Acheivements & Accolades

  • Published: 9/6/2012

Health & Society Scholars
Asthmapolis, the company co-founded by David Van Sickle, PhD, MA, (’06) has received clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its asthma sensor. The sensor sits on top of inhalers used by patients who have asthma, mobihealthnews reported July 11. The sensor tracks when and where asthma patients use their devices to determine asthma triggers.

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Center for Health Policy at Meharry Medical College
Monique Lyle, PhD, a health policy associate and political science professor at Vanderbilt University, along with Health Policy Fellow Sydney Jones, MPA, (’11) were recently cited in a Huffington Post article about President Obama’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Findings from their study, “Attributions, Emotions, and Health Care Reform: President Obama and Political Cognition About the Affordable Care Act,” are cited in the article to make the case that racism has been a significant factor underlying many Americans’ opposition to the health care law.

Center for Health Policy at the University of New Mexico
An op-ed by Marie Lobo, PhD, RN, FAAN, senior fellow at the Center, was featured in the June 11 Albuquerque Journal. The op-ed, “Invest in Kids Now to Save Money Later,” details the benefits of the Affordable Care Act on programs designed to educate new parents and prevent child abuse. “New Mexico has received money from the Affordable Care Act’s Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program, some of which is being spent in Bernalillo County, where we have several programs that help children get a healthy start,” Lobo wrote.

Howard Waitzkin, MD, PhD, a senior fellow at the Center and a professor in the departments of sociology, family and community medicine, and internal medicine, was honored with a 2012 Freidson Outstanding Publication Award by the American Sociology Association (ASA) for his book, Medicine and Public Health at the End of the Empire. ASA recognized the book for its “bold and timely analysis of the global political economy of contemporary crises in health and medical care. By presenting the lessons learned from social medicine (past and present), [it] outlines a macro-sociologically informed response to these crises.” Waitzkin is also an alumnus of the RWJF Clinical Scholars program.

Gabriel Sanchez, PhD, associate director at the Center and associate professor of political science, was featured in the June 15 New York Times “FiveThirtyEight” blog. The blog offered an in-depth analysis of New Mexico’s political landscape and ways the state could affect the upcoming presidential election.

Mala Htun, PhD, a senior fellow at the Center and associate professor of political science, wrote an op-ed which was published July 12 in the Albuquerque Journal. Her op-ed, ”Political Science Plays Crucial Role in Public Policy,” discusses the ways political science helps policymakers understand and address pressing public problems with evidence-based decisions. “Political science research is rigorous and relevant. It expands human knowledge of the conditions influencing our lives in common. By explaining the events and patterns of the past, we help shed light on the context of today’s choices,” according to the op-ed, which challenged a pending proposal in Congress that would eliminate funding for political science research from the National Science Foundation.

William Wiese, MD, MPH, a senior fellow at the Center and a visiting professor in the University of New Mexico Department of Family and Community Medicine, was honored by the New Mexico Public Health Association on April 28 with its Larrazolo Achievement Award. The award recognizes Wiese’s many years of public health service to New Mexicans. The Larrazolo Award is given to individuals who have made lifetime contributions to public health service and have made a major impact locally, statewide, and nationally.

Clinical Scholars
Mahshid Abir, MD, MSc, (’09) RAND Health adjunct behavioral and social scientist, and Art Kellermann, MD, (’83) Clinical Scholars and Health Policy Fellows alumnus and vice president and director of RAND Health, co-authored an op-ed in USA Today. The piece demonstrates the benefits of electronic health records—especially in light of natural disasters when patients’ paper medical records can be lost or destroyed.

Ryan Greysen, MD, MHS, MA, (’09) an assistant clinical professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), participated in a radio interview on Southern California Public Radio to discuss the ethics of social media use in medicine.

