Investigator Awards in Health Policy Research

Jonathan Skinner, Ph.D., (‘05) the John Sloan Dickey Third Century Professor of Economics at Dartmouth College, was quoted in articles in both the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times. The New York Times article (August 11, 2009) discusses a survey, sponsored by America’s Health Insurance Plans, that provides a state-by-state analysis of exorbitant charges (“price gouging”) billed by out-of-network physicians in the 30 largest states by population. The survey showed huge differences between prices charged to Medicare and to private insurance for the same procedures. The Los Angeles Times story covered Grand Junction, Colo.’s innovative approach to health care through a nonprofit HMO that offers free services and promotes preventive care. Skinner, who has researched the Grand Junction health system with colleagues at Dartmouth College, notes that efficiency in health care delivery can lead to better results for patients, but that our current health care system is not set up to reward efficiency. Skinner was quoted again in a September 19, 2009 New York Times article, “Medicare for All? ’Crazy,’ ’Socialized’ and Unlikely,” where he notes the positive and negative effects of expanding Medicare to all. “The best thing about expanding Medicare is we can cover everybody with one sweep of the pen and cut administrative costs substantially,” he said, “but it would probably require a tripling in payroll taxes just to pay hospitals alone. And it would do nothing to control costs.” Most recently, Skinner was quoted in a U.S. News & World Report article, “Your Guide to Maximizing Medicare,” where he cautions Medicare beneficiaries that “[M]ost nursing home expenses aren’t covered at all,” and, “Medicare will cover time in a skilled nursing facility for only a limited time.”

Read More Achievements & Accolades >>

• Clinical Scholars
• Community Health Leaders
• Executive Nurse Fellows
• Harold Amos Medical Faculty Development
• Health Policy Fellows
• Investigator Awards in Health Policy Research
• Physician Faculty Scholars

Clinical Scholars Program

Peggy Chen, M.D., M.Sc., was a panelist on “Beyond Scientific Publication: Extending the Reach of Research Findings,” a panel discussion at the Yale School of Medicine on September 29, 2009. The panel discussed the use of research results in the news as a factor in the creation of public policy. Chen was asked to present as a result of one of her scholar projects, a literature review of the dissemination of results in research utilizing the community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach. She has also been asked to make an oral presentation on her research at the annual meeting of the American Public Health Association (APHA) this fall.

Lenard Lesser, M.D., published a letter to the editor in the September 2009 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition defending his findings from a 2007 study which showed that research funded by the beverage industry was biased. Lesser also proposes new guidelines for journals that publish nutrition research. The letter responded to an article in the May 2009 issue of the Journal that was funded by an industry group and that challenged his earlier findings.

Alumni
Chisara N. Asomugha, M.D., M.S.P.H., (‘09) a pediatrician and non-denominational Christian minister, was chosen as the new social services chief for the city of New Haven, Conn. In this role, she will oversee the community services administration, health, elderly services, vital statistics and youth departments, as well as the Office of New Haven Residents. Dr. Asomugha’s appointment was covered in the New Haven Independent.

SreyRam Kuy, M.D., M.H.S., (‘09) is the lead author of “Outcomes Following Cholecystectomy in Pregnant and Nonpregnant Women,” published in the August 2009 issue of Surgery. This is the first population-based study to examine clinical and economic outcomes after cholecystectomy during pregnancy, and to identify predictors of outcome. Dr. Kuy and colleagues found that open cholecystectomy and surgeon volume are important predictors of worse outcomes. They also found disparities in outcomes based on insurance, including Medicaid.

Kavita Patel, M.D., M.S.H.S., (‘05) who works with Senior White House Adviser Valerie Jarrett, is featured on the White House Web site, Health Insurance Reform Reality Check, where the administration is directing people to get “the facts” about the health care proposals. In her testimonial, Patel debunks the myth that reform will mean a “government takeover” of health care or will lead to “rationing.” She argues that, to the contrary, reform will forbid many forms of rationing currently in use by insurance companies.

Community Health Leaders

Union Mission, Inc., has been selected for the 2009 Best of Savannah Award in the Social Services category by the U.S. Commerce Association. Micheal Elliot, M.Div., M.S.W., (‘00) is the president and CEO of Union Mission, Inc., which offers housing services, parent and child services, employment and training programs, health services and community education. Union Mission’s J.C. Lewis Health Center has also received federal designation as a community health center, thus expanding its patient base. With the designation and accompanying funding increase, the center’s services will reach an additional 1,500 individuals a year.

