT project is titled “SymptomPal: Developing a Large Language Model to Improve Patient-to-clinician Communication of Symptom Concerns During Cancer Care,” and Dr. Ogilvie’s is titled "Assessing Experiences of Pre-Death Grief in Care Partners of People Living with Young-Onset Dementia.”

Congratulations to Drs. Agne and Ogilvie for receiving this opportunity to expand their skills and continue to develop high-quality research for those living with serious illnesses.