News from
Family & Preventive Medicine

June 2021

Just 55 Words: 

Wellness Corner

De-stress and live longer with a pet!

Is your home one of the millions to add a pandemic pet to the family? Did you know that by some estimates, dog owners have a 24% risk reduction in all-cause mortality (study) and that even short interactions with your dog can improve biomarkers of stress and anxiety (review of research)? You can meet some of our department's pandemic pets below.

If you’re considering adopting a new best friend, here are some good shelters to try:

• Dekalb County Animal Services
• Paws Atlanta
• Furkids Animal Rescue and Shelters
• Lifeline Animal Project

Pictured above: Glimmer, available from Lifeline, out for a ride with a Lifeline volunteer. "She's a little bit sassy, a little bit sweet, and a whole lot of special! Funny, mellow, low-key, smart, curious. Housetrained, crate trained, treat motivated. Did we mention seriously cute? Those are just a few of the great things we've seen! Glimmer enjoys leisurely walks followed by a good snooze on the couch." $20 adoptions on dogs 20 lbs. and over at Lifeline through June 13.  

Transformative Research

New department faculty members
Leslie Johnson, MPH, PhD and
Jane Lowers, PhD, MPA

Dr. Johnson’s primary research interests focus on implementation science and health service research as it relates to chronic disease management. She has worked with two multi-institutional randomized controlled trials seeking to evaluate the effectiveness of depression prevention and treatment interventions in populations with co-morbid chronic conditions (epilepsy and diabetes). Currently, Dr. Johnson is leading the formative research phase of an NHLBI-funded study to integrate diabetes, hypertension and HIV care in South Africa, in addition to conducting research on how to close COVID-19 testing gaps in high-risk communities in Georgia. She will continue to build upon her previous research with work focused on testing implementation strategies to integrate proven health interventions and practices into clinical settings.  

 Dr. Lowers then earned a Ph.D. in Palliative Care from Lancaster University, where her qualitative dissertation explored the experiences of caregivers assisting people who voluntarily stopped eating and drinking when they felt they had no other options for dying on their terms. Jane now continues her passion for conducting stakeholder-engaged research with another underappreciated population – people with serious illness lacking caregivers.

Research News

Congratulations to the new Emory Palliative Care Faculty Scholars! 

The Faculty Scholars Program, sponsored by the Emory Palliative Care Center, provides an opportunity for palliative care clinicians to rigorously study gaps in the palliative care evidence base while growing as clinician-scientists themselves. Scholars receive pilot funding and individualized mentorship in research methodology to carry out a project that will improve the quality, equity, and impact of palliative care for people living with serious illness, while also encouraging the career development of Emory palliative care faculty regarding research and scholarship. The competitive Faculty Scholars Program is made possible by the generous support of the Fraser-Parker Foundation.
 

McLean Ellis, MD: Describing Specialty Perinatal Palliative Care in Neonatal Intensive Care Units in Georgia: First Steps to Filling an Unmet Need.

Dr. Ellis will conduct a survey of Level II or III NICUs throughout the state of Georgia to identify whether and how often NICU teams access specialty-level palliative care. Through follow-up qualitative interviews, she will characterize barriers to access to palliative care and opportunities to strengthen local perinatal/palliative connections. This statewide project will inform future work to strengthen perinatal palliative care across Georgia and the USA. Co-Investigators: Tammie Quest, MD; Jane Lowers, Ph.D.; Patricia Denning, MD; Jasmine Williams, MD; Dio Kavalieratos, Ph.D.
 

Ali John Zarrabi, MD: Identifying the Prevalence and Relationship of Pain, Opioid Use, and Psychological Trauma among People Referred to Specialty Palliative Care.

