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This session will describe research approaches that have led to innovations in pharmacy practice. Specifically, the program will identify effective strategies to assess the impact of academic partnerships on advancing practicebased research at professional practice sites. This session will utilize a roundtable format to foster discussion and engagement among participants.

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More than 270,000 km of rivers and streams are impaired due to fecal pathogens, creating an economic and public health burden. Fecal indicator organisms such as Escherichia coli are used to determine if surface waters are pathogen impaired, but they fail to identify human health risks, provide source information, or have unique fate and transport processes. Statistical and machine learning models can be used to overcome some of these weaknesses, including identifying ecological mechanisms influencing fecal pollution. In this study, canonical correlation analysis (CCorA) was performed to select parameters for the machine learning model, Maxent, to identify how chemical and microbial parameters can predict E. coli impairment and F+-somatic bacteriophage detections. Models were validated using a bootstrapping cross-validation. Three suites of models were developed; initial models using all parameters, models using parameters identified in CCorA, and optimized models after further sensitivity analysis. Canonical correlation analysis reduced the number of parameters needed to achieve the same degree of accuracy in the initial E. coli model (84.7%), and sensitivity analysis improved accuracy to 86.1%. Bacteriophage model accuracies were 79.2, 70.8, and 69.4% for the initial, CCorA, and optimized models, respectively; this suggests complex ecological interactions of bacteriophages are not captured by CCorA. Results indicate distinct ecological drivers of impairment depending on the fecal indicator organism used. Escherichia coli impairment is driven by increased hardness and microbial activity, whereas bacteriophage detection is inhibited by high levels of coliforms in sediment. Both indicators were influenced by organic pollution and phosphorus limitation.

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The proportion of obese adolescents in Southern Appalachia is among the highest in the nation. Currently there are few effective programs that address this issue, especially among high school students. Through funding from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities in the National Institutes of Health, the Team Up for Healthy Living Project targets obesity prevention in adolescents through a crosspeer intervention. The specific aims of the project are: 1) To develop a peer-based health education program focusing on establishing positive peer norms and supportive peer relationships toward healthy eating and physical activity among high school students, 2) To test the efficacy of the program, and 3) To explore the mechanisms underlying the program. The intervention is based on the Theory of Planned Behavior, which presupposes that human behavior is primarily driven by attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavior control, and social support. Through influencing these components, the intervention is expected to improve eating behavior, increase physical activity, and lead to healthier body weight among adolescents in Southern Appalachia. Ten area high schools were selected to be a part of the project, and schools were matched based on similar demographics (school size and number of students enrolled) and were randomized to intervention or control. Wave one of baseline data collection was completed in January 2012; with 265 students assigned to intervention and 276 to control. A second wave of subject recruitment will occur in fall 2012. To deliver the intervention, undergraduate students from the disciplines of Public Health, Nutrition, and Kinesiology were trained as peer facilitators. These peer facilitators are teaching the eight-week Team Up curriculum during Lifetime Wellness classes at intervention schools. The curriculum focuses on nutrition awareness, physical activity, leadership, and communication skills. Page 84 2012 Appalachian Student Research Forum Control group participants receive their regularly scheduled Lifetime Wellness curriculum. Body mass index percentile, dietary behavior, and physical activity among study subjects will be assessed at baseline, and at three and twelve months post-baseline. In addition, peer group norms, body image, supportive peer relationships, role modeling, behavioral control/self-efficacy, attitudes, and intentions toward healthy eating and physical activity will also be assessed. Group differences will be assessed at each data collection period. The long-term goal of the study is to establish an effective academia-community partnership program to address adolescent obesity disparity in Southern Appalachia.

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Understanding local perceptions of disease causation could help public health officials improve strategies to prevent bloody diarrhoea. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in Dhaka, Bangladesh to elicit community beliefs about the causes of and prevention strategies for bloody diarrhoea. Between March and June 2003, we interviewed 541 randomly selected respondents. Overall, 507 (93%) respondents perceived that a vaccine could prevent bloody diarrhoea. If a vaccine provided lifetime protection, 445 (83%) respondents stated that they would opt to get the vaccine and would pay a median of $0·05 (range U.S.$0·01-0·15) for it, equivalent to <1% of their median weekly income. There was almost universal perception that an effective vaccine to prevent bloody diarrhoea was highly beneficial and acceptable. While respondents valued a vaccine for prevention of bloody diarrhoea, they were only willing to pay minimally for it. Therefore, achieving a high rate of Shigella vaccine coverage may require subsidy of vaccine purchase.