Department of Family and Preventive Medicine News
2024: Volume 7, issue 2
55 Words from the Chair
So much to celebrate in this newsletter, including new positions and continuing education by some of our learners and staff, plus an impressive list of publications! I’m particularly happy to see all the collaborations blooming in our department. As always, our colleagues are excelling at service and education as well. Check it all out below!
Don't Miss Opportunities
April 9: Betty Rose Connell Memorial Lecture
5:30 pm: Reception
6:30 pm: Lecture
The 14th Annual Bettye Rose Connell Memorial Lecture features Steven L. Wolf, PhD, PT, FAPTA, FAHA, Professor Emeritus of Emory's Department of Rehabilitation Medicine. Dr. Wolf will speak on "Painting a Bett-r Rose-y Picture: Don't "fall" for substitutes: "Know" your surroundings!"
15th Annual Faculty Education, Enrichment, and Development (FEED) Conference:
April 12, 2024, 8 am-noon
via Zoom
Learn about Emory's commitment to AI and how to utilize it in various settings. The agenda includes AI-focused sessions ranging from an overview of AI and resources at Emory to applications for teaching and research. Also, learn about how AI can make you more efficient! More details, agenda, and registration are available here.
GA CTSA 10th Annual Health Services Research Day: May 7, 2024, 8 am - 3 pm
Rollins School of Public Health Auditorium
The Georgia CTSA and Emory Health Services Research Center are pleased to present the 10th annual Health Services Research Day - a symposium and networking opportunity where researchers learn about ongoing quality, effectiveness, and value-based research activities across the state of Georgia.
DOM Health Equity Day
Tuesday, May 21
RYSE and the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Council invite you to participate in DOM Health Equity Day on Tuesday, May 21, 2024, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. All SOM faculty and staff are welcome to attend. This annual half-day conference aims to raise awareness and encourage action around the systemic inequities that exist
across racial, ethnic, cultural, and social groups. The event is also a major part of Emory’s Diversity and Inclusion Week and recognizes interventions and research centered on health equity across the entire school of medicine.
The theme of this year's Health Equity Day is Empowering Emerging Voices.
Good News!
Transformative Research
In late January, Drs. Leslie Johnson, Mo Ali, and Saria Hassan (General Internal Medicine) traveled to Nairobi, Kenya to participate in the launch of the Enhanced BReast and cErvical cAncer screening in Kenya THROUGH implementation science research and training center (The
BREAKTHROUGH Center). The meeting brought together local and national leaders in healthcare, policy, and practice at the intersection of cancer control, women’s health, and HIV care in Kenya. Dr. Ali serves as a center MPI, Dr. Hassan provides leadership to the training core, and Dr. Leslie Johnson leads one of the two R01-equivalent research studies facilitated through the center that seeks to address gaps in cervical cancer screening and treatment in primary care settings in Kenya.
Pictured above: the whole study team and stakeholders who attended the launch.
Collaborative Faculty Publications
Dr. Sara Turbow and Dr. Mo Ali published Impact of electronic information exchange on repeat imaging during 30-day readmissions among Medicare beneficiaries.
Dr. Emily Pinto Taylor and Dr. Ted Johnson published "Call 911 - That's my [Advance Care] Plan": Factors that Inform Advance Care Planning Conversation Readiness Among Aging Persons Living With HIV.
Dr. Jane Lowers and Dr. Dio Kavalieratos published Proactive care-seeking strategies among adults aging solo with early dementia: A qualitative study.
Dr. Leslie Johnson and Dr. Mo Ali published Association of collaborative care intervention features with depression and metabolic outcomes in the INDEPENDENT study: A mixed methods study.
Dr. Susana Alfonso and Dr. Miranda Moore published Identifying Barriers to Precepting Health Professions Learners During the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Dr. Mo Ali and Dr. Rosette Chakkalakal published Body mass index changes and their association with SARS-CoV-2 infection: a real-world analysis.
Dr. Dominique Monroe and Dr. Miranda Moore published Effect of the Emory Healthy Kitchen Collaborative on Employee Health Habits and Body Weight: A 12-Month Workplace Wellness Trial.
Dr. Oguchi Nwosu and Dr. Sophie Lin (FM resident) published Osseous Metastases in HIV Patient with Kaposi Sarcoma.
