New Connections Welcomes Sixth Cohort
New Connections welcomed a diverse group of 17 new grantees into its sixth cohort, including four grantees in Public Health Law Research. The national program office (NPO) held a day-long meeting November 29 at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in Princeton, N.J., where the grantees had an opportunity to hear from NPO staff and meet with program staff from teams at the Foundation.

Read More Programs’ Progress >>

• Clinical Scholars Publish Articles in Special Issue of Health Services Research
• Harold Amos Medical Faculty Development Program Now Accepting Applications
• Health & Society Scholars Prepares to Celebrate 10th Anniversary
• Health & Society Scholars Welcomes Two New NAC Members

Clinical Scholars Publish Articles in Special Issue of Health Services Research
The latest articles from a special issue of Health Services Research on “Bridging the Gap between Research and Health Policy—Insights from Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars” are now available online. The print edition will be published in February 2012. The four articles are:

• “Health Insurance Can Increase Pediatric Asthma Diagnosis, Treatment”
  The large number of undiagnosed children with asthma could be reduced by expanding health insurance coverage, says RWJF Clinical Scholars alumna Tumaini R. Coker, MD, MBA, (2004–2006). In a study co-authored by program alumnus Paul J. Chung, MD, MS, and colleague Robert M. Kaplan, Coker, PhD, found that a child with health insurance was significantly more likely to have received an asthma diagnosis and treatment for asthma symptoms than an uninsured peer. Read a Web story about the study.
• “State-Level Variations in Racial Health Disparities”
  Policy-makers who use disparity data to set goals and funding priorities may be missing important context and patterns, according to a study by RWJF Clinical Scholars alumna Nazleen Bharmal, MD, MPP, (2007–2009) and colleagues. The researchers looked at racial disparities in life expectancy at the state level in comparison with national life expectancy, and found that the magnitude of disparities was a function of population size and differences in life expectancy patterns between Blacks and Whites. Read Bharmal’s post about the study on the RWJF Human Capital Blog.
• Translating Evidence-Based Research into Health Care Practice
  After forming a community-partnered participatory research collaborative, RWJF Clinical Scholars alumnus Corita R. Grudzen, MD, MSHS, (2005–2008) and colleagues completed an evaluation of how effectively they were able to translate evidence into policy. They collaborated with Los Angeles County EMS leadership on guidelines to decrease “unnecessary and potentially harmful” resuscitation practices. The case study reports on the successes and challenges of the research team and EMS agency in forming new protocols.
• “Does This Doctor Speak My Language?”
  Program alumna Lisa Diamond, MD, MPH, (2006–2008) and colleagues revised a self-reported language proficiency test to determine if a new evaluation could produce a more accurate assessment of physicians’ non-English language skills. They found that an adapted Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR) scale, which has a wider scale and more descriptive choices, resulted in an improved understanding of physicians’ language proficiency.

Harold Amos Medical Faculty Development Program Now Accepting Applications
The Harold Amos Medical Faculty Development Program is currently accepting applications for four-year postdoctoral research awards through March 15. The program’s call for applications opened on February 1, 2012. These awards are available to physicians and dentists from historically disadvantaged backgrounds (ethnic, financial, or educational) who are committed to pursuing careers in academic medicine or dentistry and to serving as role models for students and faculty of similar backgrounds.

Beginning with its 2012 application period, the Harold Amos program will fund one or more dentists. For four years, each dental scholar will conduct research in association with a senior faculty member located at an academic dental center noted for its training of young faculty and with the capacity to pursue lines of investigation of particular interest to the scholar.

In addition, the program will offer up to eight four-year research awards in biomedical research, clinical investigation, and health services research and epidemiology. Scholars will receive an annual stipend of up to $75,000 each and a $30,000 annual grant to support research activities.

Eligibility requirements also include U.S. citizenship or permanent residency and completion of formal clinical training. Preference will be given to physicians and dentists who have recently completed their formal clinical training.

Health & Society Scholars Prepares to Celebrate 10th Anniversary
The Health & Society Scholars program is preparing to celebrate its 10th anniversary. To mark its 10th anniversary, the program will hold its 2012 annual meeting at the Foundation’s headquarters in Princeton, N.J. In addition, the program will incorporate numerous alumni-focused sessions into this year’s annual meeting agenda. The RWJF Health & Society Scholars program aims to build the nation’s capacity for research, leadership, and policy change to address the broad range of factors that affect health. Additional information about the Health & Society Scholars program, including application information, can be found at RWJFLeaders.org.

Health & Society Scholars Welcomes Two New NAC Members
The Health & Society Scholars program is pleased to welcome two new members to its national advisory committee (NAC). Effective January 1, Robert T. Croyle, PhD, director of the National Cancer Institute’s Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, and David T. Takeuchi, PhD, sociologist and professor in the School of Social Work and the Department of Sociology at the University of Washington assumed their roles on the NAC.

HSS thanks outgoing NAC members Thomas LaVeist, PhD, Johns Hopkins University, and Kenneth Olden, PhD, Hunter College. “We thank them for their tremendous contributions to the development and early years of the program and wish them all the best. We hope that they will continue to be involved in the program in the future,” HSS said.