Emory Family & Preventive Medicine Department News
2023: Volume 6, issue 2
55 Words from the Chair
The 2022 Family and Preventive Medicine Awards recognized individuals and groups for awesome work in education, service, and research across our department! With the 2023 awards event happening soon, please use this- and other- nomination opportunities to allow us to feature more of our deserving recipients! Please offer a personal shout-out to our recipients.
Congratulations to the Recipients
of our First Annual Department Awards!
Thank you to all of the nominators, nominees, and the Awards and Recognitions Committee for making our first Awards ceremony happen!
Please scroll to the bottom of the newsletter to see the complete slide deck from our awards ceremony, which was held on Monday, February 27.
Congratulations and best wishes to Dr. Graham!
Dr. Antonio Graham is returning to Baltimore to serve as Chair of Clinical Medicine for a new College of Osteopathic Medicine based at Morgan State University, which will be the first new medical school at a Historically Black College or University (HBCU) in nearly 45 years and the first osteopathic medical school at an HBCU in history. Dr. Graham has been a valued educator, clinician, leader, and colleague at Emory in both the Department of Medicine and the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine and he will be missed.
Congratulations and best wishes
to Dr. Lund!
Dr. Maha Lund is leaving her position as Director of the Emory PA Program to be the next dean of the Elon University School of Health Sciences. She will report to the provost and will oversee the departments of Physical Therapy Education, Physician Assistant Studies and Nursing, with 28 full-time faculty and more than 300 graduate and undergraduate students. The dean is responsible for providing intellectual and administrative leadership for the School of Health Sciences while strengthening Elon’s engaged, active and experiential education offerings within a rigorous and challenging academic environment. Read the announcement from Elon University here.
Welcome to the Department
Dr. Victoria Sweetnam!
We are delighted to announce that Dr. Victoria Sweetnam has accepted a full-time position in Supportive Care Clinic in the Division of Palliative Medicine. Victoria is coming to us from a fellowship at the Medical University of South Carolina's Department of Palliative and Hospice Medicine, and she also works part-time as a hospitalist at Roper St. Francis Hospital. She earned her medical school training at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University and completed her Internal Medicine residency at the Medical University of South Carolina. She is also fluent in both Spanish and French. Notably, Victoria has a clinical and academic interest in the intersection between palliative care and primary care, as well as palliative care's role in pulmonary hypertension.
Want to get more involved in wellness advocacy, programming, and/or research?
- Become a School of Medicine wellness champion: Do you want to become a wellness champion for our department in the SOM? Learn more about the program here. If you’re interested, email Farrah Williams at Healthy Emory to find out more.
- Do you have a wellness related research project or idea? Request an input/feedback session to get feedback on a research idea from the EmWell Discovery & Innovation committee here. And stay tuned for microgrant applications, coming soon.
- Become a Peer Supporter: Train to become a peer supporter in the emBRACE program. The next 2-day training is May 16 and 17, 2023. Get information and sign up here: EmBRACE Peer Supporter CANDIDATE Application (office.com)
Free compassion meditation courses. Find out more information and sign up here: CBCT® for Courses for Emory Participants & Grady Personnel (office.com)!
Transformative Research
Palliative Medicine Co-PIs Dr. Ali John Zarrabi and Dr. Paul DeSandre got a shout-out during Dean Sukhatme's State of the School Address for their I3 project Establishing a Museum-Based Education Initiative at Emory School of Medicine (slide below). Have you visited their Arts-Based Health Education at Emory website?
Research News
Congratulations to Dr. Leslie Johnson for being named a 2022 MQ Fellow, a 3-year K-equivalent that allows her to expand her studies of diabetes and depression. MQ’s 2022 Fellows Awards are focused on advancing MQ’s efforts to tackle premature mortality among those suffering from mental illness and mental distress. The Fellows Award supports the best and brightest early career scientists from across the globe, who are asking challenging questions that will contribute to transformative advances in mental health research.
Dr. Johnson was one of seven awardees selected from 63 applications from around the globe. Dr. Johnson's 3-year career development award is jointly funded by MQ Mental Health Research and the JDRF Foundation and will focus on adapting and implementing a collaborative care model for patients with Type 1 Diabetes at Grady.
Dr. Johnson was also invited to Indiana University on 2/10 as a speaker for their Psychiatry Grand Rounds. Her talk was entitled, "Enhancing access to mental health care in India: Implementation and effectiveness of integrating depression and diabetes treatment."
Dr. Johnson is also a scholar in the inaugural NIH Underrepresented Biomedical Research Scholars Program, through which she works on a transdisciplinary group project with other program scholars using the NIH All of Us database. Her team just received notification that the All of Us Evenings with Genetics Research Program has awarded $30,000 to support their project entitled, "Identification and Validation of SNPs as Risk Factors for IBD in the All of Us Database." The aim of this project is to identify and validate the genes associated with the risk of development of the IBD using data from the All of Us database, then establish organoid models that will pave the way to future personalized therapeutics for the treatment of IBD.
