Interdisciplinary Research Leaders Messenger
February 2019
Ezra Golberstein, IRL Associate Director of Research
As IRL has grown into its full capacity, I realize that it’s harder and harder for me to get to know all of you personally. My role in IRL is the Associate Director for Research. My other professional role is as an Associate Professor in the Division of Health Policy and Management here at the University of Minnesota. I’m a health economist and health policy researcher, and work on a bunch of things including mental health services, Medicaid, and non-medical determinants of health. I teach a course about the U.S. healthcare system and a seminar on applied econometrics and research design. In other words, I’m an all-out academic nerd who is obsessed with “evidence.”
What challenges me right now is how to think about what evidence is actually needed by the populations and communities that I care deeply about and what, if anything, I can do to contribute. When we were originally planning what IRL might look like, I was drawn to the opportunity to help teams do the best possible research they could in partnership with communities. The unexpected treat for me is how incredibly much I have learned about doing science with and for communities, and how an equity and action framework enhances my own thinking and work. I’m delighted to be on this journey with all of you, who I’m always learning from!
Ezra Golberstein, PhD is an Associate Professor of Health Policy and Management in the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. His research areas focus around health economics, mental health services and policy, nonmedical determinants of health, and health care financing and costs.
Cohort Webinars + Deadlines
Cohort specific calendars, updated regularly to keep track of IRL webinars, milestones, meeting dates and curriculum deadlines. Email IRL staff at researchleaders@umn.edu with questions.
Cohort 1- Webinars and Deadlines
Cohort 2- Webinars and Deadlines
Cohort 3- Webinars and Deadlines
- Have you come completed your profile on NovoED? Remember your login is your primary email and you can reset the password yourself at any time.
- Are looking for a way to have discussions with all of the IRL fellows? By posting in the IRL social space you can have cross cohort conversation or send any fellow in the IRL program a direct message.
- Need to catch up on missed webinars? Webinar recordings are posted on NovoED one week after the live webinar.
Health Affairs Blog of interest to IRL Fellows.
Written by Katy Kozhimannil (IRL Cohort 1 Fellow), Elaine Hernandez, Dara D. Mendez and Theresa Chapple-McGruder
Beyond The Preventing Maternal Deaths Act: Implementation And Further Policy Change
Maternal mortality is a death that occurs during pregnancy or within one year postpartum from “a pregnancy complication, a chain of events initiated by pregnancy, or the aggravation of an unrelated condition by the physiologic effects of pregnancy.” In the United States, maternal mortality is a clinical, public health, and social crisis. Between 1990 and 2013, maternal mortality nearly doubled in the US, while it declined elsewhere across the globe. The United States stands shamefully alone, and it is getting ever more deadly to give birth in the US. Statistics also show pernicious inequities in maternal and child health, with black women and infants being more likely than whites to die around the time of childbirth. Compared to families living in urban areas, rural women face greater risks in childbirth, and their infants are less likely to survive to celebrate their first birthday
Despite these trends, the United States has only recently joined the rest of the developed world in establishing an infrastructure for systematically assessing maternal deaths. On December 21, 2018, the Preventing Maternal Deaths Act (HR 1318) was signed into law. This legislation sets up a federal infrastructure and allocates resources to collect and analyze data on every maternal death, in every state in the nation. The bill is intended to establish and support existing maternal mortality review committees (MMRCs) in states and tribal nations across the country through federal funding and reporting of standardized data.
The lives of women across this nation depend on the success of this legislation, including thoughtful implementation, consistent with the law’s intent, as well as additional policy change to support the law in reaching its goals.
Supporting the Whole Learner in Every School
February 5, 2019 RWJF Culture of Health Blog Posted by Jennifer Ng'andu
Social emotional development is key to every child’s education and paves a path to life-long health. A new report shares specific recommendations for research, practice and policy to promote all students’ social, emotional and academic development.
Dr. James Comer is a pioneer. Decades before the science of learning and development caught up to him, he understood that all children need well-rounded developmental experiences in order to seize opportunities in life. His parents hailed from the deeply segregated South, but they helped him thrive in the era of Jim Crow, investing in his social and emotional well-being and providing safe, supportive, nurturing and demanding educational experiences.
Through that lived experience and Dr. Comer’s work as a physician and child psychiatrist, he understood that one of the most important ways to support children was to focus on where they spend a substantial part of their day: schools. He also understood that many children did not have opportunities to benefit from an environment that supported their well-being and their ability to have a full learning experience. He set out to change this through a remarkable model that has earned him the moniker “the godfather of social and emotional learning.”
