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Investigator Awards in Health Policy Research 55 Commercial Ave. Third Floor New Brunswick, NJ 08901-1340 |
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Friday August 27, 2010
Hot Off the Press - Democracy Remixed - New Book by 2004 Awardee Cathy Cohen, PhDA new book by 2004 Awardee Cathy Cohen has just been published by Oxford University Press. Titled Democracy Remixed: Black Youth and the Future of American Politics, the book offers an authoritative and empirically powerful analysis of the state of black youth in America today. Utilizing the results from the Black Youth Project, a groundbreaking nationwide survey, Cohen focuses on what young Black Americans actually experience and think--and underscores the political repercussions. Featuring their stories from cities across the country, she reveals that black youth want, in large part, what most Americans want--a good job, a fulfilling life, safety, respect, and equality. But while this generation shares much in common with the rest of America, they also believe that equality does not yet exist, at least not in their lives. Moreover, for many the future seems bleak when they look at their neighborhoods, their schools, and even their own lives and choices. Through their words, these young people provide a complex and balanced picture of the intersection of opportunity and discrimination in their lives.
Cathy J. Cohen, Ph.D. is the David Mary Winton Green Professor of Political Science and Deputy Provost for Graduate Education at the University of Chicago.Source: National Program Office
Wednesday August 18, 2010
We Moved Our OfficeThe RWJF Investigator Awards National Program Office has moved. Our address and phone numbers have changed but our email addresses remain the same. Our new phone number is 732-932-4105 ext. 23817. Our new address is 112 Paterson Street, 2nd Floor, New Brunswick, NJ, 08901.Source: National Program Office
Thursday August 12, 2010
Hot Off the Press: Book on Medical Professionalism in the New Information Age edited by 2003 Awardee David Rothman and 2002 Awardee David BlumenthalA new book by a group of our program's investigators, Medical Professionalism in the New Information Age, has just been published by Rutgers University Press. With computerized health information receiving unprecedented government support, the book's editors and chapter authors analyze the intricate legal, social, and professional implications of the new technology. According to one reviewer, "Rothman and Blumenthal's compelling book fills a current gap in the literature on the possible implications of information technology for practicing physicians, health care organizations, and the profession more generally, thereby advancing both policy analysis and clinical practice."
2003 Awardee David J. Rothman, Ph.D. is president of the Institute on Medicine as a Profession (IMAP) and Bernard Schoenberg Professor of Social Medicine at Columbia College of Physicians & Surgeons. 2002 Awardee David Blumenthal, M.D., M.P.P. is national coordinator for health information technology in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. When he contributed to this volume, he was director of the Institute for Health Policy at Massachusetts General Hospital/Partners HealthCare System and professor of health care policy and Samuel O. Thier Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Chapter authors include investigators Eugene Declercq, Mark Hall, Mark Rodwin, Sara Rosenbaum, Sheila Rothman, Mark Suchman, and Nancy Tomes as well as outside scholars, Kristin Madison, Michael Painter (RWJF), Matthew Dimick, and Natassia Rozario.Source: National Program Office
Thursday July 15, 2010
New York Times Publishes OpEd Piece by 2007 Awardee Peter UbelAn OpEd piece by 2007 Awardee Peter Ubel, MD and his colleague George Loewenstein, PhD appears in today's New York Times. The piece, "Economics Behaving Badly", discusses both the potential and limits of behavioral economics for guiding the kinds of far-reaching policies we need to tackle our nation's challenges in health care and other sectors.Source: National Program Office
Tuesday July 6, 2010
Keith Wailoo, 2001 Awardee and NAC Member, Appointed Professor of History and Public Affairs at Princeton UniversityCongratulations to Keith Wailoo, Ph.D., 2001 Awardee and NAC Member, who has been appointed Townsend Martin Professor of History and Public Affairs at Princeton University. He is jointly appointed to the department of history and the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. Previously, Dr. Wailoo was the Martin Luther King, Jr. Professor of History at Rutgers and was also appointed to the Institute for Health, Health Care Policy, and Aging Research.Source: National Program Office
Thursday July 1, 2010
Congrats to 1996 Awardee Lisa Iezzoni and 2009 Awardee Aaron Kesselheim, AcademyHealth Award WinnersEarlier this week, AcademyHealth recognized the research contributions of Lisa Iezzoni, MD, MSc and Aaron Kesselheim, MD, JD, MPH at its 2010 Annual Research Meeting.
• Lisa Iezzoni, 1996 Awardee, received the Distinguished Investigator Award, which recognizes investigators who have made significant and lasting contributions to the field of health services research through scholarship and teaching, advancement of science and methods, and leadership. Lisa was recognized for her work in a number of areas including risk adjustment and for her Investigator Award research on health care quality and policy for persons with disabilities.
• Aaron Kesselheim, 2009 Awardee, received the Alice S. Hersh New Investigator Award, which recognizes the contribution of new scholars to the field of health services research. Aaron’s Investigator Award research focuses on the role of patents in drug development.Source: National Program Office
Tuesday June 22, 2010
Congratulations to 1995 Awardee Sherry Glied - Confirmed as HHS Assistant Secretary for Planning and EvaluationSherry Glied, PhD, professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health, has been confirmed as Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, Department of Health and Human Services. The Assistant Secretary is the principal advisor to the Secretary on policy development, and is responsible for major activities in policy coordination, legislation development, strategic planning, policy research, evaluation, and economic analysis.
Sherry is a 1995 Awardee and served on the National Advisory Committee of the RWJF Investigator Awards program from 1999 to 2005.Source: National Program Office
Monday June 21, 2010
Research on Nurse Staffing by 1998 Awardee Linda Aiken Cited in New York Times OpEd Piece on June 19, 2010Research findings by 1998 Awardee Linda H. Aiken, PhD, FAAN, RN on the relationship between nurse staffing levels in hospitals and patient outcomes, as well as nursing staff turnover, were featured in an OpEd piece by Theresa Brown that was published in The New York Times on June 19, 2010. The piece, titled Is There a Nurse in the House?, urges Congress to mandate a federal standard for nurse-patient ratios to help ensure patient safety.
Dr. Aiken is the Claire M. Fagin Leadership Professor of Nursing and director of the Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research at the University of Pennsylvania.Source: National Program Office
Tuesday June 1, 2010
2008 Awardee Stephen Hinshaw Quoted in Today's New York Times in Article on Testing for ADHD2008 Awardee Stephen P. Hinshaw, PhD, Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychology at UC Berkeley, was quoted in an article by Katherine Ellison titled, "Seeking an Objective Test for Attention Disorder," which appeared in The New York Times on June 1, 2010. With an RWJF Investigator Award, Steve and co-PI Richard Scheffler are studying ADHD Medication in America: Society, Schools, and Public Policy.Source: National Program Office
Thursday May 20, 2010
RWJF Human Capital Portfolio Launches Scholars, Fellows & Leadership Programs Web SiteThe Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has launched a new Web site that makes it easier than ever to learn about the career and academic opportunities the Foundation offers for current and aspiring professionals in health and health care.
The site – RWJFLeaders.org – provides information on 16 different scholarship, fellowship and leadership programs within the Foundation’s Human Capital Portfolio, including the steps to apply to each one. Additionally, it showcases the diversity of the RWJF scholars, leaders and fellows whose innovation and hard work are making a difference in the fields of medical research, nursing, health policy, nonprofit leadership and many others.
1999 Awardee and NAC member Larry Casalino, is among the people featured on the site. He said, “Participating in the Investigator Awards in Health Policy Research program—first as an awardee and later as a member of the National Advisory Committee—has been one of the best parts of my academic life. It made it possible for me to do research that involved untested ideas and that crossed disciplines—research that would have been very difficult to do otherwise. And, through the annual meetings, I’ve been exposed to a very broad range of ideas and have enjoyed interacting with extremely creative people.
The Scholars, Fellows & Leadership Programs Web site features: a filtered search to help visitors identify programs of interest to them; short profiles of scholars, fellows and leaders, detailing their research and community interests; testimonials from scholars, fellows and leaders that describe the personal and professional impact of the programs; the Leaders’ Link e-newsletter, with the latest news from the portfolio; and the opportunity to submit specific questions about individual programs.
Explore the opportunities on the RWJF Scholars, Fellows & Leadership Programs Web site at RWJFLeaders.org. The Human Capital programs featured on the Web site include:
• Harold Amos Medical Faculty Development Program
• Investigator Awards in Health Policy Research
• Ladder to Leadership: Developing the Next Generation of Community
Health Leaders
• New Connections: Increasing Diversity of RWJF Programming
• Project L/EARN
• Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Center for Health Policy at the
University of New Mexico
• Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars
• Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Community Health Leaders
• Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Executive Nurse Fellows
• Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health & Society Scholars
• Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Fellows
• Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Nurse Faculty Scholars
• Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Ph.D. in Nursing with a Concentration
in Health Policy at the University of New Mexico
• Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Physician Faculty Scholars
• Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Scholars in Health Policy Research
• Summer Medical and Dental Education ProgramSource: National Program Office
Tuesday May 18, 2010
1995 Awardee Jo Phelan Promoted to ProfessorCongratulations to 1995 Awardee Jo C. Phelan, Ph.D., who was recently promoted to professor in the department of sociomedical sciences at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health.Source: National Program Office
Monday May 17, 2010
Hot Off the Press - Reputation and Power, New Book on the FDA by 2003 Awardee Dan CarpenterReputation and Power: Organizational Image and Pharmaceutical Regulation at the FDA by 2003 Awardee Dan Carpenter has just been published by Princeton University Press. Joshua Sharfstein, MD, the FDA's Principal Deputy Commissioner, attended the book's launch event. According to one reviewer, the book is "a genuine magnum opus" and the best study of a federal agency" published since the 1970s.