Congratulations to Dr. Sathish Thirunavukkarasu! He will be Co-Investigator on the project Urinary Biomarkers of Tobacco Smoke Exposure and Harm: An Exposomics Approach to Understand the Smoking Paradox, funded by Candian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) from 2023-2026. Funding amount: CAD $692,324.
He will also be Guest Editor for a Special Issue “Exclusive Papers Collection of Editorial Board Members in Diabetology” in Diabetology.
Dr. Thirunavukkarasu was also selected as a Peer Review Member for the “Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Research Excellence, Diversity, and Independence (REDI) Early Career Transition Award”, Canada.
Congratulations to PI Dr. Ali John Zarrabi for receiving funding from The Emory Center for Health in Aging for “The effects of psilocybin on oxidative stress, inflammation, and aging.” Dr. Zarrabi's project was one of three innovative pilot projects selected to receive up to $45,000 each for one year of study.
9th Annual Health Services Research Day
Wednesday, May 3 | Emory School of Medicine Building, Auditorium 110
Abstracts Due: Monday, March 6 | Submit
Join for this symposium and networking opportunity where researchers across Georgia will learn about ongoing quality, effectiveness, and value-based research activities.
Collaborative department publications
Family Medicine faculty Dr. Mo Ali and Dr. Oguchi Nwosu published Performance of screening tools for cervical neoplasia among women in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Palliative Medicine faculty Dr. Jane Lowers, Dr. Sarah Cross, Dr. Tammie Quest, Dr. Ali John Zarrabi, and Dr. Dio Kavalieratos published Barriers of Acceptance to Hospice Care: a Randomized Vignette-Based Experiment.
Dr. Jane Lowers and Dr. Dio Kavaleratos also published Solo but Not Alone: An Examination of Social and Help Networks among Community-Dwelling Older Adults without Close Family.
Faculty publications
Dr. Mo Ali published Impact of changes in diabetes screening guidelines on testing eligibility and potential yield among adults without diagnosed diabetes in the United States and Cost-effectiveness of a Multicomponent Quality Improvement Care Model for Diabetes in South Asia: The CARRS Randomized Clinical Trial.
Dr. Leslie Johnson published LMIC research centers’ experiences hosting U.S. and LMIC trainees: Evaluation of the Fogarty Global Health Fellows and Scholars Program, 2012 to 2020.
Dr. Tammie Quest published Death Anxiety and Correlates in Cancer Patients Receiving Palliative Care.
Dr. Sathish Thirunavukkarasu published Glycemia and New-Onset Diabetes among COVID-19 Patients with Prediabetes: A Follow-Study of Case Series in India. He also published Knowledge of Diabetes among Adults at High Risk for Type 2 Diabetes in the Trivandrum District of Kerala, India.
Educational Investments for our future
Congratulations Dr. Thompson,
Preceptor of the Year!
Dr. Tina-Ann Thompson was selected as the M3 Adult Primary Care Clerkship 2022-2023 Preceptor for the Year! Some excerpts from student evaluations include, “She was an excellent teacher. She pushes us to learn from each patient and to be confident when answering questions,” and “I really felt I gained a lot of clinical skills that I will carry with me through my future career.” Dr. Thompson is pictured above receiving her award at the annual Preceptor Recognition Dinner from clerkship directors Dr. Eva Rimler and Dr. Ryan Smith.
Dr. Nwosu Teaches in Ethiopia
As part of the Global Health Residency Scholars Program, Dr. Oguchi Nwosu has been in Ethiopia with faculty and residents of Addis Ababa University for the month of February.
Pictured below: Dr. Nwosu with the faculty and residents of Addis Ababa University.
Congrats to new FM Chief Residents!
Family Medicine Residency holds Open Houses
The Family Medicine Residency held open houses on January 21 and February 11 for prospective residents at Gypsy Kitchen in Buckhead. Around 25 candidates attended, along with current FM residents. Pictures below from the February 11 event.
Gomez named WHEA Teaching Fellow
Congratulations to Belinda Adjei Gomez, PhD, MBA, RN! Dr. Gomez, Senior Manager of Clinical Services and Operations at the Emory Family Medicine Clinic in Dunwoody, has been selected as a 2023-2024 WHEA Teaching Fellow. The WHEA Teaching Fellowship is a 12-month program for health sciences educators who want to advance their teaching skills and offer quality instruction to their learners.