Research Leaders Publications, Media and News
Announcement: IRL is an institutional member of IAPHS, the Interdisciplinary Association for Population Health Science, a forum that connects population health scientists across disciplines and sectors to improve population health and reduce health inequity. In addition to hosting an annual conference in Settle, Washington, October 1-4, 2019 (that many IRL fellows attend) they have a blog, a mentoring program, resources, and awards programs. Each of you can get a 20% discount on membership by using the code 19RWJF20. It's a great way to continue our connections during and beyond the IRL program and we encourage you to join. The theme for the 2019 Conference is “Local, national, global impacts on population health” and conference Registration opens on April 1, 2019. IAPHS is accepting submissions for both panel presentations and abstract presentations due March 11, 2019, and award nominations due March 22, 2019. [Shared by Sarah Gollust]
Announcement: The Interdisciplinary Association for Population Health Science announces its first pre-conference workshop: Traversing Divides: Interdisciplinary Research in Population Health and Health Disparities. This one-day workshop will provide an orientation to the value of interdisciplinary collaboration, challenges inherent in interdisciplinary work, and skills and resources that facilitate interdisciplinary success in population health science. Workshop participants will engage with leading population health and interdisciplinary scholars in interactive group exercises and case studies with a focus on the combining the knowledge, theory, and methods of diverse fields to understand and address health disparities. [Shared by Michael Oakes]
- Open Position: Associate Dean of Research at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health [Shared by Brianna Woods-Jaeger]
- Open Position: Center for Prisoner Health and Human Rights (CPHHR), Executive Director
- Open Position: Associate Dean for Public Health and Community Engagement at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health (Tenure Track or CHS Track) [Shared by Sarah Gollust]
Health Affairs requests article submissions for their Culture Of Health Article Clusters [Shared by Sarah Gollust]
“I Would Say It’s Almost Like a Crime Against, You Know, the Soul”: Building a Culture of Health in Low-Income Housing Communities Through Addressing Childhood Trauma [Irán Barrera, Sabrina Kelley & Yumiko Aratani]
Health Effects After Renovation (HEAR) Study: Community-Engaged Inquiry Into the Health and Social Impacts of the Rental Assistance Demonstration Program Implementation in San Francisco [Leslie Dubbin, Susan Neufeld, & Irene Yen]
Resolutions: Ameena Batada intends to disrupt bias in the new year [Ameena Batada]
Questions and answers about managed care [Kelli Caseman]
Pride Center Hires Community Empowerment Coordinator [Robert Salcido]
2019 Women’s March draws hundreds [Erin Garner-Ford]
Local LGBTQ, AIDS nonprofit leaders weigh in on president's plan to eradicate HIV in US by 2030 [Robert Salcido]
Arizona considers calling porn a public health crisis [Emily Rothman]
Pharmacists Can Now Prescribe Birth Control, But Few Do [Erin Garner-Ford, Anu Gomez, Sally Rafie]
Helping High Risk Teenage Girls [Kathi Elliott]
Local leaders tackle health impacts of structural racism [Ameena Batada, Jill Fromewick, JeWana Grier-McEachin]
House Finance advances Medicaid work requirement bill [Simon Haeder]
Report names banks that ‘created and profited’ from Puerto Rico debt [Julio López Varona]
A Brief, Shameful History of Childcare in the United States [Taryn Morrissey]
Three years into soda tax, sugary drink consumption down more than 50 percent in Berkeley [Kristine Madsen]
The Soda Tax Appears to Work [Kristine Madsen]
New study suggests soda taxes are effective in curbing consumption [Kristine Madsen]
Send updates for the next Messenger
If you have work being published or posted, send word to Stacy Kiven (kiven014@umn.edu), IRL Research and Communications Intern. Doing so will allow us to post the news to IRL social media and the next Messenger to raise the visibility your great work!
@IRLeaders on Social Media
A few moments captured on @IRLeaders social media this month.
Connect with the rest of your @RWJF change leadership network on social media: Clinical Scholars = teams of clinicians addressing complex health problems in their communities; Health Policy Research Scholars = investing in scholars from all disciplines as future leaders in shaping policy to support health and equity; and Culture of Health Leaders = supporting individuals from all sectors with good ideas to move communities toward a Culture of Health.
Interdisciplinary Research Leaders is a program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation administered by the University of Minnesota
 |  |  |  |
Minneapolis, Minnesota