Emory Family & Preventive Medicine Department News
2023: Volume 6, issue 1
55 Words from the Chair
On the road again! Our faculty and staff bring incredible value every day here at home. Out in the world, they garner accolades and recognition. 2023 brings new opportunities for faculty and staff development, for excellence in our missions of research, education, and service, and for celebrating our successes. Let’s make this a great year!
New Additions to the Department!
The Palliative Medicine division has welcomed three new babies!
Health in little steps
“Sitting is the new smoking” says Dr. James Levine, based on research showing that long periods of sitting are associated with an elevated risk of heart disease, diabetes, and dementia. But a new study found that even short bursts of activity may be enough to counter the most harmful effects of sitting. In this research, a 5-minute walk every half hour resulted in an almost 60% reduction in blood sugar. Even a walk as short as 1 minute every 60 minutes was enough to significantly reduce blood pressure. Although evidence suggests that walking - as opposed to standing - is important, even short bursts of movement can yield great benefits.
Compassion Meditation: Registration is now open for the Spring 2023 CBCT course, sponsored by the Dean’s office and free for any SOM faculty or staff.
Transformative Research
In 2019, newly appointed FPM Vice Chair for Research Dr. Mo Ali and Emily Chuba, Associate Director of Research Projects, introduced a strategic plan for increasing research in our department. Over the past five years, FPM Research has grown in faculty, funding, staff, and productivity. The ripples of this work are having positive effects in every corner of our department. Here's a look at what our department has achieved and a glimpse of what's in the works for the next five years. Contact Emily Chuba if you'd like to know more about current or planned initiatives.
Pictured above: Department research faculty and staff at their annual research retreat.
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Research News
Kavalieratos named Sojourn Scholar and AAHPM Fellow
The Cambia Health Foundation has announced the selection of 12 emerging palliative care leaders for its Sojourns® Scholar Leadership Program, including Dr. Dio Kavalieratos. In its ninth year, this program identifies, cultivates and advances the next generation of palliative care leaders.
Each Sojourns Scholar receives a two-year, $180,000 grant ($90,000/year over a two-year period) to conduct an innovative and impactful project tied to a leadership development plan that positions the scholar for growth as a national leader in the field of palliative care. Scholars also join a collaborative learning community where they receive one-to-one mentoring from an established palliative care leader and targeted training on key leadership skills. Dr. Kavalieratos' project is "Developing Equitable End-of-Life Care to Address Social and Structural Determinants of Health among People with Heart Failure."
Dr. Kavalieratos has also been named a Fellow of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. This honor is achieved by members whose professional activity is devoted to the practice of hospice and palliative medicine. Congratulations Dr. Kavalieratos!
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Moore selected as Research Co-Chair
Dr. Miranda Moore has been selected to serve as the Co-Chair of the Research Committee for the Teaching Kitchen Collaborative. As co-chair, she will also serve on the TKC Advisory Committee. The term starts 2/1/2023 and is for 2 years. Congratulations Dr. Moore!
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Thirunavukkarasu receives Synergy Award
Congratulations to Dr. Sathish Thirunavukkarasu who received a 2022 Synergy Award from Woodruff Health Sciences. Only 4 out of 32 applications were selected for funding.
His project “Proof-of-Concept Mechanistic Study” will evaluate the effect of a low-calorie diet on the pathophysiology of isolated impaired fasting glucose (i-IFG), resulting in reversal to normoglycemia. This study will generate the first evidence of the efficacy of a novel lifestyle intervention in i-IFG, the most common form of prediabetes globally.
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Cross presents at AAHPM
Dr. Sarah Cross presented a poster at the recent American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine meeting. Her poster was titled " Social Deprivation and End-of-Life Care Use Among Adults with Cancer."
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Kaplan Presentation Feb. 15
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Kulshreshtha publication in the news
Dr. Ambar Kulshreshtha and team published "Trends in Provision of Medications and Lifestyle Counseling in Ambulatory Settings by Gender and Race for Patients With Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease, 2006-2016" this month in JAMA Network Open. The article is already attracting media attention.
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Zarrabi receives CHA Funding
Congratulations to Dr. Ali John Zarrabi and team for approved pilot funding for the project The effects of psilocybin on oxidative stress, inflammation, and aging. Funding for this work is made possible through The Emory Woodruff Health Sciences Center for Health in Aging.