Dr. Sathish Thirunavukkarasu and Dr. Mo Ali published Low-calorie diets for people with isolated impaired fasting glucose.
Dr. Jane Lowers, Dr. Alexandre Cammarata-Mouchtouris, and Dr. Dio Kavalieratos published Symptoms and quality of life in adults with cystic fibrosis: A cross-sectional analysis of the InSPIRe:CF trial.
Featured articles
The Specialty of Public Health and General Preventive Medicine to Modernize the Public Health Workforce by Dr. Sara Turbow and Dr. Richard Goodman. This editorial addresses the medical specialty of Public Health / General Preventive Medicine (PHGPM) and the unique role of PHGPM-trained physicians in helping to fill a critical gap in the U.S. public health and population health workforce. The editorial appears in the March issue of AJPH as an “Editor’s Choice.”
Facing Dementia: Clarifying End-of-Life Choices, Supporting Better Lives by Dr. Jane Lowers. This report offers health care professionals and professional societies a framework for discussion, debate, and deliberation about issues not fully covered by existing guidance on decision-making concerning medical treatments and technologies for other age-associated conditions. The report also speaks to the choices an aging society makes, through health and social policy, that support or undermine the experience of living with dementia. Its recommendations – for policymakers, research funders, and others – include how to reduce the financial hardships and social isolation associated with this diagnosis.
Dr. Leslie Johnson was spotlighted in an Emory News article about vaccines and pregnancy. Her article "I was having an internal conflict with myself." COVID-19 vaccination decision-making processes among pregnant women" was linked and highlighted in the story.
Individual Faculty Publications
Dr. Mo Ali
Low-calorie diets for people with isolated impaired fasting glucose.
Natural History of Type 2 Diabetes in Indians: Time to Progression.
Dr. Leslie Johnson
Dr. Ted Johnson
Dr. Dio Kavalieratos
Palliative Care Across the Spectrum of Heart Failure.
Dr. Ambar Kulshreshtha
Contribution of Peripheral Microvascular Dysfunction to Mild Cognitive Impairment.
Dr. Tammie Quest
Engaging Mortality: Effective Implementation of Dignity Therapy.
Dr. Sathish Thirunavukkarasu
Health trends in Canada 1990-2019: An analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study.
Educational Investments for our future
Welcome to the Family Medicine Residency
Class of 2027!
Pictured above left: The FM residents learned acupuncture techniques from Ana Maria Villanueva. Ms. Villanueva is licensed in Oriental Medicine and explained the benefits of auricular acupuncture and how to integrate acupuncture into holistic patient care. Dr. Fazal (pictured) is one of the residents who had a chance to demonstrate the outer ear mapping to target the areas related to stress and help with improved relaxation.
Pictured above right: Dr. Obioma and the residents had the opportunity to work with the cardiology fellows to practice cardiac point of care ultrasound (POCUS) in didactics. The residents have access to portable ultrasounds to use in clinic and can use their didactics time to advance their education in the field of POCUS.
FM Residency in Ethiopia
Dr. Eden Woubshet and Dr. Oguchi Nwosu travelled to Ethiopia in January for the Global Health Residency Scholars Program. At Addis Ababa University School of Medicine and the Black Lion Hospital, Dr. Woubshet a 4-week elective rotation, supervised by Dr. Nwosu.
Pictured below, clockwise, starting from top left: Dr. Woubshet with some of the Addis Ababa Family Medicine residents, Dr. Nwosu with cervical cancer research collaborators, and Dr. Nwosu opening two cancer care health centers with Ethiopian ministry of health officials.
Service for our future
Palliative Care Center wins Tipping Point Challenge
Emory Palliative Care Center has been named a winner in the Clinical Training category of the Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC) Tipping Point Challenge! As a Center, Emory team members and learners have for completed an exemplary number of CAPC courses, enhancing their clinical skills essential to improving the care of people living with a serious illness.
The goals of CAPC’s third John A. Hartford Foundation Tipping Point Challenge are twofold: 1) to increase the number of specialties and disciplines enhancing their clinical skills, and 2) to catalyze innovation that will make positive, breakthrough change in the care of serious illness.
