Dr. Poorna Kushalnagar receives NIH/NLM grant to develop ASL informed consent materials

Dr. Poorna Kushalnagar, Special Assistant to the Provost for Research, has received a three-year, $426,000 grant from the National Library of Medicine to develop a mobile app and a CONSENT-ASL toolkit. 

The goal of this project is to make clinical trial research information available in ASL to assist with self-informed decision-making about clinical trial participation, and to provide support to clinical trial CRCs and principal investigators who wish to include deaf people who meet eligibility for their studies. It will also create an accessible informed consent app in ASL, which is expected to promote health literacy, improve outcomes among deaf people, and reduce health disparities among members of the Deaf community. 

Collectively, this health information resource solution is expected to contribute to improved health and well-being of the deaf community, and ultimately reduce disparities and support personal healthcare decision making.

Dr. Kushalnagar will collaborate with a deaf bioethicist, deaf researchers, deaf developers, and a national deaf organization to develop an accessible informed consent app that is specific to users of American Sign Language (ASL). This will enable persons with hearing loss to participate in research by having a consent process that is available using ASL. 

Congratulations to Dr. Kushalnagar!