Daniel P. Carpenter, PhD, is the Allie S. Freed Professor of Government and director of the Center of American Political Studies at Harvard University.Source: National Program Office
Monday May 17, 2010
2000 Awardee Robert Aronowitz Quoted in New York Times Article on Food AllergiesRobert A. Aronowitz, MD, PhD, 2000 Awardee, was interviewed by health reporter Gina Kolata for an article titled, "I Can't Eat That. I'm Allergic., which appeared in the New York Times on May 16, 2010. According to the article, because doctors are diagnosing allergies where none exist and people are assuming that they have allergies when they do not, many are getting caught in what Dr. Aronowitz calls "the career of a diagnosis."
Dr. Aronowitz is a professor in the departments of history and sociology of science at the University of Pennsylvania.Source: National Program Office
Wednesday May 12, 2010
New Book Out by 1999 Awardee Victor Rodwin, Ph.D. on Health Care in World CitiesVictor Rodwin, Ph.D., 1999 Awardee and a professor at NYU, has a new book out with co-authors Michael Gusmano, Ph.D. and Daniel Weisz, M.D., M.P.A.. Health Care in World Cities, published by Johns Hopkins University Press, compares the health systems of New York, Paris, and London and considers lessons that can be applied to current and future debates about urban health care.Source: National Program Office
Thursday May 6, 2010
Two Perspective Pieces by Awardees Appear OnLine First in This Week's New England Journal of MedicineTwo Perspective pieces by Investigators appear OnLine First in theNew England Journal of Medicine. In "A Customary and Necessary Program - Medicaid and Health Care Reform" 2000 Awardee and NAC Member Sara Rosenbaum, J.D. discusses the importance of Medicaid in the context of health reform and the financing and structural challenges this federal-state program faces. In "Why We Don't Spend Enough on Public Health," 1997 Awardee David Hemenway, Ph.D. discusses the underfunding of public health and argues that "shifting resources at the margin from cures to prevention could reduce the population's morbidity and mortality."Source: National Program Office
Wednesday May 5, 2010
Two Commentaries by Awardees Appear in Today's Issue of JAMATwo Commentaries by Investigators appear in the May 5, 2010 issue of JAMA. In "Is History Relevant to Implementing Health Reform?" Daniel M. Fox, Ph.D. and 2007 Awardee Howard, Markel, M.D., Ph.D. argue that "the real work of health reform is just beginning." In "Implementing Qualifications Criteria and Technical Assistance for Accountable Care Organizations," former NAC Member Stephen M. Shortell, Ph.D., M.B.A., M.P.H. and 1999 Awardee Lawrence P. Casalino, M.D., Ph.D. discuss the elements, capacities, quality improvement approaches, technology, and leadership characteristics that are key to the successful spread of accountable care organizations.Source: National Program Office
Tuesday May 4, 2010
2003 Awardee Daniel P. Carpenter, Ph.D., Quoted in Today's New York TimesIn "It Started More Than One Revolution," an article by Gardiner Harris that appeared in The New York Times on May 4, 2010, 2003 Awardee Dan Carpenter discusses how safety concerns following the introduction of the birth control pill led the F.D.A. to take on the medical establishment and expand its role in post-marketing surveillance.
Daniel P. Carpenter is the Allie S. Freed Professor of Government and director of the Center for American Political Studies at Harvard University.Source: National Program Office
Monday May 3, 2010
Dorothy Roberts, J.D., 2007 Awardee, Named Ver Steeg Fellow by Northwestern University2007 Awardee Dorothy E. Roberts, J.D., Kirkland & Ellis Professor at Northwestern University School of Law has been awarded the Dorothy Ann and Clarence L. Ver Steeg Distinguished Research Fellowship. She is the fifth scholar to receive the Ver Steeg Fellowship, Northwestern's first endowed award for excellence in research by a faculty member.Source: National Program Office
Saturday May 1, 2010
JHPPL Reviews The Heart of Power by 2002 Awardees David Blumenthal, M.D., M.P.P. and James Morone, Ph.D.A review of David Blumenthal's and Jim Morone's book, The Heart of Power: Health and Politics in the Oval Office, appears in the April issue of JHPPL. The reviewer, Adam Sheingate, Ph.D., is an alum of the RWJF Scholars in Health Policy Research Program. He writes, "Blumenthal and Morone succeed brilliantly as they portray how each president since Roosevelt has wrestled with the issue of health care and has been tested by it."
2002 Awardee David Blumenthal, M.D., M.P.P. is the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology at DHHS. 2002 Awardee James Morone, Ph.D. is a professor of political science at Brown University.Source: National Program Office
Thursday April 29, 2010
NEJM Publishes Perspective Piece by 1999 Awardee Larry Casalino, Past NAC Member Steve Shortell, and ColleaguesA Perspective Piece by 1999 Awardee Lawrence Casalino, MD, PhD, Diane Rittenhouse, MD, MPH, Robin Gillies, PhD, and former NAC member Stephen Shortell, PhD, MPH appears in the April 29th issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. In "Specialist Physician Practices as Patient-Centered Medical Homes," the authors argue that although specialists should not be prevented from having their practices serve as medical homes, "specialist-based medical homes should be required to meet the same standards as primary care-based medical homes, including the requirements for providing first-contact, continuous, and comprehensive care and for using systematic processes to improve the health of the practice's patients."Source: National Program Office
Wednesday April 21, 2010
NAC Member Sheila Burke and 2004 Awardee Jose Escarce Involved in IOM Study of Future Directions for the National Healthcare Quality and Disparities ReprotsThe IOM has just released a report titled, "Future Directions for the National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports," which concludes that although the reports have made important contributions in raising awareness of the state of the nation's health care and in identifying gaps in quality and equity, the reports can be improved in ways that make them more influential in promoting change in the health care system. Sheila Burke, R.N., M.P.A. (NAC Member), Chair of the IOM Committee on Future Directions for the National Healthcare and Disparities Reports, and Committee member Jose Escarce, M.D., Ph.D. (2004 Awardee) contributed to the report.
Sheila Burke, R.N., M.P.A. is an adjunct lecturer and faculty research fellow at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. Jose Escarce, M.D., Ph.D. is a professor of medicine at the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine.Source: National Program Office
Thursday April 15, 2010
NEJM Publishes Perspective Piece by 2007 Awardees Michelle Mello, JD, PhD and Tom Gallagher, MD on Malpractice ReformA Perspective Piece by 2007 Awardees Michelle Mello, JD, PhD and Thomas Gallagher, MD appears in this week's New England Journal of Medicine. In "Malpractice Reform - Opportunities for Leadership by Health Care Institutions and Liability Insurers," Drs. Mello and Gallagher discuss emerging models of disclosure of medical injuries and early resolution of cases, and their potential for producing information that health care institutions can use to improve patient safety.
Michelle Mello is a professor in the department of health care policy and management at the Harvard School of Public Health and Director of the Program in Law and Public Health. Thomas Gallagher is an associate professor of medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine.Source: National Program Office
Friday April 2, 2010
NEJM Publishes Perspective Piece by 2003 Awardee Alan Garber, MD, PhD on Regulation of Medical DevicesA Perspective Piece by 2003 Awardee Alan Garber, MD, PhD appears in the April 1st issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. In "Modernizing Device Regulation" Dr. Garber recommends a "more rigorous device-approval process" in conjunction with "increased investments in postapproval studies and pooling of data from electronic health records."
Alan Garber is the Henry J. Kaiser, Jr. Professor and Director of the Center for Health Policy at Stanford University's School of Medicine.Source: National Program Office
Thursday April 1, 2010
Opinion Piece by Eric Patashnik, 2008 Awardee, and Julian Zelizer Appears in Politico on March 30, 2010An opinion piece titled, "Now the Real Health Care Fight Begins," by 2008 Awardee Eric Patashnik and his colleague Julian Zelizer appeared in Politico on March 30, 2010. The authors argue that the new health reform law is vulnerable and that supporters need to find ways to "make the law more acceptable to a skeptical public, more workable, and most of all, more fiscally sustainable."
Eric Patashnik, Ph.D., M.P.P. is a professor politics and associate dean of the Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at the University of Virginia.Source: National Program Office
Thursday March 25, 2010
Investigators and NAC Members Discussing Health Reform in the MediaSeveral current and past investigators have been tapped for their expertise in media coverage of the historic passage of health reform. Sara Rosenbaum, JD (2000 Awardee and NAC member) appeared on NPR and the PBS NewsHour. Jim Morone, PhD (2002 Awardee) and Mark Hall, JD (2004 Awardee) have been interviewed on NPR. Mark Peterson, PhD (1994 Awardee and NAC Member) appeared on both Minnesota Public Radio and Wisconsin Public Radio's Ideas Network. Amy D. Marcus (2006 Awardee) has reported on responses to the legislation and some of the changes it contains in the Wall Street Journal. And Susan Dentzer (NAC Member) explained on the PBS NewsHour what the legislation will mean for the American public, especially the uninsured, and how the legislation will affect Medicare and Medicaid.Source: National Program Office
Wednesday March 17, 2010
New York Times Publishes OpEd Piece by Dan Carpenter, Ph.D., 2003 AwardeeAn OpEd piece on "Why Consumers Can't Trust the Fed" by 2003 Awardee Daniel Carpenter, Ph.D., appears in today's New York Times. Dan is the Allie S. Freed Professor of Government and director of the Center for American Political Studies at Harvard University.Source: National Program Office
Tuesday March 9, 2010
JAMA Publishes Commentary by Daniel Wolfe and 2001 Awardee Amy Fairchild, Ph.D., M.P.H.A Commentary by Daniel Wolfe, M.P.H. and Amy Fairchild, Ph.D., M.P.H., 2001 Awardee, on "The Need for Improved Surveillance of Occupational Disease and Injury" appears in the March 10, 2010 issue of JAMA. Amy is an associate professor and department chair, sociomedical sciences at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health.Source: National Program Office
Tuesday March 9, 2010
Sara Rosenbaum, J.D., NAC Member and 2000 Awardee, Interviewed on the PBS NewsHour on Feb. 26, 2010PBSNewsHour's Kwame Holman interviewed Sara Rosenbaum, J.D. in a segment on the reconciliation process and health reform that aired on February 26, 2010. A 2000 Awardee and NAC member, Sara is chair of the department of health policy at George Washington University's School of Public Health and Health Services.Source: National Program Office
Wednesday February 24, 2010
Sara Rosenbaum, J.D., 2000 Awardee and NAC Member, Interviewed on NPR's Morning EditionNPR's Julie Rovner interviewed Sara Rosenbaum, J.D. in a Morning Edition segment titled, Health Care No Stranger to Reconciliation Process. Sara Rosenbaum points out that reconciliation is "the way in which virtually all of health reform, with very, very limited exceptions has happened over the past 30 years".