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Collaborative department publications
Dr. Kim Curseen and Dr. Dio Kavalieratos published Pain experiences among those living with hidradenitis suppurativa: a qualitative study. Br J Dermatol. 2023 Jan 23;188(1):41-51.
Dr. Leslie Johnson and Dr. Mo Ali published A realist process evaluation of the INtegrating DEPrEssioN and Diabetes treatmENT (INDEPENDENT) randomized controlled trial in India. Am J Med Open. 2022 Dec;8:100015.
Dr. Sara Turbow and Dr. Mo Ali published Ambulance use and subsequent fragmented hospital readmission among older adults. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2022 Dec 27.
Faculty publications
Dr. Mo Ali
Cohort Profile: The Center for cArdiometabolic Risk Reduction in South Asia (CARRS). Int J Epidemiol. 2022 Dec 13;51(6):e358-e371
Do diabetes phenotypes in US women differ by race/ethnicity? A population-based cluster analysis. Metabol Open. 2022 Dec 22;17:100225.
Long-term Effects of a Collaborative Care Model on Metabolic Outcomes and Depressive Symptoms: 36-Month Outcomes from the INDEPENDENT Intervention. J Gen Intern Med. 2023 Jan 3.
Dr. Ted Johnson
Annual Foot Exams are Associated with Reduced Incident Amputation among Older Veterans with Diabetes. J Appl Gerontol. 2022 Oct 1:7334648221129855.
Dr. Ambar Kulshreshtha
Effects of candesartan on cerebral microvascular function in mild cognitive impairment: Results of two clinical trials. Int J Stroke. 2023 Jan 16:17474930231153313.
Trends in Provision of Medications and Lifestyle Counseling in Ambulatory Settings by Gender and Race for Patients With Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease, 2006-2016. JAMA Netw Open. 2023 Jan 3;6(1):e2251156.
Dr. Oguchi Nwosu
An Atypical Case of Gout-Induced Arthropathy After a Total Knee Arthroplasty. J Med Case Rep Case Series. 2023 Jan 3(19).
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From Writing Blocks to Building Blocks
February 23, noon to 1:30 p.m.
This workshop will focus on the common blocks that writers encounter: behaviors, beliefs, and feelings that frustrate your efforts at scholarly productivity.
Participants will go through an exercise designed to help assess and understand individual experiences of writer’s block. Then we will begin to identify and apply ways to chip away at a block and move beyond it.
Presented by Allison Adams, director, scholarly writing and research, CFDE.
For more information and to register, please visit this CFDE webpage.
Educational Investments for our future
Palliative Care Summit
Emory Palliative Care Center partnered with the University of Alabama Birmingham in November to host the biannual summit of the Southeast Institute of Innovation in Palliative and Supportive Care. The conference, Forging the Future, highlighted the unique opportunities and challenges of palliative medicine in the American South. This year featured many salient topics including equity, communication, collaborative models, and the future landscape for patient care. We had an incredible gathering thanks to our Emory planning committee: Drs. Dio Kavalieratos, Susan Kunihiro, David Wilkerson, and Tammie Quest. Our department’s own Drs. Lawson Marcewicz, Jesse Soodalter, Paul DeSandre, and Sarah Cross were among the invited speakers.
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Strong Emory Presence at STFM-MSE Conference
Emory had a strong showing at the 2022 Society for Teachers of Family Medicine Conference on Medical Student Education, held January 26-28 in New Orleans. Medical student John Chancellor presented a poster on Healthcare Innovation Project - Empathy Toolkit for Telemedicine and medical student Charlie Lane presented a poster on Discovering Compassion in Medical Education. Both Mr. Chancellor and Mr. Lane were also awarded 2023 STFM Foundation Student Scholarships to attend the 2023 STFM MSE Conference. As part of the application process, they had to submit research posters, write personal statements, and obtain letters of recommendation, and they were among only 27 students selected nationwide.
Dr. Ryan Smith, Ms. Grayson Gunn, and Dr. Dominique Munroe (GA Gear) presented research that they had conducted with Dr. Miranda Moore on the Impact of a Novel Family Medicine Tiered Mentoring Program.
Dr. Smith was also recognized for completing the STFM Medical Student Educators Development Institute Fellowship.
Department staff Ms. Porsha Clayton, Dr. Leigh Partington, Ms. Khaliala Ward, and Ms. Patricia Woodard presented "Staff Development: Like a Film, They Both Need Developing."
