News from
Family & Preventive Medicine

August 2021

Just 55 Words: 

The Joyful Cycle

From the Physician Assistant program: 

Below: Pictures from the GAPA conference 7/12-7/16 in Hilton Head. The group pictures are of PA students from the class of 2021 and 2022.
 

Below: The Emory PA program has a dog on faculty. Meet Harper Lee, resident therapy dog, and lover of snuggles!
 

Below: PA student Shahrzad Ghasemshahi is excited to begin her training at Emory!
 

From the Family Medicine Residency program: 

Below: The Family Medicine residents find joy in their socials, planned times where residents get together to hang out after working hard all week!

Below: Problem-solving at its most creative: When one of the Family Medicine chiefs couldn't make it to Chiefs Orientation for the new interns, they still found a way to take a group picture! 
 

Below: During orientation month, Family Medicine interns participate in Inpatient Service Apprenticing where they shadow the residents who are currently on our inpatient family medicine service (FMS) at Emory University Hospital Midtown. On this day, the interns learned about the FMS schedule, admitting patients, ordering medications, calling consults, sign out, etc. AND got a tour of part of the hospital.
 

From the Preventive Medicine
Residency program:

Below: Emory Preventive Medicine Residents and Associate Program Directors in action -- Friday morning interactive didactic session on scientific writing.

For pictures of the Joyful Cycle all month long, follow our learner-run Instagram accounts: @EmoryPAs @EmoryFammed and @EmoryPrevMed.

Wellness Corner

Check out these podcasts!

Like to listen to podcasts on your commute, while you exercise, or during your kids’ soccer practice? Here are some recent and recommended podcasts on wellbeing:

1.       Brené Brown with Drs. Emily and Amelia Nagoski on Burnout and How to Complete the Stress Cycle: Link

2.       The Hidden Brain’s A Social Prescription: Why Human Connection Is Crucial To Our Health, with Dr. Vivek Muthy: Link

3.       Life Kit’s Burnout Isn't Just Exhaustion. Here's How To Deal With It: Link

4.       Dr. Lori Santos’s The Happiness Lab: Link

Transformative Research

Recent Awards

Decision Support Training for Advanced Cancer Family Caregivers: The CASCADE Factorial Trial. This is a 5-year NIH/NCI R01. University of Alabama Birmingham is the prime awardee/institution – Emory is a partner site. Dr. Dio Kavalieratos will serve as the Site Principal Investigator.

The purpose of this trial is to determine the efficacy and optimal combination of intervention components for CASCADE (CAre Supporters Coached to be Adept DEcision partners), an early palliative care decision support training intervention for family caregivers of patients with newly diagnosed advanced cancer. This trial will enroll 352 caregivers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Emory University to partake in a Multiphase Optimization Strategy-based 2x3 randomized factorial trial to optimize the intervention components for study in a subsequent efficacy trial.

Georgia Healthy Family Alliance Grant : An academic-community partnership to improve COVID vaccination rates in a minority and underserved community in Metro Atlanta   

(PI: Dr. Neena Ghose, Co-I : Fayron Epps, Dr. Ambar Kulshreshtha)

Our goal is to understand knowledge and attitudes regarding COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in African American, low-income older adults aged 55+ in the Greater Atlanta Metropolitan area through survey and focus group data collection. Using this data we propose to develop a series of educational intervention sessions that will help promote COVID vaccination in this high-risk group. We have partnered with SageNavigators a Community based organization that currently works in this population to help in this effort.

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In the News 

Dr. Ambar Kulshreshtha's research on Alzheimer's in the rural South is getting national attention since the release of the abstract "Alzheimer's Disease Mortality High in Rural Areas in South" at the  Alzheimer's Association International Conference.

Check out the coverage in AARP's Health newsletter, Science Daily, Best Life, and PR Newswire. 

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Featured Researcher

What is your professional background?