Sunita Mutha, MD, (’92) has been named interim director of the Center for the Health Professions (CHP) at UCSF, as founding director Edward O’Neil, PhD, has retired after 20 years. Most recently, Mutha was director of the Clinic Leadership Institute and has been a key member of the CHP at UCSF. Her scholarly work has focused on educational and organizational approaches to improving the quality of care, with a particular emphasis on the intersection between quality improvement and health care disparities.

Aasim Padela, MD, MSc, (’08) assistant professor of medicine in emergency medicine and general internal medicine at the University of Chicago, was featured in a University of Chicago “Science Life” blog post. The piece addressed Padela’s most recent publication in the Journal of Religion and Health, which encourages the study of the influence of religion on health behaviors and outcomes.

Kavita Patel, MD, MSHS, (’03) participated in the National Public Radio (NPR) program, “Tell Me More,” in late May to discuss a survey conducted by NPR, RWJF, and the Harvard School of Public Health about the impact of race on a patient’s care. Patel was a guest on the same show in late June to provide analysis on the Supreme Court’s ruling on the Affordable Care Act. She also participated as a panelist for a live chat on the RWJF Human Capital Grantee Network about the Affordable Care Act in mid-July, along with John Lumpkin, MD, MPH, senior vice president and director of RWJF’s Health Care Group; Susan Hassmiller, PhD, RN, FAAN, RWJF senior advisor for nursing; and Nancy Ridenour, PhD, RN, RWJF Health Policy Fellows and Executive Nurse Fellows alumna and dean and professor of the University of New Mexico College of Nursing.

Sheldon M. Retchin, MD, MSPH, (’80) chief executive officer of Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Health System and vice president for health sciences at VCU, wrote a commentary for the Richmond Times-Dispatch concerning health care reform and the supply of physicians. In the commentary, Retchin concluded that “the risk of health professional shortages should rally policymakers, providers, the business community, and health insurers alike…to seek common ground for long-term solutions.”

Community Health Leaders
Laura Lopez, (’07), was profiled on NewAmericaMedia.com for her work to improve the lives of the disadvantaged in Oakland, Calif. In a May 25 article, the website wrote that Lopez’s Street Level Health Project clinic has been instrumental in helping refugees access health care services. “As an immigrant you don’t think about yourself, you think about how to pay the bills, send money home—we put ourselves as the last person. I tell them, sometimes we need to lose one day of work and go to a doctor before you end up in Highland Hospital and lose a month or two months,” Lopez told the website.

Executive Nurse Fellows
Laura Anderko, PhD, RN, (’05) Robert and Kathleen Scanlon Endowed Chair in Values-Based Health Care at Georgetown University, testified at a hearing in Washington, D.C., in support of the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed rules limiting greenhouse gases from new coal-fired power plants. Anderko was representing Health Care Without Harm, an international coalition of 473 organizations in more than 50 countries, working to transform the health care sector.

Gaurdia Banister, PhD, RN, (’01) executive director at the Institute for Patient Care at Massachusetts General Hospital, was recently honored with the American Nurses Association’s Mary Mahoney Award for significant contributions to advancing equal opportunities in nursing for members of minority groups.

Susan Birch, MBA, BSN, RN, (’02) was recently appointed to the position of adjunct faculty and to the Academic Nursing Advisory Committee at American Sentinel University. In this role, Birch will support the university’s continued efforts to have the most up-to-date curriculum in health policy. American Sentinel University is an online university accredited by the Accrediting Commission of the Distance Education and Training Council, a recognized member of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation.

Michael Bleich, PhD, RN, CNAA, FAAN, (’00) a Dr. Carol A. Lindeman distinguished professor for the School of Nursing at Oregon Health & Science University, presented one of three featured keynote addresses at the American Association of Heart Failure Nurses’ 8th Annual Conference. Bleich’s presentation was on the “Future of Nursing”.

Ruth Carrico, PhD, RN, FSHEA, CIC, (’11) associate professor at the School of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of Louisville, was recently named the 2012 recipient of the Carole DeMille Achievement Award by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC). The award, which was presented at APIC’s 39th Annual Educational Conference and International Meeting in San Antonio, is given annually to an infection preventionist who best exemplifies the ideals of Carole DeMille, a pioneer in the field.