Zaid Gayle, (‘08) executive director of Peace4Kids, was interviewed in the May 17, 2009 Los Angeles Times about the program. It offers services for at-risk foster children, with the aim of helping them make a successful transition to adulthood. The article describes how the children participating in Peace4Kids gain stability and friendship, and notes that many come back to serve as volunteers. “One of the things missing from the lives of foster kids is people who can be consistent in their lives from square one to 1,000,” said Gayle. “We want to be a community for youth in foster care.”

Ruth Ann Norton (‘05) was recognized by SmartCEO magazine as a recipient of the 2009 Brava! Women Business Achievement Award, acknowledging her work as executive director of the Coalition to End Childhood Lead Poisoning. The mission of the Coalition to End Childhood Lead Poisoning is to create resources, programs and policies that help prevent childhood lead poisoning and home-based environmental health hazards.

Sharon Rohrbach, R.N., (‘00) was among six winners of the Purpose Prize who were invited by President Obama to the White House on June 30, 2009. The Purpose Prize celebrates and supports outstanding individuals who are producing significant social innovation in the second half of life. Rohrbach was honored for her work with the Nurses for Newborns Foundation, which she founded. The goal of the Nurses for Newborns Foundation is to prevent child abuse and neglect as well as infant mortality.

Executive Nurse Fellows

Jill Briggs, R.N., M.S., M.P.H., presented her project, “Making the Case for Improved Funding: Cost Model for Local Public Health,” at the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), in Orlando, July 29–31, 2009. The project included both a time-series cost analysis and a gaps analysis of underfunded public health services. In November, the cost model will be presented as a scientific session at the annual meeting of the American Public Health Association (APHA) in Philadelphia.

Teresa Garrett, R.N., M.S., has been appointed to the position of Deputy Director of Public Health Practice for the Utah Department of Health. She will assist the Department’s Office of Public Health and Hospital Preparedness and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in providing departmentwide oversight and policy direction for Epidemiology, Laboratory Services, Health Systems Improvement and Community and Family Health Services. Garrett will be accountable for 600 full-time employees and a budget of $191 million.

Two Executive Nurse Fellows are finalists for the 2009 Nightingale Awards of Pennsylvania. Susan Hoolahan, M.S.N., R.N., N.E.A.-B.C., is a finalist in the category of Nursing Administration, and Beth Ann Swan, Ph.D., C.R.N.P., F.A.A.N., is a finalist in the Nursing Research category. They were honored at the awards’ twentieth annual ceremony on October 16, 2009.

Gloria McNeal, Ph.D., A.C.N.S.-B.C., F.A.A.N., was honored by the Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey (HFNJ) as the 2009 recipient of its Lester Z. Lieberman Leadership Award for Humanism in Healthcare. McNeal was hailed for her exemplary community leadership.

Vivian Torres-Suarez, B.S.N., M.S.N., has joined the staff of Elizabeth Seton Pediatric Center as senior vice president of Community Based Programs. Elizabeth Seton Pediatric Center is dedicated to providing rehabilitative care to children with a wide range of medical conditions and disabilities. Torres-Suarez will be responsible for home care programs.

Nelson Tuazon, M.A.Ed., M.S.N., M.B.A., R.N., N.E.-A., C.P.H.Q., F.A.C.H.E., was elected as president of the Angeles University Foundation (AUF) International Nurses Federation, the international alumni association of the AUF College of Nursing.

Deborah Washington, R.N., Ph.Dc., was named one of the Boston Business Journal’s 2009 Champions of Healthcare.

Alumni
Dee Baldwin, Ph.D., M.S.N., (‘03) was recently appointed as associate dean/director for the School of Nursing at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte.

Derryl Block, Ph.D., M.S., M.P.H., B.S.N., (‘06) was recently awarded the 2009 Outstanding Service Award by the Association of Community Health Nursing Educators (ACHNE). ACHNE provides a meeting ground for those committed to excellence in community and public-health nursing education, research and practice. Block currently serves as interim dean at the College of Professional and Graduate Studies at the University of Wisconsin, Green Bay, with responsibility for Nursing, Business, Education and Social Work programs. She also oversees graduate programs throughout the University, as well as multiple research and service centers.

