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July 2024

  • Dr. Rolando Rumbaut, Professor, Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine, and Dr. Natalie Hundt, IQuEST Scholar and Associate Professor in Department of Psychiatry, were awarded a Summer Research Program training grant. This Promoting a Diverse VA Research Workforce along the Translational Research Continuum Award supports six to eight undergraduates from underrepresented groups per year for summer research rotations. It is a five-year collaboration between IQuESt and CTRID.
  • Dr. Sankar Navaneethan, professor of medicine – nephrology, was appointed by the National Institutes of Health as chair of the Kidney Endocrine and Digestive Disease Study Section for a two-year term beginning July 1. This section reviews study applications that address determinants, predictors and biomarkers of diseases and conditions related to the kidney, endocrine, urological and digestive systems from a population health perspective.

June 2024

  • Dr. Hardeep Singh, professor, Health Services Research and the Center for Innovations in Quality, Effectiveness and Safety (IQuESt), and his collaborators from the Federal Health Systems Learning Network for Climate Action were awarded the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Green Champions Award on June 17 for their work on measuring and reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the federal healthcare system.
  • Dr. Fasiha Kanwal, Gastroenterology and Hepatology was listed as a 2024 Top Scientist from Research.com.
  • Dr. Sankar Navaneethan, Professor, Nephrology, was invited to serve on the American Diabetes Association and Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes – CKD Prevention in Diabetes Consensus Report Technical Expert Panel.
  • Dr. Trenton Haltom, Research Associate, Health Services Research, was featured in Healio on June 20. 
  • Dr. Arash Maghsoudi, Data Scientist, Health Services Research, was featured in Healio on June 17.
  • Dr. Vivian Ho, Professor, Health Services Research, was featured in Houston Public Media on June 14.

May 2024

  • Dr. Fasiha Kanwal, Professor and Section Chief, Gastroenterology and Hepatology, was featured in Healio on May 20.
  • Dr. Natalia Khalaf, Assistant Professor, Gastroenterology and Hepatology and the Center for Innovations in Quality, Effectiveness and Safety (IQuESt), was one of 11 individuals selected for the 2024-2025 National Academy of Medicine Scholars in Diagnostic Excellence program. Funded by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, this one-year program in partnership with the Council of Medical Specialty Societies is designed to develop national leaders and enhance skills and knowledge related to diagnostic safety, quality, and equity. Her program proposal is entitled “Implementing Digital Quality Measures Into Learning Health Systems for Diagnostic Excellence in Cancer Care”.
  • Dr. Grace Lo, Associate Professor, Immunology, Allergy, and Rheumatology, was featured in NPR on May 20. 
  • On May 15 - 18, members of the Section of Nephrology presented at the National Kidney Foundation Annual Spring Clinical Meeting in Long Beach, CA. Below is the list of presenters:
    • Dr. Sankar Navaneethan co-chaired the Program Committee of this meeting. He moderated sessions during this time and participated in many panel discussions.
    • Dr. Sehrish Ali, Dr. L. Parker Gregg, Dr. Maulin Shah, Dr. Chima Constantine, and Neha Siddiqui all presented posters during the meeting.
  • Dr. Grace Lo, was also featured in U.S. News & World Report on May 15.
  • Dr. Vivian Ho, Professor, Health Services Research, was featured in KPRC on May 14. 
  • Dr. Grace Lo, Associate Professor, Immunology, Allergy, and Rheumatology, was featured in BCM News on May 13.
  • On May 9, Dr. Nipa Kamdar, Assistant Professor, Health Services Research, Dr. Katie Bay, Epidemiologist, Health Services Research, and Melissa Knox, Health Science Specialist, Health Services Research, represented IQuEST at the 2024 MEDVAMC Nurse’s Week Research event. Below are the titles of their presentations:
    • Dr. Kamdar - “Designing veteran-centered strategies to reduce and prevent food insecurity: A veteran and community-partnered approach”
    • Dr. Bay - “Rural VA Hospitals Experience Lower Inpatient Direct-Care Registered Nurse Retention”
    • Melissa Knox - “More Patients, More Medications, More Time: Using Medication Pass Analysis to Examine Longitudinal Changes in Inpatient Nurse Staffing and Workload from 2019-2022”
  • On May 2, Dr. Sylvia Hysong, Professor, Health Services Research, presented for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) as part of an AHRQ-hosted webinar entitled Research Methods for Studying the Primary Care Workforce. The title of her talk was “Impact of Team Configuration and Team Stability on Primary Care Quality.” This webinar featured three grantees who have developed methodologies to understand the optimal structure and composition of primary care teams, and measure the impacts of adding nurse practitioners into primary care.
  • Dr. L. Parker Gregg, Assistant Professor, Nephrology, was an invited guest editor for a special section of American Society of Nephrology Kidney News about mental health in patients with kidney disease. This was in honor of Mental Health Awareness Month. The issue can be found here, pages 15 - 24.