Prior to my work in academic medicine, I was a guest researcher at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2010. After completing my Internal Medicine residency and Palliative Care fellowship from the State University of New York, Buffalo, I joined Emory University of Medicine at Grady Memorial Hospital in 2015. I took on the role as the Palliative Care Clerkship Director for third year medical students in 2018 and have recently taken on the role of Associate Medical Director for the Grady Palliative Care service.  

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

I am in the Division of Palliative Medicine and Dr. Dio Kavalieratos is my research mentor.

Briefly describe your research. Why is it important?

Soon after joining EUSOM, my academic contributions included research focused on quality improvement projects for patient care and delivery. I was involved in the validation of diagnostic tools for complexity in PC and also involved with the design and development of a bi-directional Patient Controlled Analgesia Pump through collaborations with Georgia Tech. These early projects taught me how to ask the right question and gave me exposure to processes in translational clinical research. While most of my previous publications have been related to bench work during my time at CDC, quality improvement projects, needs assessments, or survey studies, I would like to focus on educational scholarship in the next five years. Specifically, I would like to study the current palliative education practices for medical students and devise methods to improve the learning experience.  

What do you like most about Emory?

I like the collaborative environment that Emory offers. Being able to rely on colleagues' assistance and expertise throughout the different schools (such as nursing or public health) has added significant value to the work being done.

What do you like to do in your spare time?

In my spare time, I like to spend time with my toddler. He helps keep me centered and brings an appreciation of the smaller things. This week, his focus has been butterflies! 

What is a fun fact about you?

As a child, I used to be on a swim team called the "Kung-Fu Fish" and I am an Atlanta native.

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Highlighted Opportunities:

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Highlighted Research Resources

REDCap availability: REDCap is a secure web application for building and managing online surveys and electronic data capture. REDCap is compliant with Emory University's HIPAA policies and procedures and many federal regulations and is widely used by Emory researchers. Beginning summer 2021 ― when used for research projects and studies ― hosting costs for REDCap will be fully subsidized for all Emory research teams. 

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Recent & Upcoming Presentations

Dr. Leslie Johnson was an invited speaker for the Nutrition Society of India’s Webinar Series on Qualitative Research in Public Health Nutrition. Her presentation on 7/25 was titled "Assessing the Quality and Ethics in Qualitative Research."

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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

Advancing Measurement of the Sources and Consequences of Burnout in a Comprehensive Cancer Center: A Structural Equation Modeling Analysis. Ash MJ, Baer W, Peacock C, Haardörfer R, Mascaro JS. Am J Med Qual. 2021 Jul 21. doi: 10.1097/01.JMQ.0000743676.35805.c0. Online ahead of print. PMID: 34310378

Body-mass index and diabetes risk in 57 low-income and middle-income countries: a cross-sectional study of nationally representative, individual-level data in 685 616 adults. Teufel F, Seiglie JA, Geldsetzer P, Theilmann M, Marcus ME, Ebert C, Arboleda WAL, Agoudavi K, Andall-Brereton G, Aryal KK, Bicaba BW, Brian G, Bovet P, Dorobantu M, Gurung MS, Guwatudde D, Houehanou C, Houinato D, Jorgensen JMA, Kagaruki GB, Karki KB, Labadarios D, Martins JS, Mayige MT, McClure RW, Mwangi JK, Mwalim O, Norov B, Crooks S, Farzadfar F, Moghaddam SS, Silver BK, Sturua L, Wesseh CS, Stokes AC, Essien UR, De Neve JW, Atun R, Davies JI, Vollmer S, Bärnighausen TW, Ali MK, Meigs JB, Wexler DJ, Manne-Goehler J.  Lancet. 2021 Jul 17;398(10296):238-248. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(21)00844-8. PMID: 34274065

Feasibility of an Academic Detailing Intervention to Support Deprescribing in the Nursing Home. Pruskowski JA, Kane-Gill S, Kavalieratos D, Wilson B, Arnold R, Handler SM.J Am Med Dir Assoc. 2021 Jul 26:S1525-8610(21)00596-X. doi: 10.1016/j.jamda.2021.06.025. Online ahead of print.PMID: 34324872 