Sara Rosenbaum, a 2000 Awardee and NAC member, is chair of the department of health policy at George Washington University's School of Public Health and Health Services.Source: National Program Office
Tuesday February 23, 2010
Celeste Watkins-Hayes, Ph.D., 2008 Awardee, Interviewed about Her Research on CBS News ChicagoOn February 19 , 2010, CBS News in Chicago aired a segment by reporter Jim Williams profiling a new study by Celeste Watkins-Hayes, Ph.D., which showed that low-income African American women in Chicago actually improved their lives after receiving an AIDs diagnosis.
Dr. Watkins-Hayes, a 2008 Awardee, is an assistant professor in the departments of sociology and African and American studies at Northwestern University.Source: National Program Office
Monday February 22, 2010
RWJF Releases County Health Rankings to Help Drive Efforts to Improve the Health of Communities in the U.S.On February 17, 2010, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin’s Population Health Institute released the County Health Rankings: Mobilizing Action Toward Community Health—the first set of reports to rank the overall health of every county in all 50 states. The Rankings—a collection of 50 individual state reports— will help public health and community leaders, policy-makers, consumers and others to see how healthy their county is, compare it to others within their state and find ways to improve the health of their community. Additional resources, including the health comparison tool for each county, are available online at www.countyhealthrankings.org.Source: National Program Office
Thursday February 18, 2010
NEJM Publishes Perspective Piece on Health Care Spending by 2005 Awardee Jon Skinner, Ph.D., and ColleaguesIn a Perspective piece titled, Looking Back, Moving Forward, in this week's New England Journal, 2005 Awardee Jonathan Skinner, Ph.D., and Dartmouth colleagues Douglas Staiger, Ph.D., and Elliott Fisher, M.D., M.P.H. discuss the evidence on measuring costs and the importance of selecting the right incentives to encourage low-cost, high-quality care. They say, "An 'industry standard' of hospital-level health care cost measures for the Medicare population is within our grasp." The authors believe that such measures are a necessary first step to getting provider incentives right, and they suggest that hospitals and physicians "re-examine how they treat patients near the end of life."Source: National Program Office
Wednesday February 17, 2010
JAMA Publishes Paper by James Perrin, M.D. and Steven Gortmaker, Ph.D., 1997 Awardees, on the Dynamics of Obesity and Chronic Health Conditions among ChildrenNew research by Jeanne Van Cleave, M.D., and 1997 Awardees James Perrin, M.D. and Steven Gortmaker, Ph.D., appears in the February 17th issue of JAMA. The paper, "Dynamics of Obesity and Chronic Health Conditions among Children and Youth," finds that "Chronic conditions in childhood are common and dynamic" (with much variation in the persistence of conditions). The authors emphasize the importance of "continuous, comprehensive health services for all children to adjust treatment of chronic conditions, promote remission, and prevent the onset of new conditions."
Dr. James Perrin is a professor at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Steven Gortmaker is a professor in the Harvard School of Public Health and director of the Harvard School of Public Health Prevention Research Center.Source: National Program Office
Wednesday February 17, 2010
JAMA Publishes Editorial by 2007 Awardee Howard Markel, M.D., Ph.D., on King Tut, Modern Medical Science, and Historical InquiryIn an editorial published in the February 17th issue of JAMA, Dr. Howard Markel, 2007 Awardee, comments on new findings by a group of researchers exploring ancestry and pathology in King Tut's family and speculating about the cause of the King's death. Dr. Markel acknowledges the authors' careful consideration of the ethical implications of their research and cautions against the potential for using modern medical science to open "a historical Pandora's box."Source: National Program Office
Wednesday February 10, 2010
Commentary by David Mechanic, Ph.D., on High-Quality Medical Care Organizations Appears in This Week's JAMAA Commentary by David Mechanic, Ph.D., titled, "Replicating High-Quality Medical Care Organizations" appears in the February 10th issue of JAMA. Dr. Mechanic discusses the challenges involved in replicating exemplary medical care systems such as the Mayo Clinic and Kaiser-Permanente, the importance of organizational culture and extraordinary leadership, and the decades it took for these models of excellence to evolve. He says that, "..clinical integration is the most challenging of the changes needed" in medical care settings and that the emerging culture in accountable care organizations must ensure that the roles of all health care professionals are coordinated clearly and respected. Buy-in and centrality of physicians and other health care professionals are key to developing new approaches for working together more efffectively to provide coordinated, patient-centered care.
In addition to serving as program director of the RWJF Investigator Awards program, David Mechanic is a 1994 Awardee, the Director of the Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research and the Rene Dubos University Professor of Behavioral Sciences at Rutgers.Source: National Program Office
Tuesday February 9, 2010
Sandro Galea, M.D., M.P.H., Dr.P.H., 2006 Awardee, on NPR's Morning EditionSandro Galea, M.D., M.P.H., Dr.P.H., 2006 Awardee, and Chair of the Department of Epidemiology at Columbia's Mailman School of Public Health, was interviewed by Alix Spiegel for a story that aired today on NPR's Morning Edition on "Mental Health Disaster Relief Not Always Clear Cut."Source: National Program Office
Monday February 8, 2010
Bill Vega, PhD, NAC Member, Named Executive Director of the USC Roybal Institute on AgingWilliam Vega, PhD, NAC Member, an expert on health disparities that affect aging ethnic populations, has been named Executive Director of the University of Southern California Roybal Institute on Aging. Bill also holds a joint appointment in the University's Keck School of Medicine and is a Provost Professor.
The Roybal Institute is dedicated to translational research, policy advocacy and training that improves the health, mental health and care of older persons, particularly those from low-income and multiethnic backgrounds.Source: National Program Office
Thursday February 4, 2010
Joe Fins, M.D., 2006 Awardee, Widely Quoted as Expert in Today's News including Article in The Wall Street Journal by Amy D. Marcus, 2006 AwardeeA study published yesterday in the New England Journal of Medicine by researchers in Britain and Belgium who documented signs of consciousness and the potential for communication in a group of patients diagnosed as being in a persistent vegetative state has gained widespread attention in the media. Articles that appeared this morning in The New York Times (Quote of the Day), The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Kaiser Health News, and elsewhere quoted Joseph Fins, M.D., Chief of the Division of Medical Ethics at Weill Cornell Medical College and 2006 Awardee, whose Investigator Award project explores severe brain injury and health policy. The Wall Street Journal article, "Cognition in Vegetative Patients Is Found in Imaging Tests," was written by reporter Amy Dockser Marcus who is also a 2006 Awardee.Source: National Program Office
Wednesday February 3, 2010
Dorothy Roberts, J.D., 2007 Awardee, Appears on Minnesota Public Radio and at the University of Minnesota to Discuss Her Research on Race, Genetics, and MedicineDorothy Roberts, J.D., 2007 Awardee, Kirkland & Ellis Professor at Northwestern University Law School, discussed her research findings on Minnesota Public Radio this morning in a program that expored the controversial connection between race, genetics, and medicine. She also delivered the Deinard Memorial Lecture on Law and Medicine at the University of Minnesota Consortium on Law and Values in Health, Environment & the Life Sciences, where she discussed how the FDA's approval of the first race-specific drug has generated a heated debate about the scientific and political efficacy of race-based medicine.Source: National Program Office
Tuesday February 2, 2010
New Research by Vince Mor, Ph.D., 1996 Awardee, and Colleagues Shows Adverse Effects on Elderly of Increasing Cost Sharing for Outpatient CareAn article in the January 28th issue of the New England Journal of Medicine by Vince Mor and two colleagues at Brown University analyzed the effects of increased ambulatory care copayments on health care utilization by the elderly. The study found that although Medicare enrollees in plans where co-pays rose had fewer outpatient visits, they were hospitalized more frequently and for longer periods. This trend was magnified for patients living in areas with lower income and education and for those with certain chronic illnesses such as hypertension and diabetes. The study was covered by the New York Times on Feb. 2.Source: National Program Office
Thursday January 28, 2010
NEJM Publishes Perspective Pieces by Ron Bayer, 2001 Awardee, and Mark Pauly, 1995 AwardeeA Perspective piece by Ron Bayer, Ph.D., 2001 Awardee, and Matthew Kelly, M.P.H. on "Tobacco Control and Free Speech - An American Dilemma," appears in today's New England Journal of Medicine. An online first Perspective piece by Mark Pauly, Ph.D., 1995 Awardee, on "Avoiding Side Effects in Implementing Health Insurance Reform," has been posted in the Health Care Reform Center section of the New England Journal's web site.Source: National Program Office
Wednesday January 27, 2010
Democrats Must Find Their Voice on Healthcare Reform according to LA Times OpEd Piece by 2002 Awardee Jim Morone, Ph.D.In an OpEd piece published in today's LA Times, James Morone, Ph.D., looks back at the 75-year struggle for health reform and urges Democratic leaders not to retreat in the face of strong opposition. Instead Morone appeals to Democrats to "find their voice" and start explaining to the American people why the proposed legislation is so important to us, our families, and our nation's future.Source: National Program Office
Monday January 25, 2010
Rick Kronick, Ph.D., 1998 Awardee, Named Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health PolicyRichard Kronick, Ph.D., 1998 Awardee, was recently appointed Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health Policy under the office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Until his appointment, Rick was a professor in the department of family and preventive medicine at UC San Diego.Source: National Program Office
Monday January 11, 2010
NEJM Publishes Sounding Board by Milton Weinstein and Jonathan Skinner, 2005 Awardee, on Comparative Effectiveness and Health Care SpendingA Sounding Board piece by Milton Weinstein, PhD, of the Harvard School of Public Health and Jonathan Skinner, PhD, 2005 Awardee and John Sloan Dickey Third Century Professor at Dartmouth College appeared in the January 7, 2010 issue of theNew England Journal of Medicine. The piece, "Comparative Effectiveness and Health Care Spending - Implications for Reform," discusses the role of cost-effectiveness in containing health care costs and strategies for improving the efficiency of health plans and providers.Source: National Program Office
Wednesday January 6, 2010
Health Affairs Publishes Narrative Matters Piece by Amy D. Marcus, 2006 AwardeeA Narrative Matters piece by Amy Dockser Marcus, 2006 Awardee, and a reporter at The Wall Street Journal appears in the January 2010 issue of Health Affairs. In "The Loneliness of Fighting a Rare Cancer," Amy describes how her mother's diagnosis of gallbladder cancer and the lack of research to help guide its treatment led her to study how patient advocates might help speed up the development of therapies for rare cancers. The piece also discusses the policy changes that could facilitate the participation of advocates in the search for new drugs.Source: National Program Office
Tuesday January 5, 2010
JAMA Editorial by Adams Dudley, 2004 Awardee, and Erika Yoo on Evaluating TelemedicineAn editorial titled, Evaluating Telemedicine in the ICU, by Adams Dudley, MD, MBA and Ericka Yoo, MD appeared in the December 23/30, 2009 issue of JAMA. The article discusses how research studies might be designed to assess the benefits of telemedicine in the ICU, given the complexities of ICU care, the potential of tele-ICU to extend intensivist coverage to hospitals that do not have it, and the uncertainties surrounding how tele-ICU affects clinical outcomes.