Jeanette Ives Erickson, RN, DNP, FAAN, (’98) senior vice president for patient care and chief nurse at Massachusetts General Hospital, was the guest speaker at the annual meeting of the Nursing Archives Associates. Members of the Boston University Alumni Association also attended her talk, “The Evolution and Revolution in Patient Care.”

Patricia Fazzone, RN, DNSc, MPH, (’05) professor of nursing at East Carolina University, was recently named coordinator of the university’s participation in Joining Forces, a national initiative led by the White House and Michelle Obama that focuses on supporting active and returning military members, veterans, and their families. Fazzone said the College of Nursing will work to integrate Joining Forces content into graduate and undergraduate curricula, in particular the content regarding the health and social needs of returning military and their families, including traumatic brain injury, posttraumatic stress disorder, family support, military culture, and rehabilitation.

Greer Glazer, PhD, RN, CNP, FAAN, (’01) dean and professor in the college of nursing at the University of Cincinnati Academic Health Center, recently co-authored an op-ed, “Community’s Care Is Our Top Priority,” in the Cincinnati Enquirer about the Affordable Care Act. Glazer also recently co-authored the journal article, “Legislative: Nursing Distance Learning Programs and State Board of Nursing Authorizations,” featured in the Online Journal of Issues in Nursing.

Karen Hill, MSN, RN ,NEA-BC, FACHE, (’00) vice president and nurse executive at Central Baptist Hospital, has been awarded the Scholarship Award for Nurse Executive by the American Organization of Nurse Executives’ (AONE) Institute for Nursing Leadership Research and Education. The award honors AONE members who have demonstrated the “best of the best” in leadership practice, and whose work sets an example for every nurse leader.

Tara Hulsey, PhD, MSN, BSN, (’06) dean of the Derry Patterson Wingo School of Nursing at Charleston Southern, was recently selected for induction as a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing. She is the current chair of the United Nations and Global Health Advisory Council for Sigma Theta Tau International, the international honors society for nursing, and was project director of the RWJF Quality and Safety Education in Nursing initiative.

Pamela R. Jeffries, PhD, MSN, BSN, (’11) Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing professor, recently wrote a new book, Developing Successful Health Care Education Simulation Centers: The Consortium Model. It provides guidelines on planning, organizing, and implementing a health care simulation center through a step-by-step collaborative, cost-effective, consortium model. The book was written for nursing and health care administrators, managers, educational leaders, and regional community leaders for planning, building, and maintaining momentum and sustainability in simulation centers.

Jerry Mansfield, MS, RN, CAN, (’05) was recently appointed chief nursing officer for the Ohio State University Hospital and the Richard M. Ross Heart Hospital at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.

Lucy Marion, PhD, RN, FAAN, (’98) dean of the College of Nursing at Georgia Health Sciences University, was recently interviewed by WRDW-TV in Augusta about the nursing and nurse faculty shortage.

Mary McFadden, MSN, RN, (’05) chief nursing officer for Providence Medical Center, was recently interviewed by WICZ-TV on the importance of fall prevention. The station notes that the fall rate in the viewing area of Binghamton, N.Y., is a quarter higher than the national average.

Ann O’Sullivan, PhD, RN, FAAN, (’98) co-edited the American Nurses Association’s (ANA) latest publication, The Essential Guide to Nursing Practice Applying ANA’s Scope and Standards of Practice and Education. The guide addresses and offers examples of how to apply the six standards of professional practice and 10 standards of professional performance in everyday practice settings.

Juliann Sebastian, PhD, RN, FAAN, (’98) dean of the College of Nursing at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, was recently interviewed by KVNO News in Omaha about the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the Affordable Care Act.