Bonnie Brueshoff, R.N., P.H.N., M.S.N., (‘06) was quoted in a September 9, 2009 Pioneer Press article entitled “Needy Mothers, Kids Get a New Menu from WIC.” Brueshoff, director of the Dakota County Public Health Department in West St. Paul and Apple Valley, Minnesota, champions the recent decision by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) to add healthier options to the WIC menu, including fruits, vegetables, whole-wheat bread and other whole-grain products, as well as bread and dairy substitutes such as tofu and soy beverages.

Ann Cashion, Ph.D., R.N., F.A.A.N., (‘08) was a visiting professor at Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, a Mexican university that offers a Ph.D. in nursing. She consulted on incorporating genetic and genomic content into the nursing curriculum and research programs. In addition, she gave the presentation, “Decoding the Human Genome: Applications for Genetic Obesity Research.”

Martha Dawson, R.N., B.S.N., M.S.N., F.A.C.H.E., (‘04) served as a mentor at the National Black Nurses Association (NBNA) Founders Leadership Institute. In addition, this was the third year that a scholarship bearing her name, the Martha A. Dawson Genesis Nurse Leaders Scholarship, was awarded at the association’s annual conference.

Loretta Heuer, Ph.D., R.N., F.A.A.N., (‘05) has accepted the position of associate dean for Nursing and Allied Sciences at North Dakota State University in Fargo, N.D.

Kathleen Murphy, R.N., (‘07) was quoted in the August 3, 2009 USA Today article, “Your Health: School Nurses on Front Lines in War on Swine Flu.” The article discusses nationwide worries concerning new outbreaks of H1N1 as children begin returning to school. It notes that school nurses will be the first to notice H1N1 symptoms, and might also be the first to “sound alarms” regarding a potential outbreak. Murphy, who coordinates health services and supervises 93 nurses in Milwaukee’s public schools, states: “We’ll be looking at absentee rates, and watching for symptoms and clusters.”

Harold Amos Medical Faculty Development Program

Alumni
Jesus Araujo, M.D., Ph.D., (’08) has been selected by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) as one of six early-stage, tenure-track investigators to receive the 2009 Outstanding New Environmental Scientist (ONES) award. The highly competitive, five-year ONES grants will total $3.6 million for the first year. Araujo is an assistant professor of Medicine and the director of Environmental Cardiology in the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles. His research focuses on the effects of particulate air pollution on high-density lipoproteins and atherosclerosis. Established in 2006, the ONES program identifies outstanding scientists who are in the formative stages of their careers and who intend to make a long-term career commitment to research in the mission areas of the NIEHS. The program assists them in launching an innovative research program focusing on problems of environmental exposure and human biology, human pathophysiology and human disease.

Health Policy Fellows

Alumni
Jay Himmelstein, M.D., M.P.H., (’92) and Ellen-Marie Whelan, Ph.D., N.P., R.N. (’04), were interviewed for the article, “Kennedy’s Death Leaves Gap in Health Reform Leadership,” in the September 14, 2009 edition of American Medical News.

Barbara Kornblau, J.D., O.T.R./L., (‘07) fellow and former Harold Amos Medical Faculty Development Program scholar, is the new dean of Health Professions and Studies at the University of Michigan-Flint. As a Health Policy Fellow in the offices of Sen. John D. Rockefeller, IV, D-W.V. and Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, she worked with Senate subcommittees on health care policy before serving on a White House roundtable on health care disparities and discrimination. Kornblau was featured in the Flint Journal for her work on health reform and disability issues.

Investigator Awards in Health Policy Research

Andrea Campbell, Ph.D., (‘05) Investigator and former Scholar in Health Policy Research (‘03), was quoted in The Washington Times article, “Obama Health Care Plan Angers Seniors,” published on September 21, 2009. The article discusses reasons why overwhelming numbers of seniors oppose Obama’s health reform plan. Campbell comments that the uncertainty around health care reform has created fear among seniors, for whom health care is a particularly salient topic.