A 2004 Awardee, Adams Dudley is a Professor of Medicine at UCSF and Associate Director of Research at the Institute for Health Policy Studies.Source: National Program Office
Monday November 30, 2009
Alan Garber, MD, PhD, 2003 Awardee, Transmits Health Reform Letter to President Obama from 23 Distinguished EconomistsOn November 17, 2009, Alan Garber, MD, PhD, Henry J. Kaiser Professor at Stanford University and a 2003 Awardee, transmitted a letter to President Obama on behalf of 23 distinguished economists. The letter stressed the potential benefits of four critical elements that should be included in health reform legislation - deficit neutrality, an excise tax on high-cost insurance plans, a Medicare Commission empowered to suggest changes to Congress for improving the quality and value of services, and delivery system reforms that reward health care professionals for providing better care, not just more care. Along with Alan, two other investigators signed the letter - David Meltzer, MD, PhD, 2007 Awardee and an associate professor of medicine at the University of Chicago, and Jonathan Skinner, PhD, 2005 Awardee and the John Sloan Dickey Third Century Professor of Economics at Dartmouth College.Source: National Program Office
Wednesday November 25, 2009
Mark Hall, JD and Jose Pagan, PhD Appointed to RWJF Roundtable on Health and Health CareOn November 17, 2009, RWJF launched a new Roundtable on Health and Health Care comprised of 13 leaders selected from the RWJF Alumni Network. Two investigators, Mark Hall, JD, 2004 Awardee, and Jose Pagan, PhD, an alum of the RWJF Health and Society Scholars Program and a 2006 Awardee, are Roundtable members who will be exploring health and health care issues of national importance and reform strategies over the next year and a half.Source: National Program Office
Tuesday November 24, 2009
Robert Aronowitz, MD, 2000 Awardee, Publishes OpEd Piece in The New York Times on the Mammogram ControversyOn November 20, 2009, The New York Times ran an editorial on "The Controversy over Mammograms." The OpEd piece published that same day and titled, “Addicted to Mammograms,” was written by Robert Aronowitz, MD, 2000 Awardee. The piece provides an historical perspective on why evidence-based advice not to screen isn't followed in the United States.
Robbie is an Associate Professor in the departments of history and sociology of science, family practice, and community medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. His Investigator Award project book is Unnatural History: Breast Cancer and American Society.Source: National Program Office
Tuesday November 17, 2009
Richard Frank, PhD, 1993 Awardee, Recently Appointed Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Evaluation at DHHSRichard G. Frank, PhD, 1993 Awardee, has taken a leave of absence from his position as the Margaret T. Morris Professor of Health Economics in the Department of Health Care Policy at Harvard Medical School to serve as deputy assistant secretary for policy and evaluation in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. His areas of responsibility include analysis and policy development related to aging, disability, long-term care, and mental health issues.Source: National Program Office
Tuesday October 13, 2009
Congratulations to David Mechanic, PhD, Winner of the 2009 Sarnat International Prize in Mental HealthOn October 12th, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) awarded David Mechanic, PhD the 2009 Rhoda and Bernard Sarnat International Prize in Mental Health in recognition of his decades of effort to increase scientific knowledge about the causes and factors shaping mental health and to improve mental health care services. According to IOM President Harvey Fineberg, David Mechanic "has greatly influenced thinking in areas ranging from mental health to health policy, providing a sociological perspective that has complemented and enriched medical and psychological approaches to the subjects. He has also been an exemplary professional colleague, teacher, and mentor."
A 1994 Awardee, David is program director of the RWJF Investigator Awards in Health Policy Research and director of the Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.Source: National Program Office
Monday October 12, 2009
Congratulations to New IOM Members Amy Finkelstein, Ichiro Kawachi, Bill Sage, and Susan DentzerOn October 12, 2009, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) announced the names of 65 new members. Amy Finkelstein, PhD (2003 Awardee), Ichiro Kawachi, MD, PhD (1996 Awardee), William Sage, MD, JD (1998 Awardee), and Susan Dentzer (NAC Member and Editor-in-Chief of Health Affairs) were elected new members. Election to the IOM is considered one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine and recognizes individuals who have demonstrated outstanding professional achievement and commitment to service.Source: National Program Office
Thursday October 1, 2009
Wall Street Journal Publishes Opinion Piece by Eric Klinenberg, 2003 Awardee"How the First Family Can Lead on Swine Flu," by Eric Klinenberg, PhD, 2003 Awardee, and Anisya Thomas was published in The Wall Street Journal on September 29, 2009. The piece urges the President to clear up the conflicting information about the public health importance of being vaccinated for "Swine Flu" by jumping to the front of the line.
Eric is a professor and director of graduate studies in the department of sociology at NYU.Source: National Program Office
Thursday September 24, 2009
Naa Oyo Kwate, 2008 Awardee, Receives NIH Director's 2009 New Innovator AwardCongratulations to Naa Oyo A. Kwate, PhD, 2008 awardee and an assistant professor at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, who is the recipient of a National Institutes of Health Director's 2009 New Innovator Award! This award is given to individual scientists of exceptional creativity who propose pioneering approaches to major challenges in biomedical and behavioral research. Dr. Kwate will use NIH grant funds to explore the effects of multiple levels of racism on the immune function and overall health of urban African Americans and to test a novel structural-level intervention to reduce the negative impact of racism.Source: National Program Office
Tuesday September 22, 2009
New Book by Jason Corburn, 2007 Awardee - Toward the Healthy City - Hot off the Press!A new book by Jason Corburn, PhD, an associate professor of city and regional planning at UC Berkeley, has just been published by The MIT Press. According to Mindy T. Fullilove, a 2000 Awardee, "Corburn's Toward the Healthy City: People, Places, and the Politics of Urban Planning shows us how to reunite urban planning and public health. As Corburn reveals, by recreating this partnership we can overcome health disparities, chronic disease, and other pressing health problems of our era. This book is a must for everyone interested in health, cities, planning and our planet's future."Source: National Program Office
Friday September 18, 2009
Nicholas Christakis, 2000 Awardee, and the Emerging Science of Social Contagion, Profiled in the The New York Times Magazine on September 13In a cover story on Sunday, September 13, 2009, The New York Times Magazine profiled the work of Nicholas Christakis, MD, PhD, MPH (2000 Awardee), a professor at Harvard Medical School, and his colleague James Fowler, PhD, a political scientist at UC San Diego, on the role of social networks in spreading health behaviors including obesity and smoking. According to the article, "Christakis and Fowler's work suggests a new way to think about public health. If they're right, public-health initiatives that merely address individuals are doomed to failure."Source: National Program Office
Wednesday September 9, 2009
Joe Fins, 2006 Awardee, Named President-Elect of the American Society for Bioethics and HumanitiesCongratulations to Joseph Fins, MD, 2006 Awardee, who has just been named President-Elect of the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities, the nation's largest and leading bioethics and medical humanities organization. Dr. Fins is professor of medicine and public health and Chief of the Division of Medical Ethics at Cornell Weill Medical College.Source: National Program Office
Tuesday September 8, 2009
David Blumenthal and Jim Morone's New Book, The Heart of Power, Gets Cover Review in the New York Times Book ReviewOn Sunday, September 6, The New York Times published on the cover of its Book Review section a review of David Blumenthal and Jim Morone's book, The Heart of Power: Health and Politics in the Oval Office. In a piece titled "Critical Care," reviewer Robert Reich said, "This timely and insightful book puts Barack Obama's current quest for universal health insurance in historical context and gives new meaning to the audacity of hope." Congratulations to David and Jim, 2002 Awardees!Source: National Program Office
Thursday August 6, 2009
Celeste Watkins-Hayes, 2008 Awardee, Receives an NSF Early CAREER AwardCongratulations to Celeste Watkins-Hayes, Ph.D., a 2008 Awardee and assistant professor of African American studies and sociology at Northwestern University, who received an Early CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation for a project that builds upon the research she is conducting for her Investigator Award.Source: National Program Office
Wednesday August 5, 2009
Steve Epstein, 1997 Awardee, Wins the ASA's Distinguished Book Award for His Book, InclusionCongratulations to Steven Epstein, Ph.D., winner of the American Sociological Association's 2009 Distinguished Book Award for his project-related book, Inclusion: The Politics of Difference in Medical Research. The ASA Distinguished Book Award is presented annually for the best single book published in the two calendar years preceding the award year.