April 2024

  • Dr. Hardeep Singh, Professor, Health Services Research, was featured in NBC News on April 22 for the article: Women are less likely to die when treated by female doctors, study suggests.
  • On April 11, Dr. Kevin Erickson, Associate Professor, Nephrology, was invited to present at Albert Einstein/Montefiore College of Medicine’s Nephrology Grand Rounds. The title of his talk was, “Economic Considerations of Individualizing Hemodialysis.”
  • Dr. Mark Kunik won the inaugural Volunteer of the Year Award at the annual award luncheon of the Houston & Southeast Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association. Moving forward, the award will be named after Dr. Kunik. Congratulations on this very deserved honor!
  • Dr. Darius Dawson has been selected as an Anxiety & Depression Association of America (ADAA) 2024 Emerging Leader awardee. This award honors early career professional members for outstanding service and commitment to advancing ADAA’s professional and/or public mission. Dr. Dawson was recognized earlier this month at the ADAA 2024 in-person conference in Boston.
  • Dr. Bhavika Kaul, pulmonologist and assistant professor of medicine – health services research, was selected to attend the 2024 National Academy of Medicine’s Emerging Leaders Forum in April in Washington, D.C. The invitation-only forum is an annual assembly of outstanding early and mid-career professionals with exceptional professional promise, achievement and leadership in biomedical science and healthcare. Kaul attended as a National Academy of Medicine Scholar in Diagnostic Excellence for her work leveraging radiomics and AI to optimize access to care for veterans with pulmonary fibrosis. She also is an investigator at the Center for Innovation in Quality, Effectiveness and Safety at the DeBakey VA.

March 2024

February 2024

January 2024

December 2023

November 2023

  • Dr. Hardeep Singh, Professor, Health Services Research, and Co-Chief of the Health Policy, Quality, and Informatics Program at the Center for Innovations in Quality, Effectiveness and Safety (IQuESt), was awarded the Mark L. Graber Diagnostic Quality Award by the Society to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine in recognition of his impact and lifetime achievement in the field of diagnostic quality and safety. This award is presented to individuals, organizations, or groups in the fields of research, education, patient engagement, practice improvement, and policy who have made significant contributions to reducing diagnostic error.
  • Dr. Andrew Zimolzak, Assistant Professor, Health Services Research and IQuESt, was awarded Best Oral Abstract Presentation at the Society to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine 2023 Conference, for his presentation entitled “Machine Learning for Enhanced Electronic Trigger Detection of Diagnostic Errors.” This annual, international conference brings together top researchers and advocates in the field of diagnostic excellence.