Dr. Zarrabi’s study focuses on identifying underlying symptoms of PTSD, chronic pain, opioid dependence, and existential distress in people receiving outpatient palliative care, and how these factors influence care needs. Dr. Zarrabi and colleagues will survey clinic patients to assess symptom prevalence. They will interview a subset of 10 patients and their referring clinicians to explore patient perceptions of how these symptoms affect patients’ health care experiences and goals for and barriers to palliative care. Results of the study can inform the development of new models of palliative care delivery to address trauma and existential suffering. Co-Investigators: Kimberly Curseen, MD; Meredith Maxwell, MD; Barbara Rothbaum, Ph.D.; Joshua Gray, Ph.D.; Dio Kavalieratos, Ph.D.

Find out more HERE.

Featured Researcher

What is your professional background?

I am board certified in Public Health and General Preventive Medicine, having completed both my Preventive Medicine specialty training and MPH in Epidemiology at Emory.  After residency, I completed a two-year fellowship in quality improvement at the Atlanta VA Health Care System. Clinically, my general practice focuses largely on clinical preventive services, chronic disease management, and Lifestyle Medicine. I am also a Medical Corps Officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve.

In what division do you work and who is your mentor?

I work in the Division of Preventive Medicine as one of the co-Associate Program Directors for the Preventive Medicine Residency Program. My mentor is Dr. Richard Goodman, the Program Director.

Briefly describe your research. Why is it important?

I have fairly broad interests in the field of Preventive Medicine which include infectious disease outbreaks, healthcare quality improvement, implementation, and Lifestyle Medicine. Much of my work during my QI fellowship at the Atlanta VA focused on implementing, disseminating, and evaluating the Whole Health System - a Veteran-centric model of care that employs Complementary and Integrative Medicine modalities as part of a holistic approach to treating Veterans through clinical services, counseling, education, and care planning. At the time, there was not an evaluation and research infrastructure to fully inform the implementation of this complex intervention at the Atlanta VA.

What do you like most about Emory?

I have been fortunate to be a part of an organization that facilitates and celebrates cross-cutting collaboration across disciplines, schools, departments, and institutions. 

What do you like to do in your spare time?

I love serving with the Marines in my unit as a Medical Officer in the Navy, taking the skills I employ at Emory to the field in austere environments. I also love exploring Atlanta and hiking in the north Georgia mountains. When not outdoors, I like to cook, exercise, and brew beer at home.

What is a fun fact about you?

Before pursuing my current career in Preventive Medicine, I completed a little over two years of general surgery training in the northeast U.S. Seeing the sequelae of chronic, preventable disease as a surgery resident helped shape my desire to make meaningful impacts on both individuals and populations by becoming board certified in Public Health and General Preventive Medicine.

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Highlighted Opportunities

Webinar: Best Practices for Getting Research Funded

Friday, June 18, 2021, 12 - 1 pm

Emory at Grady Professional Development Lecture Series

Presented by Ihab Hajjar, MD.

Register here.

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Highlighted Research Resources

NEW NIH RePORTER

If you haven't checked out the new NIH RePORTER, head over to https://reporter.nih.gov/. You can search by PI name, project numbers, fiscal year, and agency, view active funding by state or institute/center, find potential Program Officials, ICs, and review panels for your research, and find publications associated with extramural or intramural funded projects using PubMedIDs or PMC IDs. 

Access to SOM Qualtrics

Looking for access to the School of Medicine's Qualtrics account? Click the button below to sign in with your Emory NetID and password.

VISIT QUALTRICS

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Recent Publications

A Community Health Worker-Led Intervention to Improve Blood Pressure Control in an Immigrant Community With Comorbid Diabetes: Data From Two Randomized, Controlled Trials Conducted in 2011-2019. Beasley JM, Shah M, Wyatt LC, Zanowiak J, Trinh-Shevrin C, Islam NS. Am J Public Health. 2021 Jun;111(6):1040-1044. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2021.306216. PMID: 33950735

 Are the PHQ-9 and GAD-7 Suitable for Use in India? A Psychometric Analysis. De Man, J., Absetz, P., Sathish, T., Desloge, A. Haregu, T., Oldenburg, B., Johnson, L., Thankappan, K.R., & Williams, E. (2021). Frontiers in Psychology: Quantitative Psychology and Measurement. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.676398