Formerly a professor of sociology at UC San Diego, Steve has just been named the John C. Shaffer Professor in the Humanities and Professor of Sociology at Northwestern University.Source: National Program Office
Tuesday August 4, 2009
Daniel Lee and Bryan Weiner (2007 Awardees) Win the 2008 Best Article of the Year in MCRRCongratulations to Daniel Lee and Bryan Weiner (2007 Awardees) both of UNC at Chapel Hill for winning the 2008 Best Article of the Year in Medical Care Research and Review for their paper with Halle Amick on “Conceptualization and Measurement of Organizational Readiness for Change: A Review of the Literature in Health Services Research and Other Fields.”
According to the journal, "this innovative review paper, which was published in August 2008, assessed a critical precursor to successful organizational change implementation, namely developing organizational readiness for change. The paper examined how organizational readiness for change was defined and measured in prior research, and it synthesized findings on the influence of these measures from 106 peer-reviewed articles in health care and other fields. In addition to addressing conceptual and methodological issues, it generated practical knowledge for health care management practice."Source: National Program Office
Wednesday July 8, 2009
Congratulations to Jason Corburn, PhD, 2007 AwardeeJason Corburn, PhD, 2007 Awardee, was recently promoted to associate professor with tenure in the Department of City and Regional Planning at the University of California, Berkeley. He is a member of the Global Metropolitan Studies initiative and co-directs the joint Master of City Planning (MCP) and Master of Public Health (MPH) degree program.Source: National Program Office
Wednesday July 1, 2009
Vince Mor, 1996 Awardee, a Co-Author of AcademyHealth 2009 Article of the YearOn June 29, 2009, AcademyHealth gave its 2009 Article of the Year Award to a paper by Amal Trivedi, Shailender Swaminathan, and Vincent Mor (1996 Awardee) on Insurance Parity and the Use of Outpatient Mental Health Care
Following a Psychiatric Hospitalization, which appeared in JAMA 2008 Dec 24;300(24):2879-85. The award recognizes the best scientific work that the fields of health services research and health policy have produced and published during the previous calendar year.Source: National Program Office
Tuesday June 30, 2009
RWJF Alumni Network Reception on July 26, 2009 at the NMA Annual ConferenceRWJF is creating an Alumni Network to re-engage our program's past investigators and other alumni of the Foundation's Human Capital Programs (scholars, fellows, leaders, etc.). The second alumni network reception will take place at the National Medical Association annual conference and scientific assembly on Sunday, July 26 at the Madalay Bay Convention Center, Breakers K, 2nd floor. We encourage all past investigators who will be in Las Vegas to attend the reception. RSVP by email to alumni@rwjf.org.Source: National Program Office
Monday June 22, 2009
The Heart of Power - Hot Off the Press by David Blumenthal and Jim Morone (2002 Awardees)A new book by co-investigators David Blumenthal, MD, MPP, National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, and James Morone, PhD, a professor political science at Brown University, has just been published by the University of California Press. The Heart of Power: Health and Politics in the Oval Office explores how modern presidents have wrestled with their own mortality and how they have taken this most human experience to heart as they faced the difficult politics of U.S. health care. According to Senator Edward M. Kennedy, the authors "break new ground in our understanding of health policymaking in the White House."Source: National Program Office
Thursday May 21, 2009
Two Special Events for Investigators to Take Place during AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting on June 29, 2009Two special events for investigators who are attending the AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting will take place on June 29 at the Hilton Chicago:
1. We are holding a breakfast for current and past investigators and NAC members on Monday, June 29, 2009 at 7:30 a.m. in the Joliet Room on the 3rd floor of the Hilton Chicago. Please consider joining us - to RSVP, please send an email to Cynthia Church at cchurch@ifh.rutgers.edu.
2. RWJF is creating an Alumni Network to re-engage our program's past investigators and other alumni of the Foundation's Human Capital Programs (scholars, fellows, leaders, etc.). The first alumni network reception will take place at the AcademyHealth meeting on Monday, June 29 in the Astoria Room of the Hilton Chicago, 3rd floor, at 7:30 p.m. We highly encourage all past investigators who will be in Chicago for the AcademyHealth meeting to attend the reception. To RSVP, please send an email to alumni@rwjf.org.Source: National Program Office
Thursday May 7, 2009
Health Affairs Publishes Two Project-Related Papers by Haiden Huskamp (2006 Awardee)Two papers by Haiden Huskamp, PhD and her colleagues have been published in the May/June 2009 issue of Health Affairs. "Antidepressant Reformulations: Who Uses Them, and What Are the Benefits?" demonstrates that such reformulations confer some benefit to patients with major depression, but questions whether the benefits are worth the costs of coverage, from society's perspective. "Dual Eligibles with Mental Disorders and Medicare Part D: How Are They Faring?" suggests that access to psychotropic drugs might be improved through changes to Medicare's enrollment and risk-sharing systems.Source: National Program Office
Tuesday April 7, 2009
JAMA Publishes Commentary by Mark Hall and Kevin Schulman on the Ownership of Medical InformationA commentary by Mark A. Hall, JD (2004 Awardee) and Kevin Schulman, MD (past NAC Member) on the Ownership of Medical Information appeared in JAMA on March 25, 2009. The authors describe the "networking of electronic medical records as a clear example of too many overlapping property rights creating a logjam that blocks rather than spurs investment and development." They call for "clear but adaptable laws so that stakeholders can assign economic value to the access, control, and use of medical information contained in electronic health record networks."Source: National Program Office
Monday April 6, 2009
David Blumenthal, 2002 Awardee and Former NAC Member, Appointed National Coordinator for Health Information TechnologyWe're delighted to announce that David Blumenthal, MD, MPP, 2002 Awardee and Former NAC Member, has been appointed DHHS National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. As the National Coordinator, David will lead the implementation of a nationwide interoperable, privacy-protected health information technology infrastructure as called for in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. His views on "Stimulating the Adoption of Health Information Technology" were published in a Perspective piece in the New England Journal of Medicine on April 9, 2009, 360(15): 1477-9.
We wish David the best in his new position as he tackles the huge challenges involved in trying to wire U.S. health care system and promote the use of HIT and EHRs to improve the health and health care of all Americans.Source: National Program Office
Sunday April 5, 2009
JAMA Publishes Paper by Adams Dudley and Colleagues on the Association between Hospital-Reported Leapfrog Safe Practices Scores and Inpatient MortalityOn April 1, 2009, JAMA published the results of a study by R. Adams Dudley, MD, MBA (2004 Awardee) and colleagues that was unable to find a correlation between between better performance by hospitals on the Leapfrog Safe Practices Survey and lower risk-adjusted mortality. The paper indicates that further research is needed to determine how performance on the Safe Practices Survey or other instruments designed to measure safe practices may correlate with outcomes of interest to patients and policymakers. The complete study is available in JAMA, 2009, 301(13):1341-8.Source: National Program Office
Wednesday March 11, 2009
Health Affairs Reviews Total Cure by Hal Luft (2004 Awardee)Total Cure: The Antidote to the Health Care Crisis was reviewed in the March/April issue of Health Affairs. Authored by Hal Luft, PhD, 2004 Awardee, the book, published in 2008 by Harvard University Press, offers a comprehensive new proposal for improving the value of health care and providing affordable health insurance for every American. According to the review, the book is just what the policy doctors on Capitol Hill will need: a wise, postpartisan, durable shop manual for how to make health reform actually happen in our time."Source: National Program Office
Wednesday March 11, 2009
Congrats to Scott Burris, J.D., 2001 Awardee, and Program Director of the New RWJF Public Health Law Research ProgramTemple University's Beasley School of Law has been selected by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to manage a new $19 million national program that will fund interdisciplinary research exploring legal and regulatory solutions to pressing health challenges such as chronic diseases, and health emergencies including floods, bioterrorism and epidemics.
The Public Health Law Research Program will operate under the direction of 2001 Awardee, Scott Burris, JD, a internationally recognized authority on how law influences public health.