Pictured below: Dr. Smith and Ms. Gunn presenting. Dr. Partington, Ms. Clayton, Ms. Woodard, and Ms. Ward after their presentation. Mr. Lane and Mr. Chancellor with their posters.
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PA Program Graduate in 40 Under Forty
Physician Assistant Class of 2014 Takeia Horton has been featured in Emory 40 Under Forty by the Emory Alumni Association. Recognizing the lack of diversity among physician assistants, she founded DiversityPA to guide and mentor students in their journey to become physician assistants. Ms. Horton also teaches Emory PA students Billing and Coding in Professional Issues 1.
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Congratulations to our FPM Faculty Accepted into
Development Programs
Dr. Bernadette Baker, Junior Faculty Development Course
Dr. Laura Brachman, New Clinical Leaders Course
Dr. Rosette Chakkalakal, New Clinical Leaders Course
Dr. Neena Ghose, New Clinical Leaders Course
Dr. Ashima Lal, New Clinical Leaders Course
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Innovative Palliative Medicine Classes
Dr. Lynn O'Neill is co-teaching an interdisciplinary sidecar class for Emory College on "Death, Dying, & Finding Meaning." This sidecar will explore personal experiences and reactions around death and dying in students' lives in a challenging and safe academic space, facilitated by peers, a palliative care physician, and a biologist/ethicist. A side-car course brings together a subset of students from two courses that overlap in methodologies, topics, etc., to create a short interdisciplinary course that runs simultaneously with its two sponsoring courses.
Palliative faculty Dr. Tammie Quest, Dr. Dio Kavalieratos, and Dr. Ravi Pathak are part of a team of interdisciplinary faculty at Emory and Georgia Tech teaching a course on Digital Palliative Care. This course, open to both Emory and GT students, will provide an overview of the key issues involved in the introduction of sustainable healthcare technology in resource-constrained regions. The course combines lectures on critical concepts in affordable health care technology development and implementation, including context and needs evaluation, supply chain infrastructure and usability design, financial sustainability, and the ethics of low-cost healthcare provision, with practical learning. Through close faculty mentorship, small groups of students will work in mixed-discipline teams to create a solution to a real-world health problem. Students will develop applications for mobile-based devices in recognition that such technologies are increasingly relied upon as a rapid route to implementing and deploying healthcare solutions (mHealth). Organizations based in relevant resource-constrained settings will be identified who can provide feedback and detailed information important to the solutions; wherever possible, pilot implementation of student-developed apps will be facilitated with local partners at the conclusion of the course.
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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.
Feb 15: "The benefits and problems with giving a diagnosis of dementia." Presented By: Malaz A. Boustani, MD, MPH
Richard M. Fairbanks Professor of Aging Research
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.
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Palliative and Preventive Medicine Celebrate a Successful Match!
The Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship had a very successful match for the 2023-2024 academic year! More details to come!
The Preventive Medicine Residency and Fellowship also had a successful match and will welcome Eric Johnson, MD this summer. Dr. Johnson is a graduate of Tuskegee University (B.S. Psychology) and Meharry Medical College (MD, 2020). He presently is completing his residency in Family Medicine at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. In July, he will join the Emory Preventive Medicine Program for two years, during which he will also earn his MPH from Rollins School of Public Health.
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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.
A lecture series fostering collaboration in scientific and clinical rehabilitation in environment, aging, and dementia. Established in 2009, the Bettye Rose Connell Memorial Lecture series commemorates Dr. Connell’s dedication to improving the lives of vulnerable elders. Each spring, distinguished regional and national researchers are invited to Emory University and the Atlanta VA Medical Center to honor her legacy and promote continued scholarship in this field.
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Service for our future
Nwosu accepts national appointment
Dr. Oguchi Nwosu has been selected as a reviewer for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Healthcare Safety and Quality Improvement Research (HSQR) Study Section. This will be a three-year appointment.
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Kavalieratos Appointed to AAHPM Board of Directors
Dr. Dio Kavalieratos was elected to a three-year term on the Board of Directors of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine.
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Bell Named Section Chief
Congratulations to Dr. Daniel Bell on his election as Section Chief of the General Medicine Section at Emory St. Joseph's Hospital for the 2022-2023 term.
