Meet the Scientist: Dr. Valerie Rice

Dr. Valerie Rice, a researcher at the U.S. Army Research Laboratory, Human Research and Engineering Directorate

Meet the Scientists is an Armed with Science segment highlighting the men and women working in the government realms of science, technology, and research and development: the greatest minds working on the greatest developments of our time. If you know someone who should be featured, email us.

1. Tell me a little about your technology/science.

Our current research is focused on investigating the efficacy of Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction on individual resiliency, and asking the additional question of whether delivering the training in-person or through a virtual world makes a difference. Soldiers are exposed to high levels of stress, including high operational tempo, frequent deployments, family separations, and exposure to war. High levels of stress are associated with deleterious health effects, so our research is focusing on a technique found to be effective in mitigating stress among civilian populations, in order to determine if it is helpful for active duty service members and veterans.

2. What is your role in developing this technology/science.

MBSR is a program that was developed by J. Kabat-Zinn, so I have not developed the intervention itself. However, the program must be adapted to the target audience (service members and veterans). Using my experience as a former active duty Army officer, and working with colleagues who are also former service members, the adaptation of the teaching comes about rather naturally. Offering mindfulness teachings on the virtual world is unique and we have worked with the Institute of Creative Technology, as well as All These Worlds and the San Diego Center for Mindfulness to create an environment that is conducive to learning and teaching in the virtual world. For example, when in-person, an instructor can see when a participant would like to speak – they may raise their hand or gesture. In the virtual world, the instructor cannot see that, so participants were given the ability to change the color of their meditation cushion, thus indicating they have a question or would like say something.

3. What is the goal/mission of this technology/science and what do you hope it will achieve? The results of this study will provide information on: 1) the efficacy of training provided over a virtual world (i.e., Second Life) vs. in-person; 2) human factors issues associated with learning via a VW; and 3) the usefulness of Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction (meditation) training in decreasing negative symptoms associated with stress and improving resiliency and mental processing among Soldiers. While I’d hope that this technique helps our service members handle the stressors associated with military service, as a researcher I really want to know whether this is a path worth pursuing or not. If I can show that it helps, then others can make the decision to make this training available to our service members and their families. If we show that it does not help, then we can leave this technique and pursue other means for helping our troops.
4. In your own words, what is it about this technology/science that makes it so significant?Mindfulness and meditation appear to help an individual regulate their response to stress, by activating the parasympathetic nervous system (countering the ‘fight or flight’ reaction), thus they are more calm and composed.  This is significant in the way it puts the power into the hands of the individual, rather than relying on an outside stimuli or medication (both of which can also be of benefit, of course). The significance of using the virtual world is that such teaching can be offered to military and veterans who are in remote locations or places in which this type of intervention may not be available. In addition, for individuals who cannot easily attend an in-person training sessions, due to physical limitations, stigma associated with seeking care, feeling uncomfortable with in-person group settings, or time and distance restrictions, this may be the best alternative.
5. How could you use this technology/science to aid the military or help with military missions? Virtual world technology can be, and is being, used now for family members to meet and interact with one another, to have a place for active duty service members and veterans to find out about their benefits, and it could also be used to teach classes, set up virtual office spaces for teleworkers, or provide telehealth services.
6. What got you interested in this field of study? While on active duty, my military specialty was Occupational Therapy and I also have degrees in Health Care Administration and Human Factors Engineering. This research taps into all three of those sets of professional training: assisting individuals to function at the top of their abilities, making certain health care is available and affordable, and making certain the process, products, places, and procedures are designed to fit the intended audience.
7. Are you working on any other projects right now? Yes, this next year we will be continuing our investigations into personal resilience by investigating an intense 5-day mindfulness training program and comparing it with the traditional 8 week training program, opening mindfulness training to military spouses, investigating neuromodulation and its’ impact on learning mindfulness skills, and adding an active control group to the mindfulness study. We are also investigating the impact of neurotemporal training on marksmanship performance using the EST2000.
8. If you could go anywhere in time and space, where would you go and why? In my ideal world, I’d like to be in a collaborative, fun environment with resources to investigate all facets of a problem, with the problems I investigate being related to health and performance. I am in a collaborative, fun environment; I conduct research on human factors related to healthcare; and resources are always limited in some way – so I guess I’m in the best place. The only thing that could be better is if I were located near a beach.
9. Do you have anything else you’d like to add?

You have the quote on your emails from Einstein about being passionately curious. Why do you identify with that one?

There are a lot of people out there who are intelligence or genius but I’m very curious, that’s what I think it takes to do research. You don’t have to be the smartest person in the world, you have to be interested.

How did you discover within yourself the fulfilment you seem to get in helping other people? What school did you attend?

I knew my path early. In occupational therapy school at 22 or 23 years old I was working with patients who had injuries or illnesses. The therapy sessions I learned were intended to rehabilitate clients to their former – cognitive, physical, and emotional – self.

The methods I was taught seemed to work for rehabilitation but I had no theoretical basis that proved why, or whether they did at all. My focus gradually shifted to more broad human performance research as a result. Human performance is what we use to get people to their ideal self. I noticed the same methods that applied to occupational health also applied when it was not necessarily one traumatic event that led to therapy. It has been a theme throughout my life to help people get where they want to be in their life – functional, and happy.