"The Public Health Law Research Program brings long-needed funding and attention to the crucial role of law in public health," said Burris, who also co-directs Temple Law's new Center for Health Policy, Law and Practice. "Law can be a powerful tool for improving public health. Laws have contributed to reductions in smoking and they have increased use of seat belts." But, he explained, laws and law enforcement practices can also endanger health. "RWJF's investment is important because only good research can tell us what laws work and what laws don't work for public health," he added. "This is a golden opportunity to give policy makers and health advocates the information they need to pursue healthy policies — and our job will be to do everything we can to make sure the evidence our researchers produce gets to the people who need it."Source: National Program Office
Tuesday February 17, 2009
Congrats to John W. Lynch, Ph.D., 2001 AwardeeJohn W. Lynch, Ph.D., 2001 Awardee, has received one of 12 highly-coveted Australian Fellowships. John returned to Australia in 2008 to become a professor at the University of South Australia. The $4 million fellowship will be used to conduct evidence-based population health research and its translation into effective policy with a focus on early life interventions.Source: National Program Office
Thursday January 29, 2009
NEJM Reviews Total Cure by Hal Luft, 2004 Awardeei>Total Cure: The Antidote to the Health Care Crisis was reviewed in the January 29, 2009 issue of NEJM. Authored by Hal Luft, PhD, 2004 Awardee, the book, published in 2008 by Harvard University Press, offers a comprehensive new proposal for improving the value of health care and providing affordable health insurance for every American. According to the review, "economist Harold Luft presents a thought-provoking and original proposal…which he calls SecureChoice…Now is the time to evaluate SecureChoice and other health care proposals. Swift action is crucial if policymakers are to take advantage of this defining moment to enact health care reforms."Source: National Program Office
Thursday January 22, 2009
NEJM Publishes Perspective Piece by Michael Sparer, 2002 Awardee, on Medicaid and the Path to National Health InsuranceOn January 22, 2009, the New England Journal of Medicine published a "Perspective Health Care 2009" by Michael Sparer, PhD, 2002 Awardee, and a professor at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health. The paper, titled "Medicaid and the U.S. Path to National Health Insurance," argues that the most plausible path toward universal coverage is to expand Medicaid coverage to Americans with incomes below 350% of the federal poverty level, require all Americans to carry insurance, and allow those whose incomes are too high for automatic coverage to buy into Medicaid. According to Dr. Sparer, "expanding Medicaid in combination with an individual mandate offers a good policy solution that might have enough political appeal to succeed."Source: National Program Office
Tuesday January 20, 2009
JAMA Reviews Toxic Exposures by Phil Brown, PhD, 1998 AwardeeToxic Exposures: Contested Illnesses and the Environmental Health Movement was reviewed in the January 21, 2009 issue of JAMA. Authored by Phil Brown, PhD, 1998 Awardee, the book, published in 2007 by Columbia University Press, explores how concerns about "contested illnesses" such as breast cancer and asthma have launched an environmental health movement that has revolutionized scientific thinking and policy. According to the review, the "book describes how individuals have successfully worked with scientists to help shape research agendas, attract funding, and ultimately expand understanding of the disease process… It should be read by those concerned about the intersection of environment and health."Source: National Program Office
Monday January 12, 2009
2009 Call for ApplicationsPlease check our web site after January 15, 2009 for information about the 2009 Call for Applications. Thanks for your interest in the RWJF Investigator Awards in Health Policy Research.Source: National Program Office
Friday January 9, 2009
Congrats to Amy Finkelstein and Jeffrey Brown, winners of the TIAA-CREF Paul A. Samuelson AwardOn January 3, 2009, Amy Finkelstein, PhD and Jeffrey Brown, PhD, 2003 Awardees, received the TIAA-CREF Paul A. Samuelson Award for their papertitled, The Interaction of Public and Private Insurance: Medicaid and the Long-Term Care Insurance Market, which showed that even incomplete public insurance can crowd out private insurance demand.
The Samuelson Award recognizes outstanding scholarly writing on issues related to lifelong financial security. Named in honor of the Nobel Laureate and former CREF trustee, this award is given each year in recognition of an outstanding research publication containing ideas that the public and private sectors can use to maintain and improve Americans’ financial well being.Source: National Program Office
Tuesday December 2, 2008
NEJM Publishes Policy Report on the Lessons behind Medicare's Passage by David Blumenthal and Jim MoroneOn November 27, 2008, NEJM published a health policy report by David Blumenthal, MD, MPP and James Morone, PhD (2002 Awardees) on "The Lessons of Success - Revisiting the Medicare Story." The paper revisits LBJ's management of this historic legislation and provides lessons for future presidents with an interest in health care reform. NPR's Joe Shapiro covered the story in a piece produced for All Things Considered that aired on Nov. 26, 2008.Source: National Program Office
Monday October 27, 2008
Congrats to New IOM Members: Jose Escarce, Howard Markel, Bill Vega, and George Davey SmithOn October 13, 2008, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) announced the names of 65 new members and five foreign associates. Jose Escarce, MD, PhD (2004 Awardee), Howard Markel, MD, PhD (2007 Awardee), and William Vega, PhD (NAC Member) were elected new members, and George Davey Smith (2001 Awardee) was elected a Foreign Associate. Election to the IOM is considered one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine and recognizes individuals who have demonstrated outstanding professional achievement and commitment to service.Source: National Program Office
Friday October 24, 2008
Congrats to William Vega (NAC Member)William A. Vega, Ph.D. (NAC Member) has been named the founding director of the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation, which will conduct world-class research on major urban issues in Los Angeles. Through the center, faculty and students will participate in civic engagement partnerships, generating new knowledge for social action and problem resolution and transferring it to local communities. A native of Los Angeles, Dr. Vega is an expert in comparative, multi-ethnic research in adolescent and adult health.Source: National Program Office
Tuesday October 21, 2008
IOM Honors David Mechanic, PhD, National Program Director and 1994 AwardeeOn October 13, 2008, David Mechanic, PhD, Director of the Institute for Health, Health Care Policy, and Aging Research at Rutgers and National Program Director of the RWJF Investigator Awards in Health Policy Research, received the Adam Yarmolinsky Medal from the Institute of Medicine. The medal is given to an IOM member from a discipline outside the health and medical sciences. In the citation for the award, David Mechanic was acknowledged for helping to bring sociology into the forums influencing health policy. One of the IOM's earliest non-health members, he was elected to membership in 1971.Source: National Program Office
Tuesday October 21, 2008
Hot Off the Press - Total Cure by Hal Luft, 2004 AwardeeA new book by Hal Luft, PhD (2004 Awardee), Director of the Palo Alto Medical Foundation Research Institute, was just published by Harvard University Press. Total Cure: The Antidote to the Health Care Crisis offers a comprehensive new proposal for improving the value of health care and providing affordable health insurance for every American.Source: National Program Office
Monday October 20, 2008
Two New Articles by Investigators Published in JAMAThe October 15, 2008 issue of JAMA included two papers by investigators. Mark Hall, JD (Wake Forest University School of Medicine) and Carl Schneider, JD (University of Michigan School of Law), both 2004 Awardees, discuss in a commentary the professional ethics of medical billing and collections. R. Adams Dudley, MD, MBA (UCSF), a 2004 Awardee, and five colleagues present findings from a study of the frequency of stress testing to document ischemia prior to elective percutaneous coronary intervention.Source: National Program Office
Wednesday October 8, 2008
Congratulations to Ira Moscovice, PhD, (2001 Awardee)Ira Moscovice, Ph.D., (2001 Awardee) director of the University of Minnesota School of Public Health's (SPH) Rural Health Research Center and a noted expert on rural health policy, has been named head of the SPH's Division of Health Policy and Management. Dr. Moscovice's research interests include quality of care, technology diffusion in rural areas, and the impact of rural health networks and managed care. Dr. Moscovice was also named a Mayo Professor of Public Health, the SPH's highest faculty honor.Source: National Program Office
Friday September 5, 2008
Hot Off the Press! The Contested Boundaries of American Public HealthEdited by James Colgrove, David Rosner (2001 Awardee), and Gerald Markowitz (2001 Awardee), The Boundaries of American Public Health is a collection of essays by 10 of the program's investigators and other scholars that probe what are, and what should be, the field of public health's chief goals and activities. Drawing on examples that include September 11th, Hurricane Katrina, the anthrax scare, and more, contributors examine the historical evolution of the profession and show how public health is changing in the context of natural and human-made disasters and the politics that surround them.Source: National Program Office
Friday September 5, 2008
Hot Off the Press by Deborah Stone, 1999 AwardeeA new book by Deborah Stone, PhD (1999 Awardee), Research Professor of Government at Dartmouth, was recently published by Nation Books. The Samaritan's Dilemma: Should Government Help Your Neighbor explores how altruism can be harnessed for the common good, revive democracy, and mobilize people into politics.Source: National Program Office
Friday August 15, 2008
JAMA Publishes Research Findings on Outcomes Following StentingOn June 25, 2008, JAMA published a paper by Jonathan Skinner, PhD (2005 Awardee) and colleagues at Dartmouth on "Outcomes Following Coronary Stenting in the Ear of Bare Metal vs. the Era of Drug-Eluting Stents." The research results were covered in a Wall Street Journal article on June 25, 2008 titled, "Study Might Ease Stent Fears."Source: National Program Office
Friday July 18, 2008
Congratulations to Steve Epstein, 1997 Awardee!Steven Epstein, PhD, 1997 Awardee and professor of sociology at UC San Diego, will receive the 2008 Eliot Freidson Outstanding Publication Award from the American Sociological Assocation's Medical Sociology Section. The Award recognizes Steve's 2007 book, Inclusion: The Politics of Difference in Medical Research, as a major contribution to medical sociology and to sociology generally.Source: National Program Office
Thursday June 26, 2008
JAMA and NEJM Review Medical Malpractice by Frank Sloan (2003 Awardee) and Lindsey ChepkeMedical Malpractice was reviewed in the July 16, 2008 issue of JAMAand the June 26, 2008 issue of NEJM. Authored by Frank Sloan, 2003 Awardee, and Lindsey Chepke, the book, published in 2008 by MIT Press, provides a comprehensive analysis of medical malpractice from legal, medical, economic, and insurance perspectives that considers why past efforts at reform have not worked and offers recommendations for realistic, achievable policy changes. According to the New England Journal review, Medical Malpractice "is a scholarly masterpiece and is easily the definitive work on its subject." For more information about the book, scroll down to the Featured Books section of this web page.Source: National Program Office
Thursday June 26, 2008
JAMA Reviews Science for Sale by Dan Greenberg, 2002 AwardeeScience for Sale: The The Perils, Rewards, and Delusions of Campus Capitalism was reviewed in the June 18, 2008 issue of JAMA. Authored by Daniel Greenberg, 2002 Awardee, the book, published in 2007 by University of Chicago Press, reveals that campus capitalism is more complicated—and less profitable—than media reports would suggest. According to the review, "Greenberg has done an outstanding job of detailing the problems and successes of academic entrepreneurship and has provided an excellent analysis of the current state of university science." For more information about the book, scroll down to the Featured Books section of this web page.Source: National Program Office
Wednesday June 11, 2008
Congratulations to David Blumenthal, 2002 Awardee and NAC Member!On June 8, 2008, David Blumenthal, MD, MPP, Samuel O. Their Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Director of the Institute for Health Policy at Massachusetts General Hospital, received the Distinguished Investigator Award from AcademyHealth. The award recognizes individuals who have made a significant and long-lasting contribution to the field of health services research.
