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55 Words from the Chair
New year, new opportunities, and new newsletter design! Make it a resolution to spend a few minutes every month catching up on the latest updates in scholarship, education, and service. I’m deeply appreciative of the work that you do and the collective excellence that shines through. Let’s celebrate our successes as faculty, staff, and learners!
We're on Bluesky! Follow us @emoryfammed.bsky.social.
Opportunities and Events
Did you miss the December 2024 Department Quarterly Meeting? View it here.
DFPM Book Club will meet Sunday, Feb. 23 at 4 pm. How the Word is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America by Clint Smith. Click the title to order from Bookshop.org or check out a copy from the lending library at Emory Family Medicine at Dunwoody. Also available at your local independent bookstore or library!
Nominations for the Primary Care Consortium Awards are now open! Nominate yourself or your Emory Primary Care hero.
Deadline for submissions: Feb. 21, 2025 at 11:59 pm.
Join the Healthcare Ethics Consortium (HEC), in collaboration with Emory's Center for Ethics and The Primary Care Consortium at Emory's School of Medicine, and Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB), for a screening and discussion of the documentary film The Only Doctor, which examines the troubling health equity issues faced by rural communities by following Dr. Karen Kinsell’s practice in Clay County, Georgia.
The panel following the screening will explore broader questions of health access and invite further reflections by Dr. Kinsell and the filmmaker Matthew Hashiguchi, MFA on healthcare availability in rural areas.
Doors will open at 5:00 pm for a brief reception including non-alcoholic beverages and heavy hors d'oeuvres. The program will begin at 5:30 pm. Registration required.
Welcome to the DFPM!
Introducing Ms. Towonna Williams, new Senior Administrative Assistant in the Office of the Chair. She'll be supporting the Vice Chairs of Faculty Development and Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion.
Ms. Williams has been a member of the Emory community for close to 23 years. A native of Detroit, she holds a degree from Michigan State University in Forensic Science.
With a passion for service, she has held multiple administrative positions for over three decades. She started her career at Michigan State where she supported the Dean of Human Medicine, Chair of Psychiatry, and the Center for Remote Sensing & Geographic Informational Science.
Ms. Williams carries the values of hard work, integrity, and outstanding client service into everything she does. When she is not working, she enjoys spending time traveling and wine tasting.
Celebrating our Successes
New AAHPM Board of Directors Officers
Curseen and Kavalieratos
Dr. Kim Curseen is President-elect of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine Board of Directors for 2024-2025 and Dr. Dio Kavalieratos will serve as a Director at Large. The newly elected members will officially start their terms at the conclusion of the 2025 Annual Assembly of Hospice and Palliative Care, February 5-8, 2025 Denver, Colorado.
Thompson and Guest Receive Inaugural
Voice of Health Awards
Dr. Tina-Ann Thompson and Dr. Jodie Guest received inaugural Woodruff Health Sciences Center Voice of Health Awards. This award celebrates individuals demonstrating exceptional personal effort in supporting communications efforts and furthering the impact and significance of WHSC priorities both internally and externally. With this award, WHSC recognizes that Dr. Thompson and Dr. Guest are making a profound impact on health and well-being in the community through their commitment to community engagement and health equity initiatives.
Milestone Congratulations to Dupont and Nwosu!
Dr. Sarah Dupont was awarded the degree of Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians at the Annual GAFP meeting in November.
Dr. Oguchi Nwosu will celebrate 20 years as faculty in the Family Medicine Residency Program on Feb 1, 2025.
Grady Palliative Team Named
Emory@Grady Team of the Year!
Congratulations to Dr. Paul DeSandre chief, pictured second from left) and his DFPM faculty team: Dr. Janelle Holder (pictured left), Dr. Gretchen Bell (pictured second from right), and Dr. Ashima Lal (pictured right)!
Resources for Faculty
The SOM Dean’s Faculty Advisory Committee acts as a resource for SOM faculty to bring up any challenges they are facing. Family Medicine faculty member Dr. Ambar Kulshreshtha co-chairs this committee. To submit requests to the committee, you can email Dr. Kulshreshtha or visit the DFAC website.
Wondering about Promotion? Watch the 2024 SOM Professional Development lecture Navigating Promotions for an overview of promotion criteria and advice on how to plan to be promoted. Then talk to your mentor and division director about timing!
Research News
Dr. Dio Kavalieratos co-led the development of new practice guidelines regarding pain management recently released by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. The entire process was very intentionally patient-centered, with patient reps heavily involved on the guidelines committee. When publishing the guidelines, the committee was concerned that the patient voices (which is what prompted these guidelines in the first place) would be lost. Dr. Jane Lowers offered to interview three patient stakeholders about their experiences with pain and pain management and turned the interview into a powerful editorial that accompanied the guidelines. Dr. Lowers also adamantly refused to be a co-author on the editorial, stressing that the people with CF should be centered.
The full article is available here.
Collaborative Publications
Dr. Sarah Cross and Dr. Dio Kavalieratos published Location of Pediatric Deaths in the US.
Dr. Jane Lowers and Dr. Dio Kavalieratos published "How do You Take that Much Time for One Person's Life?" Experiences of Dementia Caregivers Who are Not Immediate Family.
Dr. Deanna Kaplan and Dr. Ali John Zarrabi published A Critical Evaluation of Psilocybin-Assisted Therapy Protocol Components From Clinical Trial Patients, Facilitators, and Caregivers and Reading the crowd: attitudes toward psychedelics and psychedelic therapies among attendees at a conference
Dr. Dio Kavalieratos and Dr. Jane Lowers published Examining Help-Seeking Behavior in People Living Alone With Cognitive Impairment.