Debra Toney, PhD, MS, BSN, FAAN, (’06) president of the National Black Nurses Association and president and owner of TLC Health Care Services in Las Vegas, Nev., was named a torchbearer for the London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay. She carried the Olympic Torch on July 9 in England. KSNV-TV, Las Vegas, has a video news segment about her selection; it also was featured in a story on RWJF.org.

Harold Amos Medical Faculty Development Program
Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, MD, PhD, (’04) spoke to the New York Times about a recommendation by the United States Preventive Services Task Force “that healthy postmenopausal women should not take low doses of calcium or vitamin D supplement to prevent fractures.” Bibbins-Domingo serves on the task force.

Research by Yonas Geda, MD, MSc, (’07) was featured in a July 13 article in the Sioux City Journal. The article noted Geda’s research findings that overeating may contribute to mild cognitive impairment (MCI) among seniors. “We observed a dose-response pattern, which simply means that the higher the amount of calories consumed each day, the higher the risk of MCI,” Geda told the paper.

Levi Garraway, MD, PhD, (’06) was quoted in a July 5 Bioscience Technology article examining how cancer evades drug treatment. “There are many different types of mechanisms that tumors may hijack to circumvent the effects of therapy…no single experimental approach can capture all of these potential mechanisms. Thus, the application of complementary approaches can offer considerable synergy in terms of discovering the full spectrum of clinically relevant resistance mechanisms,” Garraway told the news outlet. He is a senior associate member of the Broad Institute, and an associate professor at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School.

Health & Society Scholars
Amy Non, PhD, MPH, (’10) was recently hired as an assistant professor of anthropology and medicine, health, and society at Vanderbilt University’s Center for Medicine, Health, and Society (MHS). At the Center, Non was hired as part of a dramatic expansion of the Center’s staff, which added five scholars. “Our search process at MHS lasted through the year, and we are delighted that it resulted in such a fantastic, vibrant, multidisciplinary group of scholars, teachers, and citizens,” said Jonathan Metzl, director of the Center and holder of the Frederick B. Rentschler Chair. “As a group, they will foster MHS’s overarching mission of studying the social, cultural, global, and political aspects of health and illness.” In August, Non finished her Health & Society Scholars fellowship at Harvard University.

José Pagan, PhD, MA, (’03) has received a $7.3 million Health Care Innovation Award for the University of North Texas Health Science Center (UNTHSC). The award will enable UNTHSC, in partnership with Brookdale Senior Living (BSL), to expand and test the BSL Transitions of Care Program, which involves an evidenced-based assessment tool called Interventions to Reduce Acute Care Transfers for residents living in independent living, assisted living, and dementia-specific facilities in Texas and Florida. In addition, community-dwelling older adults who receive BSL home health services will be included in the Transitions of Care Program. Pagan is also a member of the Health & Society Scholars national advisory committee.

Andrew Papachristos, PhD, (’10) is now an associate professor of sociology at Yale University. He is also a faculty fellow at the Center for Research Inequalities and the Life Course, and a faculty affiliate at the Institution for Social Policy Studies at Yale University. His research focuses on social networks, neighborhoods, street gangs, and interpersonal violence. Papachristos completed his Health & Society Scholars fellowship at Harvard University in August. He wrote an opinion article featured in the July 5 Huffington Post. The article examined the spike in homicide and other crimes that have plagued Chicago. With much of the crime in the city driven by gangs, Papachristos wrote, “Once-monolithic gangs in Chicago have crumbled, and in their place have emerged (literally) hundreds of smaller, less-organized and decentralized factions and crews. These crews don’t play by old gang rules, nor do they respect old gang boundaries. But today’s gangs are no less violent.”

Asthmapolis, the company co-founded by David Van Sickle, PhD, MA, (’06) has received clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its asthma sensor. The sensor sits on top of inhalers used by patients who have asthma, mobihealthnews reported July 11. The sensor tracks when and where asthma patients use their devices to determine asthma triggers.