Association between interhospital care fragmentation, readmission diagnosis, and outcomes. Turbow S, Sudharsanan N, Rask KJ, Ali MK. Am J Manag Care. 2021 May 1;27(5):e164-e170. doi: 10.37765/ajmc.2021.88639. PMID: 34002968

Cost-effectiveness of Interventions to Manage Diabetes: Has the Evidence Changed Since 2008? Siegel KR, Ali MK, Zhou X, Ng BP, Jawanda S, Proia K, Zhang X, Gregg EW, Albright AL, Zhang P. Diabetes Care. 2020 Jul;43(7):1557-1592. doi: 10.2337/dci20-0017. PMID: 33534729

Exposure to Particulate Matter Is Associated With Elevated Blood Pressure and Incident Hypertension in Urban India. Prabhakaran D, Mandal S, Krishna B, Magsumbol M, Singh K, Tandon N, Narayan KMV, Shivashankar R, Kondal D, Ali MK, Srinath Reddy K, Schwartz JD; GeoHealth Hub Study investigators, COE-CARRS Study investigators. Hypertension. 2020 Oct;76(4):1289-1298. doi: 10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.120.15373. Epub 2020 Aug 17. PMID: 32816598

​The Intersection of HIV, Diabetes, and Race: Exploring Disparities in Diabetes Care among People Living with HIV. Galaviz KI, Varughese R, Agan BK, Marconi VC, Chu X, Won SH, Ganesan A, Ali MK, Colasanti J. J Int Assoc Provid AIDS Care. 2020 Jan-Dec;19:2325958220904241. doi: 10.1177/2325958220904241. PMID: 32162997 Free PMC article.

Letter to the Editor. Goodman RA, Miller LA. J Public Health Manag Pract. 2021 Jul-Aug 01;27(4):417. doi: 10.1097/PHH.0000000000001389. PMID: 34004626 No abstract available.

Prevalence of dyslipidaemia and factors associated with dyslipidaemia among South Asian adults: The Center for Cardiometabolic Risk Reduction in South Asia Cohort Study. Fatmi Z, Kondal D, Shivashankar R, Iqbal R, Khan AA, Mohan D, Pradeepa R, Gupta R, Ali MK, Ajay VS, Mohan V, Kadir MM, Venkat Narayan KM, Prabhakaran D, Tandon N. Natl Med J India. 2020 May-Jun;33(3):137-145. doi: 10.4103/0970-258X.314005. PMID: 33904416

Social Determinants and Military Veterans' Suicide Ideation and Attempt: a Cross-sectional Analysis of Electronic Health Record Data. Blosnich JR, Montgomery AE, Dichter ME, Gordon AJ, Kavalieratos D, Taylor L, Ketterer B, Bossarte RM. J Gen Intern Med. 2020 Jun;35(6):1759-1767. doi: 10.1007/s11606-019-05447-z. PMID: 31745856

Using a Post Fall Assessment Simulation to Examine Nurse Thought Processes. Allen L, Bulat T, Uphold CR, Johnson T 2nd, Winkler SL. J Nurses Prof Dev. 2020 Sep/Oct;36(5):266-270. doi: 10.1097/NND.0000000000000662. PMID: 32890180

Educational Investments for our future

FPM Faculty honored for SOM Educators Day

Our Department was well-represented on the list of honorees for Emory School of Medicine Educators Day. The faculty members listed below exemplify the outstanding faculty educators of the Emory School of Medicine and the accompanying quotes were taken from the nomination materials. The Divisions of Family Medicine, Palliative Medicine, and Preventive Medicine were all represented. You can find the full list of honorees HERE.

PA Student Team Wins 1st Place 
at iScan

The Society of Point of Care Ultrasound (SPOCUS), a national POCUS organization, hosted their annual [virtual] iScan competition on May 20, 2021 for 178 total participants representing 21 total schools across the United States (and one from Ireland)! The Emory team, made up of four 2021 students (Alex Millström, Sara Cork, Nafisah Paige, Tim Tynan) and one 2022 student (Jamie Shatz) had been preparing for this event over the past month. The team held several virtual meetings and POCUS practice sessions and the students even built their own individual study plans.

