Cross-Program
In a “Perspective” published in the August 23 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, Clinical Scholar Gordon Sun, MD, (’13) and Physician Faculty Scholar Reshma Jagsi, MD, DPhil, (’09) describe the tenuous state of medical research funding in the United States. The authors also offer a defense of the economic potential of U.S. medical research, as well as a summary of policies in five Asian countries that are using biomedical research as a scientific and economic stimulus.
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- Clinical Scholars
- Health & Society Scholars
- New Connections
- Nurse Faculty Scholars
- Physician Faculty Scholars
Clinical Scholars
In a study that appeared in the September 5 issue of The Lancet, Clinical Scholar Zachary D. Goldberger, MD, (’12) found that patients have a better chance of surviving a cardiac arrest at hospitals that spend more time on resuscitation efforts. Goldberger and colleagues evaluated data from 64,339 patients with cardiac arrests between 2000 and 2008 at 435 hospitals within a large national registry. The findings challenge conventional medical thinking, which holds that prolonged resuscitation for hospitalized patients is usually futile because when patients do survive, they often suffer permanent neurological damage. The researchers found that, to the contrary, patients who survived prolonged cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and left the hospital fared as well as those who were quickly resuscitated. This study was featured on the front page of the New York Times and in the Economist, MedPageToday, and other outlets.
Clinical Scholar Lenard Lesser, MD, (’12) published a “Viewpoint” article, “Changing Eating Habits for the Medical Profession,” in the September 12 issue of JAMA. In the article, Lesser argues that although some health professionals have called for changes to the food environment in the communities where they live, they have paid less attention to the quality of food served at hospitals, physicians’ offices, and conferences. Lesser also proposes several steps to encourage healthier eating habits among physicians, of whom roughly 40 percent are found to be overweight or obese.
Clinical Scholar Katherine Neuhausen, MD, (’11) published “Integrating Community Health Centers Into Organized Delivery Systems Can Improve Access to Subspecialty Care” in the August issue of Health Affairs. The study is the first to identify solutions to the challenges that community health centers face in accessing specialty care; it describes six unique models of how community health centers can create medical neighborhoods. With community health centers projected to double their capacity—from 20 million to 40 million patients—over the next five years, their ability to help patients get needed specialty care remains a significant challenge. Neuhausen’s study finds it works best when community health centers join or lead integrated health care systems to become part of medical neighborhoods.
Clinical Scholar Stephen Patrick, MD, MPH, (’12) published a study in the August issue of Health Affairs showing that increasing federal matching funds for states boosts enrollment of kids in health care programs. The research showed that a 10-percentage-point increase in the federal match for Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP)—similar to the increase that occurred with the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act—is associated with an increase of 1.9 percent in the number of children enrolled in Medicaid nationwide, or approximately 500,000 additional children.
Health & Society Scholars
Sarah A. Burgard, PhD, MS, MA, (’03) released a study concluding that workers who perceive their jobs as not secure are more likely to rate themselves in poor health, and to have increased symptoms of anxiety and depression. The study, “Perceived Job Insecurity and Health: the Michigan Recession and Recovery Study,” was released in the September issue of Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. Nearly 18 percent of workers perceived their jobs as insecure: They felt they were at least “fairly likely” to lose their jobs or be laid off within the next year. Workers with job insecurity rated their health lower than did workers who perceived their jobs as more secure. Workers with job insecurity were nearly four times more likely to report symptoms of anxiety attacks and close to seven times more likely to have symptoms suggesting minor or major depression. “The study provides some of the first available evidence on the extent and distribution of perceived job insecurity and its association with health in the wake of the Great Recession,” said Burgard.
Jason N. Houle, PhD, (’11) presented a working research paper at the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association in August. According to the study, nearly 41 percent of all students left school with some student loan debt, and the average debt was more than $22,000. “Young adults from middle-income families are the highest risk for student loan debt,” Houle said. “As tuition costs continue to rise and outpace inflation, students increasingly use loans as the primary means of financial aid.” The study relies on a subsample of 4,414 participants in the 1997 National Longitudinal Study of Youth.
Kathleen M. Ziol-Guest, PhD, (’06) released a study showing that children’s health and access to health care services differ according to the immigrant status of their parents. The study, “Health and Medical Care Among the Children of Immigrants,” was published in the September/October issue of Child Development. Although immigrants make up less than 13 percent of the total population, children of immigrants make up 22 percent of all children and 30 percent of low-income children in the United States. The study found that low-income children of immigrants have significantly less good health, and see doctors and dentists less often than low-income native-born children. “Our findings underscore the idea that those with more precarious immigration statuses show the poorest health outcomes and that families with noncitizen members face barriers, real or perceived, to using relevant programs—in this case, health-related programs,” Ziol-Guest said.
New Connections
Temitope Erinosho, PhD, (’11) New Connections grantee for Healthy Eating Research, published an article, “Caregiver Food Behaviors Are Associated With Dietary Intakes of Children Outside the Child-Care Setting,” in the August issue of Public Health Nutrition. Her analysis reveals that children’s eating behaviors were mediated by parents’ food intake, such that children with parents who purchased foods from fast-food restaurants were more likely to consume French fries or fruit drinks. Children who ate while watching TV tended to consume less healthy foods and beverages.
Citing evidence that African American men experience more psychosocial stressors compared with their counterparts of other races and/or ethnicities, New Connections alumna Daphne Watkins, PhD, (’07) addressed whether online social support groups could serve as a protective mechanism for American men facing psychosocial stressors in an article published in the August issue of Psychological Services. Based on an in-depth analysis of the myriad experiences faced by this underserved group, Watkins provides recommendations for the use of online support communities targeting African American men in early stages of psychological distress.
Nurse Faculty Scholars
Sarah L. Szanton, PhD, CRNP, MSN, (’11) received $7 million in new funding—$3 million from the National Institutes of Health and $4 million as a Health Care Innovation Award from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. These grants will enable her research team to continue the project “Community Aging in Place: Advancing Better Living for Elders (CAPABLE).” The project studies strategies that can help low-income, older adults continue to live at home. It was the only Health Care Innovation Award made to a nursing school.
Physician Faculty Scholars
Judette Louis, MD, MPH, (’08) published “Perinatal Outcomes Associated With Obstructive Sleep Apnea in Obese Pregnant Women: A Prospective Observational Study” in Obstetrics & Gynecology (September 21, 2012). Louis and colleagues investigated the associations between obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and maternal and neonatal morbidities in a cohort of obese gravidas. They found that among obese pregnant women, OSA is associated with more frequent preeclampsia (42.3 vs. 16.9, p=0.005) and neonatal admissions to the intensive care unit (46.1 vs. 17.8, p=0.002). OSA, previous preeclampsia, and hypertension were associated with developing preeclampsia after controlling for body mass index, maternal age, and diabetes.