Impact of app-delivered mindfulness meditation on functional connectivity, mental health, and sleep disturbance among physician assistant students: a randomized, wait-list controlled pilot study.  Smith JL, Allen JW, Haack C, Wehrmeyer K, Alden KG, Lund MB, Mascaro JS. JMIR Formative Research (in press)

Overcoming the Digital Divide in the Post-COVID-19 "Reset": Enhancing Group Virtual Visits with Community Health Workers. Shah MK, Gibbs AC, Ali MK, Narayan KMV, Islam N. J Med Internet Res. 2021 Jul 8;23(7):e27682. doi: 10.2196/27682. PMID: 34152995

The relationship between common mental disorders and incident diabetes among participants in the Kerala Diabetes Prevention Program (K-DPP). Johnson, L, Desloge, A., Sathish, T., Williams, E. D., Absetz, P., Haregu, T., De Man, J., Thankappan, K. R., & Oldenburg, B. PLOS ONE. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0255217

Educational Investments for our future

Introducing the new Palliative Fellows

We are pleased to introduce our 2021-2022 Hospice & Palliative Medicine Fellowship class.  They join us from a variety of training programs across the country and from closer to home.

Bottom row, l to r, between Dr. Tammie Quest and Dr. Lynn O'Neill:

Dr. Anita Sundaramoorthy
Internal Medicine residency at Emory (2017-2020)
VA Quality Scholars Fellowship (2020-2021)

Dr. Emily Pinto Taylor
Internal Medicine/Pediatrics residency at Yale (2015-2019)
Chief Resident in Medicine at Yale (2019-2020)
Geriatrics fellowship at Emory (2020-2021)

Dr. Vaidehi Ambai
Family Medicine residency at Wellstar (2018-2021)

Dr. Lauren Sigler
Internal Medicine residency at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (2018-2021)

Top row, l to r:

Dr. Jonathan Ebelhar
Emory/CHOA Pediatrics residency (2016-2019) 
Chief Resident in Pediatrics (2019-2020) 
Emory/CHOA Pediatric hematology/oncology fellowship (2020-2021)

Dr. Michael Krouse 
Internal Medicine residency at The Ohio State University (2018-2021)

Dr. Josh Hornsby
Internal Medicine residency at University of Tennessee-Chattanooga (2018-2021)

Celebrating the Graduating Palliative Fellows:

Pictured, left to right:

Julie Mitchell, DO, Assistant Program Director

Emilee Flynn, MD, Assistant Program Director

Janelle Williams Holder, MD

Denise Lawe, MD (pictured on cell phone)

Robert Palm, MD

David Wilkerson, DO

Thanmayi Kaza, MD

Nupur Dalal, MD

Viviana Vidal-Anaya, MD

Lynn O'Neill, MD, Program Director

Meredith Maxwell, MD, Assistant Program Director

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Good News from GAPA!

The Emory PA Program was well-represented at the Georgia Association of Physician Assistants.

Mingxin Lin (PA Class of 2022) won one of the 2 PA scholarships over $1,500.

Congratulations to Alex Kendall who won the Faculty of the Year award! He is pictured below with Skyler Lamberth, GAPA President 2021-2022. 

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News from the
Faculty Development
Committee

The School of Medicine has created a new faculty guide that all faculty may find helpful. You can access the guide HERE or on the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine Intranet HERE, under "Quick Links."

Being of Service

Student Health welcomes new leadership

Executive Director Dr. Sharon Rabinovitz and her team at Emory Student Health are strengthening their team in both numbers and diversity to prepare for the challenges of the 2021-2022 academic year. 

New Clinical Director Mario Majette, MD, MPH joins the team from the University of Maryland Baltimore where he was director of student and employee health. Dr. Majette earned his MD from the University of Maryland School of Medicine and his MPH from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He completed his Family Medicine Residency at Georgetown Hospital/Providence Hospital and his Preventive Medicine Residency at Johns Hopkins. Dr. Majette is board certified in both Family and Preventive Medicine. We're delighted to welcome him to our department!