EDUCATION:

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), PhD, industrial engineering – specialty in human factors engineering/ergonomics

Baylor University, Master of Science, occupational therapy/therapist

from Armed with Science http://ift.tt/1IAmLNX

Dr. Valerie Rice, a researcher at the U.S. Army Research Laboratory, Human Research and Engineering Directorate

Meet the Scientists is an Armed with Science segment highlighting the men and women working in the government realms of science, technology, and research and development: the greatest minds working on the greatest developments of our time. If you know someone who should be featured, email us.

1. Tell me a little about your technology/science.

Our current research is focused on investigating the efficacy of Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction on individual resiliency, and asking the additional question of whether delivering the training in-person or through a virtual world makes a difference. Soldiers are exposed to high levels of stress, including high operational tempo, frequent deployments, family separations, and exposure to war. High levels of stress are associated with deleterious health effects, so our research is focusing on a technique found to be effective in mitigating stress among civilian populations, in order to determine if it is helpful for active duty service members and veterans.

2. What is your role in developing this technology/science.

MBSR is a program that was developed by J. Kabat-Zinn, so I have not developed the intervention itself. However, the program must be adapted to the target audience (service members and veterans). Using my experience as a former active duty Army officer, and working with colleagues who are also former service members, the adaptation of the teaching comes about rather naturally. Offering mindfulness teachings on the virtual world is unique and we have worked with the Institute of Creative Technology, as well as All These Worlds and the San Diego Center for Mindfulness to create an environment that is conducive to learning and teaching in the virtual world. For example, when in-person, an instructor can see when a participant would like to speak – they may raise their hand or gesture. In the virtual world, the instructor cannot see that, so participants were given the ability to change the color of their meditation cushion, thus indicating they have a question or would like say something.

3. What is the goal/mission of this technology/science and what do you hope it will achieve? The results of this study will provide information on: 1) the efficacy of training provided over a virtual world (i.e., Second Life) vs. in-person; 2) human factors issues associated with learning via a VW; and 3) the usefulness of Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction (meditation) training in decreasing negative symptoms associated with stress and improving resiliency and mental processing among Soldiers. While I’d hope that this technique helps our service members handle the stressors associated with military service, as a researcher I really want to know whether this is a path worth pursuing or not. If I can show that it helps, then others can make the decision to make this training available to our service members and their families. If we show that it does not help, then we can leave this technique and pursue other means for helping our troops.
4. In your own words, what is it about this technology/science that makes it so significant?Mindfulness and meditation appear to help an individual regulate their response to stress, by activating the parasympathetic nervous system (countering the ‘fight or flight’ reaction), thus they are more calm and composed.  This is significant in the way it puts the power into the hands of the individual, rather than relying on an outside stimuli or medication (both of which can also be of benefit, of course). The significance of using the virtual world is that such teaching can be offered to military and veterans who are in remote locations or places in which this type of intervention may not be available. In addition, for individuals who cannot easily attend an in-person training sessions, due to physical limitations, stigma associated with seeking care, feeling uncomfortable with in-person group settings, or time and distance restrictions, this may be the best alternative.
5. How could you use this technology/science to aid the military or help with military missions? Virtual world technology can be, and is being, used now for family members to meet and interact with one another, to have a place for active duty service members and veterans to find out about their benefits, and it could also be used to teach classes, set up virtual office spaces for teleworkers, or provide telehealth services.
6. What got you interested in this field of study? While on active duty, my military specialty was Occupational Therapy and I also have degrees in Health Care Administration and Human Factors Engineering. This research taps into all three of those sets of professional training: assisting individuals to function at the top of their abilities, making certain health care is available and affordable, and making certain the process, products, places, and procedures are designed to fit the intended audience.
7. Are you working on any other projects right now? Yes, this next year we will be continuing our investigations into personal resilience by investigating an intense 5-day mindfulness training program and comparing it with the traditional 8 week training program, opening mindfulness training to military spouses, investigating neuromodulation and its’ impact on learning mindfulness skills, and adding an active control group to the mindfulness study. We are also investigating the impact of neurotemporal training on marksmanship performance using the EST2000.
8. If you could go anywhere in time and space, where would you go and why? In my ideal world, I’d like to be in a collaborative, fun environment with resources to investigate all facets of a problem, with the problems I investigate being related to health and performance. I am in a collaborative, fun environment; I conduct research on human factors related to healthcare; and resources are always limited in some way – so I guess I’m in the best place. The only thing that could be better is if I were located near a beach.
9. Do you have anything else you’d like to add?

You have the quote on your emails from Einstein about being passionately curious. Why do you identify with that one?

There are a lot of people out there who are intelligence or genius but I’m very curious, that’s what I think it takes to do research. You don’t have to be the smartest person in the world, you have to be interested.

How did you discover within yourself the fulfilment you seem to get in helping other people? What school did you attend?

I knew my path early. In occupational therapy school at 22 or 23 years old I was working with patients who had injuries or illnesses. The therapy sessions I learned were intended to rehabilitate clients to their former – cognitive, physical, and emotional – self.

The methods I was taught seemed to work for rehabilitation but I had no theoretical basis that proved why, or whether they did at all. My focus gradually shifted to more broad human performance research as a result. Human performance is what we use to get people to their ideal self. I noticed the same methods that applied to occupational health also applied when it was not necessarily one traumatic event that led to therapy. It has been a theme throughout my life to help people get where they want to be in their life – functional, and happy.

EDUCATION:

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), PhD, industrial engineering – specialty in human factors engineering/ergonomics

Baylor University, Master of Science, occupational therapy/therapist

from Armed with Science http://ift.tt/1IAmLNX