October 2023

  • Dr. Katie Kanzler, Associate Professor, Health Services Research, was nominated as a Wingspread Honoree in the Collaborative Family Healthcare Association (CFHA) for her contributions to the field of integrated care. This honor is bestowed upon leaders in integrated care who have positively impacted the lives of their students, mentees, or colleagues through their work. Dr. Kanzler will be recognized at CFHA’s awards ceremony at their conference in Phoenix, AZ later this month. 
  • Department of Medicine Administration Team hosted the inaugural Department of Medicine Staff Awards Ceremony to recognize our incredible staff teammates. Tracey Rosen, Health Services Research, was awarded the Top Teammate Award. 
  • Dr. Barbara Trautner, Professor, Infectious Disease & Health Services Research, was featured in Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality on October 10 for the article: Reducing Harms from Unsafe Use of Antibiotics and Preventing the Spread of Antibiotic Resistance
  • The Vice-Chair Group for Faculty and Staff Development received 21 WISH grant applications. After external review by individuals outside of DOM and internal review by the VCG group, the following award winners were chosen for the Fall 2023 cycle: 
    • “Mindfulness in the Metaverse: Using virtual reality to promote wellness at IQuESt” Hillary Touchett; Health Services Research
    • “Building QI Collaborations and Community” Drs. Kyler Godwin, Molly Horstman, Neeraj Agarwal, Daniel Murphy, and Melissa Croft; Health Services Research

September 2023

  • Dr. Kathryn Kanzler, Associate Professor, Health Services Research, received an Innovative Clinical or Translational Science Award from the American Diabetes Association for her project entitled, “Supporting Access for Latinx Underserved in Diabetes Management (SALUD-M): An Equity-Driven Randomized Controlled Trial of Acceptance Based Coping Skills for Latinx Military Patients with T2DM.” (Funding amount: $599,473, Funding Period: 3 years)
  • On Sept. 7, the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology released its findings on patient safety in a report to President Joe Biden, titled “A Transformational Effort on Patient Safety.”  The report outlines recommendations to advance the nation’s commitment to supporting robust safety solutions for patients and the health care workforce. The report was informed by two publications by Dr. Hardeep Singh, Professor, Health Services Research, and Co-Chief of the Health Policy, Quality and Informatics Program at the Center for Innovations in Quality, Effectiveness and Safety (IQuESt). One of these publications was co-authored by Dr. Ashley Meyer, Assistant Professor, Health Services Research and IQuESt. Read the report.
  • Dr. Jessica Davila, Associate Professor, Health Services Research, was awarded the Norton Rose Fulbright Faculty Excellence Award for the Summer 2023 Cycle, (Educational Research) 
  • Dr. Hardeep Singh, Professor, Health Services Research, and Co-Chief of the Health Policy, Quality and Informatics Program at IQuESt, was selected to serve on the National Quality Forum Diagnostic Excellence Committee. The distinguished individuals who were chosen represent a diverse range of expertise and experience in healthcare. The Committee will help NQF identify data elements to prioritize for interoperability, identify solutions to measurement challenges related to diagnostic excellence, and develop a 'call to action' to foster adoption of diagnostic excellence measurement.
  • Dr. Hardeep Singh, Professor, Health Services Research, and Co-Chief of the Health Policy, Quality and Informatics Program at IQuESt, was featured in The Wall Street Journal on Sept. 24 for the article: Can AI Help Doctors Come Up With Better Diagnoses?
  • Dr. Drew Helmer, Professor, Health Services Research, and Sarah Ahmed, Research Health Science Specialist, were featured in American Heart Association on Sept. 29 for the article: Gulf War illness may increase risk for heart disease or stroke

August 2023

  • Dr. Barbara W. Trautner, Professor, Health Services Research, received funding from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The title of their study is, “A Randomized Controlled Trial of a Diagnostic Stewardship Intervention.” They will be studying how to prevent contamination of urine culture specimens in Harris Health and Baylor primary care clinics. (Total Funding $2.3 million, Funding Period: 5 years) 

July 2023

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Press Releases

Researchers call for mandatory emissions reporting from U.S. healthcare organizations -
Dr. Traber Giardina selected as National Academy of Medicine scholar -
Patient Priorities Care provides easier care for older adults -
Grant from HRSA to establish Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program -
Study: patients need help understanding online test results -
Study shows link between Hepatitis C virus, multiple cancers -
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