Research by Matthew Killingsworth, PhD, (’12) was cited in a June 16 op-ed in the New York Times. Killingsworth’s research used an iPhone app to ask volunteers, during random moments, to ascertain their happiness. The researchers “discovered that we spend most of our lives not thinking about what we are doing at that moment, whether it’s shopping, eating, or, in particular, working. No matter how enjoyable or unenjoyable the activity we’re engaged in is, this gift for distraction comes at a psychic cost: ‘wandering mind…is an unhappy mind.’” Learn more about Killingsworth’s research at www.trackyourhappiness.org.

Investigator Awards in Health Policy Research
James House, PhD, (’96) has been selected as the University of Michigan Henry Russel Lecturer for 2013. The selection by the Board of Regents recognizes his renowned scholarship on the psychosocial influences on health and illness. House is the Angus Campbell Distinguished University Professor of Survey Research, Public Policy, and Sociology.

Miriam J. Laugesen, PhD, (’09) assistant professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, spoke to the Wall Street Journal about a poll that finds that women tend to support New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s proposed sugary drink ban. Laugesen says that women are more supportive of interventions that protect children, and if the plan is approved, it could help reduce childhood obesity.

Theda Skocpol, PhD, (’93) and Mark Hall, JD, (’04) are cited in Justice Ginsburg’s opinion that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act should have been upheld in its entirety and is supported by the commerce clause. Read the full Supreme Court decision.

In a recent New York Times op-ed, award-winning science journalist Gary Taubes, MSE, MA, (’08) describes the efforts made by government public health agencies to support and promote salt restriction, despite clinical evidence that does not support population-wide salt reduction strategies. Taubes’ commentary was also referenced in the Smyrna/Clayton Sun-Times. Taubes was interviewed on NPR’s “Talk of the Nation,” where he argued that the recent Journal of the American Medical Association study on diet and weight loss proves that following a low-fat, carbohydrate-rich diet may be a bad idea and may, in fact, be contributing to America’s obesity epidemic.

Interdisciplinary Nursing Quality Research Initiative
Mary Naylor, PhD, RN, FAAN, professor of gerontology and director of the New Courtland Center for Transitions and Health at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, and program director for the Interdisciplinary Nursing Quality Research Initiative, was recently invited to present at the White House on behalf of the American Association of Legal Nurse Consultants. The White House and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ officials hosted the “conversation with nurses” to discuss delivery system transformation, and how the Affordable Care Act can support nurses’ efforts to provide high-quality care to patients.

New Connections
Adrian Aguilera, PhD, (’11) received an $800,000 K-award from the National Institutes of Health to conduct a randomized controlled trial that assesses the role of automated text messaging in improving depression treatment for low-income individuals.

Tamara Leech, PhD, (’07) was named a William T. Grant Foundation Scholar for Research on Adolescent Health Risk Behavior in Urban Communities. She received a $350,000 award to build upon her project, “Pockets of Peace: Investigating Urban Neighborhoods Resilient to Adolescent Violence.”

Amanda Sullivan, PhD, (’11) received the 2012 Presidential Award for Dedication and Service from Trainers in School Psychology.

Nursing and Health Policy Collaborative at University of New Mexico
Laura Brennaman, MSN, RN, CEN, (’10) and Lauri Lineweaver, MSN, RN, CCRN-CSC, (’10) both recently waited in line overnight in front of the U.S. Supreme Court to gain admission to the oral arguments on the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Their experience received significant national media coverage and was recently featured in the American Nurse. Brennaman returned to Washington, D.C., in June to be present during the Supreme Court’s decision on the ACA. Again, she waited overnight outside the court to gain admission and was interviewed by numerous national media outlets, including ABC News, CNN, the Daily Beast, NurseZone, the Washington Post, and Florida Today, among other outlets.

Leaders' Link Newsletter: July/August 2012

  1. 1 Research Roundup
  2. 2 Programs' Progress
  3. 3 Communications Corner
  4. 4 Acheivements & Accolades

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