The work of Nicholas Christakis, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H., (’00) also an alumnus of the Clinical Scholars Program (‘93), and his colleague James Fowler, Ph.D., a political scientist at the University of California, San Diego, were featured in, “Is Happiness Catching?” a New York Times Magazine article (re-titled online, “Are Your Friends Making You Fat?”). Christakis and Fowler analyzed data from the National Institute of Health’s Framingham Heart Study, and for the first time found evidence that good behaviors—such as quitting smoking, staying slender or being happy—pass from friend to friend almost as if they were contagious viruses.

Dalton Conley, Ph.D., M.P.P.A., (‘99) who is also an ’03 alumnus of the Scholars in Health Policy Research Program, published “Safe at Home,” an op-ed in the August 3, 2009 New York Times, in which he argues that by making home ownership more attainable, we could improve the housing market as well as the security of poor families. He suggests that scaling an existing model focused on building a more comprehensive system to aid low-income purchasers could also repair the housing market. The op-ed was also published in the Winston-Salem Journal (North Carolina).

Philip Cook, Ph.D., (‘02) co-authored an op-ed, “The Breathalyzer Behind the Wheel,” which was published in the New York Times (August 31, 2009). The editorial discusses the effectiveness of ignition interlock systems placed in the vehicles of drunk-driving offenders, stating that if they were more widely installed, up to 750 lives a year could be saved. The authors cite numerous state-level obstacles to these devices’ being used effectively. They write, “The ignition interlock could be an extraordinarily effective way to prevent drunk-driving recidivism. But it can save lives only if we make sure people use it.”

A new book by Jason Corburn, Ph.D., M.C.P., (‘07) an associate professor of city and regional planning at the University of California, Berkeley, was published by the MIT Press in September 2009. According to Mindy Fullilove, M.D., a 2000 Investigator Award recipient, “Corburn’s Toward the Healthy City: People, Places, and the Politics of Urban Planning shows us how to reunite urban planning and public health. As Corburn reveals, by recreating this partnership we can overcome health disparities, chronic disease, and other pressing health problems of our era. This book is a must for everyone interested in health, cities, planning and our planet’s future.”

Sandro Galea, M.D., M.P.H., Dr.P.H., (‘06) was quoted in the September 16, 2009 Time article, “Learning to Live with Fear of the Flu,” which discusses the sources of and influences on the public’s fears of H1N1. Galea says, “People cannot make rational decisions without knowledge, and knowledge has to flow centrally. Absent that, you will have a flow of mythologies.”

Stephen Hinshaw, Ph.D., (‘09) who is examining clinical and policy issues surrounding the diagnosis and treatment of ADHD with his colleague, Richard Scheffler, Ph.D., (’09) was quoted in a Washington Post article where he champions a new study that indicates a striking difference in the brain’s motivational machinery in people with ADHD symptoms. The difference demonstrates a potential biological cause for ADHD.

Cited as one of the country’s best health economists, Harold Luft, Ph.D., (‘04) was quoted in the August 11, 2009 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel piece, “Debate on MRI Payments Just One Hurdle for Reform.” In July, Luft and 12 other economists wrote a letter to the White House supporting the proposal for a process to remove decisions about Medicare payment rates from political influence. Luft noted, “Part of the problem is we are talking about extraordinarily complex issues. Congress should set policy but not get into details of payment rates for specific services.”

An article by Howard Markel, M.D., Ph.D., F.A.A.P., (‘07) was quoted in articles from UPI, the Washington Post and the Virginian-Pilot about the delay in the supply of the H1N1 virus vaccine in time for the predicted fall outbreak. He noted, “This is potentially the largest mass-vaccination program in human history.” Markel, a medical history professor at the University of Michigan and advisor to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, was also quoted on the H1N1 virus vaccination program in a Washington Times article (September 16, 2009). His comments also appeared in “A Book Doctors Can’t Close,” in the New York Times (August 17, 2009). The article discusses The House of God, a novel drawn from the grueling and often dehumanizing real-life experiences of a psychiatrist during his internship at Harvard Medical School’s Beth Israel Hospital in 1974. Markel writes that 30 years after its initial publication, the book is still a part of the medical conversation.