Dr. Ambar Kulshreshtha and Emory medical student Lindsey Garrett published Effect of neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage on 30-day readmissions: A systematic review. Lindsey, Class of 2025, is applying to Family Medicine residency programs and is an Amos Scholar.
Dr. Emily Pinto Taylor and Dr. Ashima Lal published Highlighting the importance of trainee distress in palliative care and ethics consultation.
Individual Faculty, Staff, and Learner Publications
Dr. Mo Ali
- Cognitive Impairment and Its Risk Factors Among South Asians Living in India: Findings from the P-CARRS Cohort Study. Digital version of Defense Automated Neurobehavioral Assessment in South Asian Setting: Preliminary evidence from the P-CARRS study
- Digital Clock Assessment in South Asian Setting: Insights from the P-CARRS study Depression Diagnosis, Treatment, and Remission Among Adults in India.
- Predicting control of cardiovascular disease risk factors in South Asia using machine learning.
- Spatial associations between measures of public transportation and diabetic foot ulcer outcomes in the state of Georgia: 2016-2019.
Dr. Dio Kavalieratos
- Addressing pain in people living with cystic fibrosis: Cystic fibrosis foundation evidence-informed guidelines
- Racism in Pediatric Serious Illness and Palliative Care: A Scoping Review of Qualitative Research
- Interview Results from a Telehealth Hospice Intervention for Children and Young Adults with Cancer
Dr. Miranda Moore
Media and Public Appearances
Harvard Public Health Magazine | Undiagnosed cognitive impairment rates are high (Emory research featured, Dr. Ambar Kulshreshtha interviewed)
Georgia Public Broadcasting | Early Onset Dementia is making the caregiving crisis worse (Emory research featured, Dr. Ambar Kulshreshtha interviewed)
Health | Want to keep your brain looking young? Study finds these lifestyle, health factors could be key (Dr. Ambar Kulshreshtha quoted)
Emory News Center |Improv training: A new approach to dementia care (Emory research and Georgia Gear program featured, Dr. Ted Johnson interviewed)
Get Your Research in the Headlines
Emory’s Media Relations team can help amplify your research and innovation in the news.
Why engage with the media?
- Gain recognition as a leading voice in your field and establish yourself as an expert.
- Showcase Emory’s reputation as a leading R1 institution.
- Media coverage of your research can result in higher Altmetric scores, which can lead to increased interest in a topic, increased citations, and stronger funding applications.
When to contact Emory Media relations
- If a reporter or news outlet reaches out to you.
- As soon as your research has been accepted for publication. Early engagement increases the chances of successful coverage. Emory Media Relations prioritizes high-impact medical journals or research with high consumer impact.
- If you have any questions or need advice about engaging with the media.
FPM Emory media contact:
Jacob Gnieski
Associate Director, Media Relations and Health Sciences Communications
jacob.gnieski@emory.edu
Education Updates
Emory Physician Assistant Program Celebrates Graduating Class of 2024
The Emory School of Medicine Physician Assistant Program celebrated the graduation of its Class of 2024 on December 13, 2024. The ceremony, held at Glenn Memorial Church, saw 52 graduates receive their Master of Medical Science degrees and embark on their journeys as physician assistants.
"We are incredibly proud of the Class of 2024 and their dedication to the pursuit of medicine," said Alexander Kendall, PA Program Director. "They have overcome numerous challenges and demonstrated exceptional resilience and compassion. We are confident that they will make a significant impact on the lives of their patients."
The graduation ceremony featured Dean Sandra L. Wong as the commencement speaker.
Graduates have future plans including residency programs and moving directly into clinical practice. The Class of 2024 joins a distinguished alumni network of physician assistants who are making a difference in healthcare around the world.
Emory PA White Coat Ceremonies
The Emory School of Medicine Physician Assistant Program recently held its annual White Coat Ceremony, welcoming a new class of aspiring physician assistants and releasing a graduating class to the physician assistant profession. The ceremony, a significant milestone in the physician assistant education journey, marks the official beginning of the Class of 2025 students' PA school careers. At the same time, the Class of 2024 celebrated reaching the end of their training journey to enter the professional world.
It was an exciting day for the students and the PA program. The white coat symbolizes the commitment to patient care, professionalism, and the ethical practice of medicine.
During the ceremony, each student in the Class of 2025 received their first white coat, a symbol of their entry into the medical profession. The Class of 2024 received long white coats, a symbol of PA professionals. Both classes joined PA faculty and Society group leaders in recitation of the PA Oath.
The White Coat Ceremony is a cherished tradition for the Physician Assistant program, fostering a sense of community and shared purpose among the class.
Pictured below: PA faculty at the White Coat Ceremony
PA Program Faculty & Staff Awards
During the 2024 White Coat Ceremony, the following PA faculty and staff received awards:
ShaJaun Watts, MMSc, MBA, PA-C: Faculty of the Year (pictured below left)
Ursula Robertson: Staff of the Year (pictured below center)
Greg Burke, PA-C, DFAAPA: Special Recognition as a Society Leader (pictured below right)
Learning to Be Better Teachers
Dr. Ambar Kulshreshtha documented the Family Medicine faculty attendees at the School of Medicine Learning to Be Better Teachers conference.
Pictured below: Dr. Ambar Kulshreshtha, Dr. Sarah Dupont, Dr. Ryan Smith, and Dr. Neena Ghose.