David serves as a member of the RWJF Investigator Awards program's National Advisory Committee and is a 2002 Awardee.Source: National Program Office
Monday May 19, 2008
New Investigators Announced!Fifteen scholars affiliated with major universities across the country are starting new projects this year with suppport from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Investigator Awards in Health Policy Research program. The winning researchers will explore many challenging issues facing America today, as well as wide-ranging concerns about the nation's health and health care system. More information about the award recipients and their projects can be found in Research in Profile, Issue 23.Source: National Program Office
Friday May 16, 2008
Health Affairs Reviews Science for Sale and Just HealthTwo books by investigators were reviewed in the May/June 2008 issue of Health Affairs - Science for Sale: The Perils, Rewards, and Delusions of Campus Capitalism by Dan Greenberg (2002 Awardee) and Just Health: Meeting Health Needs Fairly by Norman Daniels (1997 Awardee).Source: National Program Office
Thursday April 10, 2008
NEJM Reviews Science for Sale by Dan Greenberg, 2002 AwardeeScience for Sale: The The Perils, Rewards, and Delusions of Campus Capitalism was reviewed in the April 10, 2008 issue of NEJM. Authored by Daniel Greenberg, 2002 Awardee, the book, published in 2007 by University of Chicago Press, reveals that campus capitalism is more complicated—and less profitable—than media reports would suggest. For more information about the book, scroll down to the Featured Books section of this web page.Source: National Program Office
Wednesday March 26, 2008
Letter of Intent Deadline - March 26, 2008The deadline for submitting letter of intent applications was Wednesday, March 26, 2008 at 5:00 p.m. ET. The next funding opportunity will be announced in January 2009.Source: National Program Office
Wednesday March 19, 2008
Hot Off the Press by Norman Daniels!A new book by Norman Daniels, Ph.D., 1997 Awardee and professor of population and international health at the Harvard School of Public Health, has just been published by Cambridge University Press. Just Health: Meeting Health Needs Fairly provides a comprehensive theory of justice for health that answers three key questions: What is the special moral importance of health? When are health inequalities unjust? How can we meet health needs fairly when we cannot meet them all? A review in the New England Journal of Medicine on March 20, 2008, calls Just Health "a major contribution to the field and is likely to prove influential in the near term and beyond."Source: National Program Office
Saturday March 1, 2008
Hot Off the Press by Frank Sloan!A new book by Frank A. Sloan, Ph.D., 2003 Awardee and J. Alexander McMahon Professor at Duke University, and co-author Lindsey M. Chepke, has just been published by MIT Press. Medical Malpractice provides a comprehensive analysis from legal, medical, economic, and insurance perspectives of why past efforts at reforms have not worked and offers recommendations for realistic, achievable policy changes.Source: National Program Office
Monday February 25, 2008
New - Tips for ApplicantsIf you plan to submit a letter of intent application by March 26, 2008, please be sure to check out the Application Tips that are posted in the Applications section of this web site (under How to Apply) and view the samples of past, successful letters of intent. If you have questions, please contact us by email at depdir@ifh.rutgers.edu. Good luck!
Go to: How To Apply: Application TipsSource: National Program Office
Go to: How To Apply: Application TipsSource: National Program OfficeWednesday February 20, 2008
JAMA Reviews Paying the Tab by Phil Cook, PhD, 2002 AwardeePaying the Tab: The Costs and Benefits of Alcohol Control was reviewed in the Feb. 20, 2008 issue of JAMA. Authored by Philip J. Cook, 2002 Awardee, and ITT/Terry Sanford Distinguished Professor of Public Policy at Duke University, the book, published in 2007 by Princeton University Press, provides a thorough account of the scientific evidence demonstrating that higher alcohol excise taxes and other supply restrictions are effective and underutilized policy tools that can curb alcohol abuse. For more information about the book, scroll down to the Featured Books section of this web page.Source: National Program Office
Friday February 1, 2008
New Books Out by Robby Aronowitz, MD, Ron Bayer, PhD and Amy Fairchild, PhD, and Dan GreenbergNew books by Robert Aronowitz, MD (2000 Awardee), associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania, Ronald Bayer, PhD and Amy Fairchild, PhD (2001 Awardees), faculty members at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health, and Daniel S. Greenberg (2002 Awardee) have recently been published. Please visit our featured publications section for more information about Dr. Aronowitz's book, Unnatural History: Breast Cancer and American Society, Drs. Bayer and Fairchild's book, Searching Eyes: Privacy, the State and Disease Surveillance in America, and Dan Greenberg's book, Science for Sale: The Perils, Rewards, and Delusions of Campus Capitalism.Source: National Program Office
Sunday December 30, 2007
RWJF's Year in Research List for 2007Every year, RWJF chooses 10 articles from their top research and evaluation projects that had real impact in the policy arena, helped shape their thinking and work, or stood out in other ways. Included in the Foundation's Year in Research list was a paper published in JAMA on March 21, 2007 by Sam Harper, John Lynch (2001 Awardee), Scott Burris (2001 Awardee) and George Davey Smith (2001 Awardee) on Trends in the Black-White Life Expectancy Gap in the United States, 1983-2003. For more details, visit www.rwjf.org/pr/product.jsp?id=24491 or www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17369405?ordinalpos=4&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSumSource: National Program Office
Thursday December 20, 2007
New Research Findings on Black Children Living in Disadvantaged NeighborhoodsRobert J. Sampson, PhD, 2004 Awardee and Chairman of the Department of Sociology at Harvard University, and two colleagues have published a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that indicates that living in a severely disadvantaged neighborhood reduces the later verbal ability of black children to a level that rivals missing a year or more of schooling. The study appears at www.pnas.org/cgi/reprint0710189104v1?eafSource: National Program Office
Thursday November 8, 2007
Congrats to Bruce Link, PhD, 1995 Awardee and NAC Member!Bruce Link, PhD, 1995 Awardee, NAC Member, and Professor of Epidemiology at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health received the Rema Lapouse Award from the American Public Health Association. This award is granted to an outstanding psychiatric epidemiologist in recognition of significant contributions to the scientific understanding of the epidemiology and control of mental disorders.Source: National Program Office
Friday November 2, 2007
Hot Off the Press by Dan Greenberg!Daniel S. Greenberg, 2002 Awardee and journalist who has written extensively on science and health politics, has a new book out. Science for Sale: The Perils, Rewards, and Delusions of Campus Capitalism, published by the University of Chicago Press, takes a close look at commercial influences on the enterprise of scientific research on America's leading university campuses.Source: National Program Office
Monday October 22, 2007
Congrats to Rick Deyo, MD, MPH, 2000 Awardee!Richard Deyo, MD, MPH, and 2000 Awardee has been appointed the Kaiser Permanente Professor of Evidence-Based Family Medicine at the Oregon Health & Science University. Rick had previous been a professor of medicine and director of the Center for Cost and Outcomes Research at the University of Washington.Source: National Program Office
Tuesday October 16, 2007
Keith Wailoo, PhD and Jon Skinner, PhD - Newly Elected IOM MembersTwo investigators were elected to the Institute of Medicine on October 8, 2007. They are Keith Wailoo, PhD, 2001 Awardee, NAC member, and Martin Luther King Jr. Professor of History at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey and Jonathan Skinner, PhD, 2005 Awardee and John French Professor of Economics at Dartmouth College. Election to the Institute of Medicine is one of the highest honors a health scholar or researcher can earn. Congrats to Keith and Jon!Source: National Program Office
Monday October 15, 2007
Congrats to David Rosner, PhD, 2002 AwardeeDavid Rosner, PhD, 2002 Awardee, was recently named the Ronald H. Lauterstein Professor of Sociomedical Sciences at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health.Source: National Program Office
Saturday October 13, 2007
Congrats to Steve Epstein, PhD, 1997 AwardeeSteven Epstein, 1997 Awardee, was recently promoted to professor of sociology at UC San Diego. In August, he received the Robert K. Merton Professional Award from the American Sociological Asssociation for his latest book, Inclusion: The Politics of Difference in Medical Research.Source: National Program Office
Wednesday October 10, 2007
Congrats to Co-Investigators Peter Bearman, PhD and Hannah Bruckner, 2005 AwardeesPeter Bearman, PhD, Jonathan R. Cole Professor of Social Science and director of the Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy (ISERP) at Columbia University, is one of 12 recipients of the NIH Pioneer Award. He will receive $2.5 million over five years for research on determining the causes of the rising number of autism cases.