An NJ Voices Guest Blog, “Cost Control Essential to Health Care Reform,” published in The Star Ledger (Newark, N.J.), featured a quote from national program director and 1994 award recipient David Mechanic, Ph.D., (‘94). The quote is from his book, The Truth About Health Care: “At some point we as a nation will have to decide whether we wish to design our health care system to satisfy those who profit from it or to protect the health of all Americans.”

Michelle Mello, J.D., Ph.D., M.Phil., (‘07) was quoted in the New York Times (Sept. 22, 2009) and the Indianapolis Star (Sept. 20, 2009) about medical malpractice and the debate over how to address it in health care reform. In the Times, Mello, a medical malpractice expert at the Harvard School of Public Health, notes, “The uncertainty [around medical malpractice compensation] leads to defensive behavior by physicians that generates more costs for everyone.’’ In the Star, she states that while the savings resulting from tort reform would be modest, addressing medical malpractice is a way to generate buy-in from some stakeholders who are challenging health reform. Dr. Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, president and CEO of RWJF, was also quoted in the Indianapolis Star article. In addition, Mello was quoted in an editorial, “Tort System Isn’t Pushing Medical Costs,” in the Columbus Dispatch (Ohio) (August 18, 2009), which referenced her 2006 study finding no evidence that an increase in malpractice claims contributed to the spike in malpractice premiums from 1999 to 2002. It also found only weak evidence of a link between these premiums and the payments made by insurers.

The recent book by James Morone, Ph.D., (‘02) and David Blumenthal, M.D., M.P.P., (‘02) The Heart of Power: Health and Politics in the Oval Office, was reviewed by Robert Reich, former Secretary of Labor, in the New York Times (September 1, 2009). Reich described it as a “timely and insightful book that puts Barack Obama’s current quest for universal health insurance in historical context and gives new meaning to the audacity of hope.”

In the August 11, 2009 Associated Press article, “Neighbors Twitter, Blog to Keep Criminals at Bay,” Robert Sampson, Ph.D., (‘04) noted research showing that cohesive neighborhoods have lower crime rates. The article summarizes how communities across the country are using social media to help keep their neighborhoods safe.

An August 30, 2009 opinion article, “Face It, Medical Rationing’s A Harsh Reality,” published in the Times-Union (Albany, N.Y.), referenced Pricing Life, a book by Peter Ubel, M.D., (‘07) in which he describes how experts differ over whether rationing is necessarily equitable or inequitable and whether it is implicit or explicit. The book also describes experts’ disagreements over degrees of resource scarcity and need.

Physician Faculty Scholars

Ingrid Binswanger, M.D., M.P.H., current Physician Faculty Scholar and Clinical Scholar alumna, was selected to be a co-director of the Primary Care Research Fellowship at the University of Colorado, Denver.

John Choe, M.D., M.P.H., current Physician Faculty Scholar and past Clinical Scholar (‘02), was quoted in the July 25, 2009 Northwest Asian Weekly article, “Vietnamese Doctor in Dire Need of More Asian Bone Marrow Donors.” Choe observes that Asian donors are highly underrepresented, and claims that lack of education and awareness of the issue within the Asian community are largely to blame. He discusses the importance of finding similar tissue-donor types in the successful treatment of leukemia, lymphoma and other blood disorders.

Louise Davies, M.D., M.S., current Physician Faculty Scholar, past Clinical Scholar (‘05) and a researcher at the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in White River Junction, Vt., was quoted in the August 17, 2009 USA Today about the increase in the number of patients diagnosed with thyroid cancer each year. In the article, “Rise In Thyroid Cancer May Be Tied to Radiation,” Davies claims that some patients undergo unneeded biopsies, thyroid removal surgeries and radiation. She says that researchers need to learn which small thyroid cancers could safely be left untreated.

A study by Ruchi Gupta, M.D., M.P.H., was the basis for an article in the Tennessee Tribune (Nashville) (August 13–19, 2009) on public misperceptions about food allergies. Gupta, assistant professor of pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, was quoted: “The public’s food allergy knowledge and awareness is critical to the safety of children with food allergies, especially since 76 percent of food allergy-related deaths follow consumption of foods outside of the home.” Among the study’s findings: more than two-thirds of U.S. adults mistakenly believe that daily medicine can be taken to prevent a food allergy reaction and more than 40 percent wrongly said that life-threatening allergic reactions could be prevented through means other than strict allergen avoidance.