Gabriella (Gaby) Brigitte Smith

All Publications

• Parental Perceptions of Early Childhood In-Home Research with Monitoring: A Qualitative Study. The Journal of pediatrics Smith, G. B., Jones, M. D., Akel, M. J., Barrera, L., Heffernan, M., Seed, P., Macy, M. L., Fisher, S. A., Mithal, L. B. 2024: 114437

  Abstract

  To explore perceptions, concerns, and enthusiasm from a diverse group of parents regarding early childhood research that involves home monitoring technologies for collecting environmental exposure data.A diverse group of new and expecting parents participated in semi-structured interviews. A single interviewer conducted all sessions and introduced a hypothetical longitudinal early childhood research study, which included novel home monitoring approaches: 1) wearable devices, 2) audio monitoring, and 3) environmental sampling. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and coded. Qualitative description guided the study, and a constant comparative approach was used to identify themes from transcripts.Twenty-four interviews were completed. Emerging themes included 1) Ready and Willing to Participate; 2) Helping Others, Helping Ourselves: Motivation for Participation; 3) Trust and Transparency: Understanding the "What?" and the "Why?"; 4) Data Privacy and Security: "What If It Gets into the Wrong Hands?"; 5) It's a Lot to Juggle: Logistical Realities. Perceptions were similar across racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups. Perceptions were positive, and participants desired additional information about study feasibility and purpose. Many had concerns related to wearable device safety and data privacy; a trusting relationship with the research team was a priority.Participants had positive sentiments regarding longitudinal observational studies involving pregnancy and infancy yet expressed concerns about safety, privacy, feasibility, and transparency. These findings can inform future early childhood research study design to ensure protocols are transparent, inclusive, and appealing to parents.

  View details for DOI 10.1016/j.jpeds.2024.114437

  View details for PubMedID 39675665

• Factors Influencing Parental Willingness to Consent to a Survey Study for Patients in the Pediatric Emergency Department. Pediatric emergency care Fischer, K., Smith, G. B., Luna, S. E., Jamro-Comer, E., Leupold, O., Ahmed, H., Govindji, S., Ahmad, F. 2024

  Abstract

  To identify factors that impact parental willingness to consent to research studies conducted for their children during visits to pediatric emergency departments (EDs).Parents and guardians of children receiving care in our pediatric ED were approached and asked if they would be willing to let their child participate in a research study requiring the child to complete an electronic questionnaire. No such questionnaire existed, however, because the primary purpose was to ascertain the parent's willingness to let their child participate. All parents were debriefed and informed of the true purpose of the study and asked to complete a survey themselves to help understand factors that influenced their initial decision of whether to consent. Bivariate tests and logistic regression were used to evaluate unadjusted and adjusted associations between parent and patient characteristics and parental consent decision.We approached 431 eligible parents about the hypothetical research study involving their children, and 386 (89.6%) consented for their children to participate. After the debriefing, 392 (91.0%) parents consented to complete the parental survey. We observed statistically significant associations between shorter length of ED stay to approach for consent for the study (P = 0.048) as well as longer travel time (P = 0.03) and willingness to consent in bivariate analysis, though this did not hold in regression analysis. Regression analysis revealed parents of children who have previously participated in research had 79 times lower odds of consenting to participate in our study adjusted for parent race, ethnicity, actual and perceived length of stay, traveltime to the ED, and altruism.A high proportion of parents consented to their child participating in research in our ED with previous child participation in research being associated with lower odds of parental consent even when adjusted for other factors. Our findings may inform future research practices and studies investigating parental perceptions and motivations surrounding research studies.

  View details for DOI 10.1097/PEC.0000000000003126

  View details for PubMedID 38412522

• Single-cell transcriptomics reveals cell-type-specific diversification in human heart failure. Nature cardiovascular research Koenig, A. L., Shchukina, I., Amrute, J., Andhey, P. S., Zaitsev, K., Lai, L., Bajpai, G., Bredemeyer, A., Smith, G., Jones, C., Terrebonne, E., Rentschler, S. L., Artyomov, M. N., Lavine, K. J. 2022; 1 (3): 263-280

  Abstract

  Heart failure represents a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Single-cell transcriptomics have revolutionized our understanding of cell composition and associated gene expression. Through integrated analysis of single-cell and single-nucleus RNA-sequencing data generated from 27 healthy donors and 18 individuals with dilated cardiomyopathy, here we define the cell composition of the healthy and failing human heart. We identify cell-specific transcriptional signatures associated with age and heart failure and reveal the emergence of disease-associated cell states. Notably, cardiomyocytes converge toward common disease-associated cell states, whereas fibroblasts and myeloid cells undergo dramatic diversification. Endothelial cells and pericytes display global transcriptional shifts without changes in cell complexity. Collectively, our findings provide a comprehensive analysis of the cellular and transcriptomic landscape of human heart failure, identify cell type-specific transcriptional programs and disease-associated cell states and establish a valuable resource for the investigation of human heart failure.

  View details for DOI 10.1038/s44161-022-00028-6

  View details for PubMedID 35959412