Their hard work paid off as our Emory team won FIRST PLACE in the competition for the SECOND time (first win was 2018). A huge shout out to our gifted first year, Jamie, as well. She took 3rd place out of 178 students, and these questions were TOUGH! (see below).

Please see the below photos from the competition and send your congrats to our (vaccinated) winners!

Podcast features Platt on Anemias

Department Graduation Ceremonies

Hospice & Palliative Care
Graduation Ceremony

Tuesday, June 6, 2021
6:30 pm

Being of Service

Congratulations to Dr. Dan Bell, winner of the Emory Saint Joseph's Award for Physician Excellence!

News from the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Council

Statement on the global pandemic:

“We want to take time to remember as we see improvements and reopening in this country, other parts of the world continue to struggle from the ravages of COVID-19 pandemic. We want to show support to our patients, staff, and colleagues who have family and friends in India who are living through a devastating outbreak. Our thoughts and hearts are with you through this troubling time.”

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"Must-read"

The New England Journal of Medicine published a great article by J. H. Lee this month on combatting anti-Asian sentiment in the clinic. You can read the full article HERE.

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Giving Voice: The Rest of His Story
with Dr. Marion Hood 

Thursday, June 17, 2021 
noon - 1 p.m.

In 1959, Dr. Marion G. Hood applied to Emory School of Medicine but was denied consideration for admission due to his race during a painful time of segregation in this country. Despite this obstacle, Dr. Hood went on to have a long and distinguished career in the field of gynecology and obstetrics.  

During our virtual celebration of Juneteenth, Emory School of Medicine will formally apologize to Dr. Hood and invite him to share the rest of his story with our SOM community. His message of tenacity and resilience in the quest to be a physician will inspire our students, faculty, and staff. 

Moderated by Carolyn Meltzer, MD, Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer, Emory University School of Medicine and Sheryl Heron, MD, MPH, Associate Dean for Community Engagement, Equity & Inclusion, Emory University School of Medicine.

Learn More > 

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DEI Council Spotlights:

Each month, the FPM DEI Council will spotlight a different staff member of the department.  This month, the council spotlights Ms. Khaliala Ward.

News from the
Faculty Development
Committee

Promotion Workshop Series

Just getting started on your promotion documents or planning to go up soon? Miss a session of this spring's 5-part series on promotion? Check out the videos below. In addition to Promotions and How to Attain One, this series includes CV, Teaching, and Service Portfolio Workshops that consist of didactic lectures and small group advice on how to build your promotion documents. The series ends with a Mock Faculty Committee on Appointment and Promotions (FCAP) Review Session that provides insight into how reviewers assess a packet and how reviews are conducted.

Promotions and How to Attain One - January 20, 2021 - Video
CV Building Workshop - January 25, 2021 - Video
Service Portfolio Workshop - February 23, 2021 - Video
Teaching Portfolio Workshop - March 30, 2021 - Video
Mock FCAP Review - May 4, 2021 - Video

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Summer Viewing from FAALI

The FAALI (Faculty Academic Advancement, Leadership, and Inclusion) Lecture Series, presented throughout the year by senior faculty within the School of Medicine, covers practical topics aimed at assisting faculty in their career development. Visit the faculty video library (Emory ID required to access) to view previously recorded lectures. 

2020 - 2021 FAALI Lecture Series topics

The Physical Exam Via Telehealth
The Community Resiliency Model: A Strengths-based Workshop to Promote Resiliency
Best Practices for Teaching During Teleheath Visits
Using REDCap to Manage Clinical Data
Race and Health Policy
Leading Through Challenging Times/Crises
Making Telehealth Financially Viable
How to Continue Global Research in the Era of Foreign Influence: Raising Awareness of the Unknown
Promotions and How to Attain One
Pandemic Disruption of the Healthcare Business Model
Time Management and Improving Efficiency
Inclusive Leadership - Getting Beyond the Numbers
Dealing with Generational Differences and Perceptions/Perspectives in Learners
Addressing Health Disparities Highlighted during COVID-19
Emory Integrated Computational Core
Tools for Active Learning on Zoom
Supporting Our Distressed Physicians

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Good News!