The new Assistant Director, Flavia Mercado, MD earned her MD from Emory and completed her internship at Emory Affiliated Hospitals. She then completed her residency in pediatrics at Children's National Medical Center and GWUHS. She was an assistant professor of pediatrics at Emory from 1996-2013 and also co-founded and directed the International Medical Center at Grady. She was faculty for the Emory PA program and was actively involved in the Emory Farmworker Project. We're delighted to welcome her back to Emory!

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New leadership positions
for Kulshreshtha and Smith

Congratulations to Dr. Ambar Kulshreshtha, elected to the Dean's Faculty Advisory Committee, and Dr. Ryan Smith, elected to serve on the Undergraduate Medical Education Executive Curriculum Committee.

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Amber Davis featured in AAPA!

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Welcome Patricia Miller to EUH!

Patricia earned her MS in Physician Assistant Studies from Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2012. This was a second career for Patricia, as she was a social worker for about 10 years before deciding to pursue a career in medicine.  It was during the latter half of her social work career, working as a pediatric heme/onc social worker (Nemours/ Alfred I. DuPont Hospital for Children) that influenced her decision to pursue becoming a Physician Assistant.

Since then, Patricia has worked in hospital medicine, inpatient oncology (U Penn) and, for the last 6 years, in Palliative Care (Christiana Care Health System, in Delaware). She feels palliative care is the perfect blend of her social work expertise and medical knowledge as a Physician Assistant. 

Of note, in 2010, she co-founded and led a non-profit organization called Kids Runway for Research, Inc. The foundation has since raised over $150,000 that has been donated to the Nemours Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders, for cancer research. In 2017, Patricia was honored with a Jefferson Award for her work in community service.

In her personal life, she loves spending time with her husband and two children (Noah age 5, and Ava age 2).  She loves the outdoors and activities such as hiking and just being in nature.  She also has a passion for music as she played the piano as a child and young adult, and hopes to re-engage in this someday. Additionally, she remains passionate about various types of community service, and serving at church.

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Recruiting: Medical Service Trip
to Guatemala

Katherine Fuller, PharmD, BCACP, BCPS, PhC, a clinical pharmacist at Emory in Hepatology/Viral hepatitis clinics is working on establishing a medical team for a medical service trip to Guatemala with tentative dates June 3-13, 2022. She is looking for doctors, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurses, and pharmacists to explore creative, innovative ways to deliver healthcare based on available resources to underserved areas of Guatemala.

For those interested in learning more about this opportunity, please attend a virtual interest sessions on 8/4, and 8/18, each at 7pm EST (https://zoom.us/j/9785105267), where you will be able to meet and hear from physicians and team members from the March 2020 trip. Working with the parent organization Helps International, the Emory based team provided medical care to 698 patients and installed 40 stoves/water filters in the community development division.

Interested individuals should fill out this Google Form and/or contact Daniela Farchi at daniela.farchi@emory.edu.  

News from the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Council

DEI Council Spotlights:

Each month, the FPM DEI Council will spotlight a different staff member of the department.  This month, the council spotlights Mr. Jason Freiji.

What do you like to do in your spare time, outside of work? I enjoy spending time with family and friends, cooking, and traveling.

Birthdate I was born on October 9th

Home town (please tell us a few interesting items about your birthplace): I was born in Jounieh, Lebanon. Jounieh is a beautiful port city located on the Mediterranean Sea surrounded by mountains. It has a rich history dating back to 1200 BC and has been occupied by the Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Ottomans, and French. Today, Jounieh is well known for its outdoor activities such as sailing, hiking, and paragliding. It also has a busy nightlife and beautiful beach resorts.

A fun fact about yourself! I am a fossil collector! Currently, my collection includes specimens from Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America.

Don't Miss Opportunities!

Bettye Rose Connell Memorial Lecture

Dr. Vincent Mor
"COVID-19 and U.S. Nursing Homes: Implications for the Future"

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

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.