Dr. Turbow Receives APTR Early Career Award
Dr. Sara Turbow, Associate Professor and Associate Program Director of the Preventive Medicine Residency Program, is the 2023 recipient of the Association for Prevention Teaching and Research Early Career Award. This award recognizes an APTR member who has completed their training within the last decade and whose contributions have enhanced student learning and resident instruction in the field of prevention and public health. Dr. Turbow will receive her award at the APTR Annual Awards Luncheon on March 28, 2023, in New Orleans, LA. She was nominated by Dr. Richard Goodman.
Georgia Memory Net offers CME Webinars
Join the Georgia Memory Net Network for their new monthly webinar, GMNsights: Expert Clinical Insights in Dementia Care for your Patients.
Earn .5 hour CME credits for attending this free session. Participants must register in advance.
March 15: "A practical guide to staging dementia in primary care." Presented by: Carolyn Clevenger- Professor, clinical track, Associate Dean for Transformative Clinical Practice | DNP, RN, GNP-BC, AGPCNP-BC, FAANP, FGSA
Please register here. You can also email Laurie Beth Bryant, CRC, LAPC, Associate Program Director of Georgia Memory Net|Emory Brain Health Center to receive a monthly invitation to this webinar.
FPM Faculty are invited to attend
the 2023 Feed Conference!
The Department of Medicine and Department of Pediatrics Offices of Faculty Development are pleased to present the 14th annual Faculty Education, Enrichment, and Development (FEED) Conference, taking place virtually on March 24. This year's theme will focus on the topic of medical innovation.
Save the Date: Bettye Rose Connell Lecture
Registration link: https://bit.ly/3wxO7Hg
Dr. Sara Czaja, Gladys and Roland Harriman Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College, directs the Center on Aging and Behavioral Research at Weill Cornell Medicine. Her honors include the Jack A. Kraft Award for Innovation from the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society and the Social Impact Award from the Association of Computing Machinery.
Service for our future
EFP needs interpreters!
The PA Program is currently preparing for the Summer 2023 Emory Farmworker Project which will take place June 9-16 in Bainbridge and June 16-23 in Valdosta. We are looking for people who can join us as interpreters! Interpretation is vital to be able to serve this patient population and is needed in Spanish (Bainbridge and Valdosta) and Haitian Creole (Bainbridge only). Please feel free to share with friends and family outside of Emory! Anyone interested in volunteering as an interpreter can email etgrill@emory.edu.
News from the FPM DEI Council
Register Now for Health Equity Day
May 16, 9 am - 2 pm
Emory Department of Medicine's third annual Health Equity Day will take place on May 16, 2023. The half-day conference includes narrative and poster presentations, a case competition, a keynote address, and an innovation award. All members of the Emory DOM and SOM community are welcome to attend.
Whose Good Death? Valuation and Standardization as Mechanisms of Inequality in Hospitals.
Check out past recommendations in the FPM Virtual Library.
SOM Affinity Groups:
Become a Member or Ally
SOM Affinity Groups offer an opportunity for faculty to engage and network with their colleagues from similar cultural and/or underrepresented groups in events and activities ranging from professional development to cultural celebrations. Current faculty affinity groups include:
- Asian American and Pacific Islander Medical Faculty Affinity Group
- African American Women Collaborative Faculty Affinity Group
- LGBTQ+ Faculty Affinity Group
- Latina/o/x Faculty Affinity Group
- Emory Alliance for Women in Medicine and Science (EAWiMS)
Remembrance and Resilience
Mar. 16 | 4 p.m | Hybrid
Mark the second anniversary of the spa shootings in Atlanta. Deepa Iyer, a social justice advocate and author, will provide remarks about how Asian Americans build community and solidarity during times of crisis.
Diversity Engagement Survey
March 20 - April 17
On March 20, the SOM will launch the Diversity Engagement Survey to all faculty, staff and learners. This survey is designed to understand sense of belonging and results will lead to action in the diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts in the School of Medicine specifically. This survey was last offered in 2020 and resulted in new affinity groups, Diversity Week, and quarterly community forums to share updates. The survey is just 22 questions.
The Politics of Racial Resentment
Mar. 29 | 11 a.m - 12:15 p.m | Hybrid
This lecture, How the Politics of Racial Resentment Undermine Individual and Societal Health and Well-Being, and discussion led by Dr. Jonathan Metzl, of Vanderbilt University will offer smart and necessary plans for working towards a society that is healthier for everyone.
News from the Office of Faculty Development
COACHE faculty satisfaction survey
available now through April 7
Faculty should have received an email from coachefaculty@abtassoc.com with a personalized survey link. This survey is designed to enhance the understanding of faculty experiences at Emory University and is the first step in a process to transform data into actionable policies and practices. As the largest school at Emory, it is critically important that the unique needs and concerns of School of Medicine faculty are heard and incorporated into future planning efforts - both at the university level and within the SOM. Visit Emory's COACHE website to see results and recommendations from the 2020 survey.