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Tarleton joins FM Residency staff
In December, Ms. Lynn Gissendanner-Tarleton joined the Division of Family Medicine as a Senior Administrative Assistant. She will be supporting Division Director Dr. Tina-Ann Thompson as well as Dr. Jose Villalon-Gomez and the Family Medicine Residency Program. Ms. Tarleton joined Emory in 2009 as a part-time Patient Services Coordinator with TEC Cardiothoracic Surgery. From there, she moved into a full-time position in CT Surgery as a Senior Medical Secretary before progressing into the role of Senior Administrative Assistant, working for the Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery. In her spare time, Lynn enjoys reading and spending time with her son, Austin.
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News from the FPM DEI Council
Black History Month Events
Please feel free to register and share any of these events by visiting Emory School of Medicine's events page and/or visiting this doc for events that do not have a registration link.
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DEI and Promotion
New Promotion Packet Templates Include DEI Efforts
The Office of Faculty Affairs is introducing new packet templates, which feature new requirements to include contributions to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). This included the addition of mandatory DEI sections in both the CV and the Service Portfolio. We anticipate that this change will increase the visibility and value of DEI efforts and ensure engagement in this important work across the institution. See more here.
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Passion and Promotion:
Making your Community and Equity Work Count
Feb. 17 | noon - 1 p.m. | Virtual
Presented by: Sheryl Heron (emergency medicine) and Tracey Henry (medicine).
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DOM Health Equity Day
Save the date! 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.
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19th Annual Dr. Hamilton E. Holmes Memorial Lecture
Feb. 22 | 6-7:30 p.m. | Virtual
This year’s program is titled Patient History: A Discussion on Trauma Across a Lifespan.
Rashad Johnson, CEO of Emory Decatur Hillandale Hospitals, will moderate a panel of healthcare leaders and advocates.
Register.
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CME Opportunity:
History of Racism in US Healthcare:
Root Causes of Today's Hierarchy and Systems of Power
Starting February 7, 2023 at 2 pm
Register and add to your calendar
In health care, we are united by our belief in providing the highest quality care to every patient. To do so, we must better understand the past, and work intentionally toward a healthier future.
This inaugural event in the National Health Equity Grand Rounds series will highlight the root causes of present-day health inequities by tracing the social, economic, political, geographic, and environmental forces that shape opportunity for health in the United States. Keynote speaker Harriet A. Washington, MA, author of Medical Apartheid, will explore the history of structural inequities in health care and unethical medical experimentation followed by a panel conversation moderated by American Medical Association (AMA) Chief Health Equity Officer Aletha Maybank, MD, MPH, and featuring Rupa Marya, MD, Jack Resneck, Jr., MD, and David Ansell, MD, MPH.
Continuing Medical Education (CME) credit will be offered at no cost to attendees. This activity has been approved for 1.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™
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News from the Office of Faculty Development
Updated CV, Teaching, and Service Portfolio Templates for Senior Promotions and Tenure Now Available
The new templates have been revised to better reflect and explicate your professional activities. The old templates also have some modifications to capture your DEI and mentoring activities. Both the old and new templates will be accepted for the 2023-2024 promotion cycle, but old templates will be phased out after the 2023-2024 promotion cycle; i.e., for any appointments or promotions to become effective after Sept. 1, 2024. We encourage you to begin using the new templates as soon as possible.
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Make Headway on a Writing Project
this Semester
SIT DOWN AND WRITE WITH THE CFDE
The CFDE offers a twice-weekly, hourlong opportunity to virtually "Sit Down and Write." Sit Down and Write is a great way for writers to structure their time, boost their productivity, and connect with others. It helps you carve out dedicated writing time and make progress on chapters, journal articles, and grant applications -- whatever you are writing. While an hour doesn’t sound like much, it’s amazing what you can get done if you really focus. The discipline and shared sense of purpose that comes from writing with others also keeps you accountable and reminds you that you aren’t alone.
The formula is simple:
- On Tuesdays at 11 am and Fridays at 11 am, we connect via Facebook or Slack (you choose your preferred platform)
- We write in silence for an hour and with a five-minute break
- We begin with writing for 25 minutes, take a five-minute break to check in, write for 25 more minutes, and take a few minutes at the end to catch up
For more information on how to get involved, please visit this CFDE webpage.
Got news? Please send your announcements and photos to leigh.partington@emory.edu.
The DFPM newsletter is published monthly.