Dr. Dan Bell and family welcome son
Rowan Bell!

PA Faculty Karen Newell wins International Drumming Contest

Karen Newell is an Assistant Professor in the Physician Assistant Program. She also has been playing and teaching drums and percussion for most of her life. In addition to teaching marching drum lines and private lessons, she is known for her creative approach to music, which includes making and playing instruments out of common household items such as car mufflers, exhaust pipes, paint buckets, and trash cans. Karen also directs a "Stomp-like" percussion ensemble for women called The Les Prestines. Karen has been a Hit Like A Girl (International Drumming Contest for Women) weekly winner and finalist several times including placing 2nd in 2019 and 3rd in 2020 for the over-40 category. This year, Karen was named Champion (first place) which includes receiving fantastic prizes and musical endorsements. Congratulations, Karen!

Karen has also used her talent and creative energy for various social activism and empowerment events such as Girls Rock Camp, Ladies Rock Camp, Atlanta Pride, Women’s Outdoor Network, and putting on an annual fundraising percussion ensemble/drumming concert to raise funds and awareness for the Emory Farmworker Project. Karen also teaches drumming to senior citizens in a local senior center and has continued to teach virtually through COVID to provide a sense of community and joy to those that would otherwise be socially isolated.

For more information about Karen and her percussion students please visit: 

• https://knewelldrums.com/
• You Tube Channel: knewelldrums
• https://hitlikeagirlcontest.com/

Don't Miss Opportunities!

Emory COVID-19 ECHO sessions for June

MIS-C, the Pediatric Vaccine & COVID-19

Thursday, June 3, 2021. 11 AM - 12 PM (EST)

MIS-C Didactic Presenter:
Christina Rostad, MD

MIS-C Case Presenter:
Laura Toops, BSN, RN, CCRN

Pediatric Vaccine Didactic Presenter:
Evan Anderson, MD

Facilitated by:
Gavin Harris, MD

Click HERE to register.

All prior SCDP sessions are recorded and available as a podcast.

Questions can be sent to scdp.echo@emory.edu

Save the Date:
Bettye Rose Connell Memorial Lecture

Tuesday, Sept. 28, 2021 6-7:30 pm

VINCENT MOR, Ph.D., is the Florence Pirce Grant Professor of Community Health in the Brown University School of Public Health and a Research Health Scientist in the health services research service at the Providence Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

Dr. Mor has been Principal Investigator of over 40 NIH funded grants focusing on the use of health services and the outcomes that frail and chronically ill persons experience. He has evaluated the impact of programs and policies in aging and long-term care including Medicare funding of hospice, changes in Medicare nursing home payment and the introduction of quality measures. He was one of the authors of the Congressionally mandated Minimum Data Set (MDS) for Nursing Home Resident Assessment and the architect of an integrated Medicare claims and clinical assessment data base used for policy analysis, pharmaco-epidemiology and population outcome measurement. Building upon this work, most recently, he and colleagues around the country were awarded a large grant from the National Institute on Aging to solicit, fund and support multi-site pilot non-pharmacologic intervention projects embedded in health care systems designed to improve the lives of persons living with dementia and their caregivers. Dr. Mor has been an active VA HSR&D investigator for the past decade and helped establish the Providence VAMC Center of Innovation (COIN) where he is now directing a number of independent investigator initiated research projects focused on the VA Geriatrics and Extended Care service. 

Save the Date: DOM Research Day 2021

Did you miss an issue?

Links to previous department newsletters can be found on
the department website HERE.

Got news? Please send your announcements and photos to leigh.partington@emory.edu. The DFPM newsletter is published monthly.