Hannah Bruckner, PhD, recently received tenure at Yale University and was promoted to Professor of Sociology. She also serves as co-director of the Center for Research on Inequalities and the Life Course at Yale.Source: National Program Office
Monday September 24, 2007
Induction of the Class of 2006 IOM MembersOn October 8, 2007, the induction of the Class of 2006 IOM members will take place at the National Academies Building in Washington, D.C. Election to the IOM is one of the highest honors a health scholar or researcher can earn. Congratulations to Nicholas Christakis (2000 Awardee and National Advisory Committee member), Sherry Glied (1995 Awardee and Past NAC member), Catherine McLaughlin (NAC member), and Tom Rice (2005 Awardee)!Source: National Program Office
Friday September 14, 2007
New Books by Phil Cook, PhD and Phil Brown, PhDNew books by Phil Cook, PhD (2002 Awardee), ITT/Terry Sanford Distinguished Professor at Duke University and Phil Brown, PhD (1998 Awardee), Professor of Sociology at Brown University have recently been published. Please visit our featured publications section for more information about Dr. Cook's book, Paying the Tab: Evidence-Based Policies for Reducing Alcohol Abuse and Its Costly Consequences, and Dr. Brown's book, Toxic Exposures: Contested Illnesses and the Enironmental Health Movement.Source: National Program Office
Monday September 10, 2007
Forthcoming Books in 2007Keep posted for news about forthcoming books by Robert Aronowitz, Ronald Bayer and Amy Fairchild, Virginia Gray and David Lowery, and Frank Sloan.Source: National Program Office
Wednesday August 15, 2007
Congrats to Bruce Link, NAC Member and 1995 AwardeeBruce Link, PhD, Professor of Epidemiology at Columbia University, NAC Member, and 1995 Awardee received the 2007 Leo G. Reeder Award from American Sociological Association's Medical Sociology Section. This Award recognizes the scholarly contributions, especially a body of work displaying an extended trajectory of productivity and encompassing theory and research. The Reeder Award also acknowledges teaching, mentoring, and training as well as service to the medical sociology community broadly defined.Source: National Program Office
Wednesday July 11, 2007
Congrats to Margaret Weir, 2004 AwardeeMargaret Weir, PhD, Professor of Political Science and Sociology at UC Berkeley and 2004 Awardee, has been elected to the 2007 Class of Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.Source: National Program Office
Monday July 2, 2007
Congrats to Rick Hall, 2000 AwardeeRichard Hall, PhD, 2000 Awardee and professor of political science at the University of Michigan, and co-author Alan Deardorff, PhD won the 2007 Jack L. Walker Outstanding Article Award from the American Political Science Association for "Lobbying as Legislative Subsidy," which appeared in the February 2006 issue of American Political Science Review.Source: National Program Office
Wednesday June 13, 2007
Congrats to Betsy Armstrong, 2003 AwardeeElizabeth Armstrong, PhD, 2003 Awardee and an alum of the RWJF Scholars in Health Policy Research Program, has been promoted to Associate Professor of Sociology and Public Affairs and is now a member of the tenured faculty of Princeton University.Source: National Program Office
Wednesday June 6, 2007
Hot off the Press!New books by Connie Nathanson, PhD (1994 Awardee) and Steve Epstein, PhD (1997 Awardee) have just been published. Please visit our featured publications section for more information about Nathanson's book, Disease Prevention as Social Change: The State, Society, and Public Health in the U.S., France, Great Britain, and Canada and Epstein's book, Inclusion: The Politics of Difference in Medical Research.Source: National Program Office
Wednesday June 6, 2007
Congrats to Mark Pauly, 1995 AwardeeMark V. Pauly, PhD, Benheim Professor of Health Care Systems at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School and 1995 Awardee, received the 2007 Distinguished Investigator Award from AcademyHealth. The award recognizes investigators who have made a significant and lasting contribution to the field of health services research through scholarship, teaching, advancement of science and methods, and leadership.Source: National Program Office
Wednesday June 6, 2007
Congrats to Jamie Robinson, 1993 AwardeeJames C. Robinson, PhD, Chair of the Division of Health Policy and Management and Kaiser Permanente Distinguished Professor of Health Economics at UC Berkeley and 1993 Awardee, will become the editor-in-chief of Health Affairs in September 2007. He succeeds John Iglehart, the founding editor of Health Affairs, who has led the journal for 25 years and helped it develop into the nation's leading journal of health policy.Source: National Program Office
Wednesday April 11, 2007
Congrats to Dan Carpenter, PhD, 2003 AwardeeDaniel P. Carpenter, PhD, 2003 Awardee has received a 2007 Guggenheim Fellowship Award. The 2007 Fellowship winners include 189 artists, scholars, and scientists selected from almost 2,800 applicants.Source: National Program Office
Monday April 9, 2007
Congrats to Rosalie Kane, PhD, 1998 AwardeeRosalie Kane, Ph.D.,1998 Awardee, has been selected as the recipient of the University of Minnesota Distinguished Women Scholars Award in Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities for 2007. The award recognizes the significant contributions that Professor Kane has made to the university, the field of health services research, and to the greater society in the area of long term care and aging.Source: National Program Office
Thursday March 22, 2007
2007 Call For Applications - Letters of Intent Due March 28, 2007Our 2007 Call for Applications has been posted and is now open. The program provides one of the few funding opportunities in the United States for investigator-initiated projects that are broad in scope, innovative in approach, and have national health policy relevance. Please note that the deadline for four-page letter of intent applications is March 28, 2007, and the maximum grant award has increased to $335,000.
Further details, instructions on how to apply, and downloadable samples of letters of intent that were funded over the past several years through the Investigator Awards program can be found in the Applications section. Thanks for your interest in the program.Source: National Program Office
Tuesday March 20, 2007
Black-White Life Expectancy Gap Narrows, But Remains SubstantialReductions in the death rate from homicide, HIV disease, unintentiional injuries - and among women, heart disease - have contributed to narrowing the life expectancy gap between blacks and whites in the U.S., although substantial inequalities and challenges remain, according to a study by Sam Harper, John Lynch (2001 Awardee), Scott Burris (2001 Awardee), and George Davey Smith (2001 Awardee) in the March 21 issue of JAMA. The authors conclude that reducing social and individual risk factors for major causes of death and improving access and quality of care for blacks, particularly for cardiovascular disease, should be a pressing priority for public health and health care.Source: National Program Office
Friday February 9, 2007
Congrats to Keith Wailoo, PhD, NAC Member and 2001 Awardee!Keith Wailoo, PhD, 2001 Awardee and member of the Investigator Awards National Advisory Committee, has been appointed Martin Luther King, Jr. Professor of History at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. The professorship was established to honor the legacy of King and his dedication to human rights.Source: National Program Office
Thursday February 1, 2007
New Book by Rosemary Stevens, PhD (1997 Awardee and NAC Member)The Public-Private Health Care State: Essays on the History of American Health Care Policy, a new book by Rosemary A. Stevens, PhD, (1997 Awardee and NAC Member), explores the interweaving of public and private enterprise in health care in the United States as a basis for thinking about health care in terms of its history and its continuing evolution today. The book is available through Transaction Publishers.Source: National Program Office
Wednesday January 31, 2007
Read All about Them: New Books by InvestigatorsTen books were published by investigators in 2006. These books can be ordered at www.amazon.com, www.barnesandnoble.com, and through their publishers' web sites. Brief descriptions appear below.
Richard G. Frank and Sherry Glied, Better but Not Well: Mental Health Policy in the United States since 1950, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006.
Richard Frank and Sherry Glied examine the well-being of people with mental illness in the U.S. over the past 50 years, the progress due to the growth of private insurance and social programs, and the persistent problems that this disadvantaged group continues to face.
Lisa Iezzoni and Bonnie L. O’Day, More than Ramps: A Guide to Improving Health Care Quality and Access for People with Disabilities, Oxford University Press, 2006.
This book examines the barriers people with disabilities continue to face in accessing high-quality health care and proposes solutions for overcoming these hurdles and improving care.
Stephen Kunitz, The Health of Populations: General Theories and Particular Realities, Oxford University Press, 2006.
In the maelstrom of current public health debates over the social determinants of health, this book considers the importance of contexts such as history, culture, economics, political institutions, and state action in analyzing how social forces shape patterns of disease and health.
Barron Lerner, When Illness Goes Public: Celebrity Patients and How We Look at Medicine, Johns Hopkins University Press, November 2006.
Barron Lerner describes the evolution of celebrities’ illnesses from private matters to stories of great public interest, illustrating how such illnesses have helped to both inform and misinform patients and the public about treatment options, ethical controversies, and scientific evidence.
David Mechanic, The Truth about Health Care: Why Reform Is Not Working in America, Rutgers University Press, 2006.
This book examines why achieving the public’s aspirations for heath care reform has been so difficult, and describes plausible ways of overcoming these barriers. Building on the best research, David Mechanic illuminates how to separate illusion and hype from effective ways to make the system work for all Americans.
Madison Powers and Ruth Faden, Social Justice: The Moral Foundations of Public Health and Health Policy, Oxford University Press, 2006.
Madison Powers and Ruth Faden present an innovative theory of social justice to explore questions about inequalities in health and access to health care, as well as other dilemmas arising from the ways medical and insurance markets work in the U.S. and how medical resources are allocated.
Victor G. Rodwin and Michael K. Gusmano, editors, Growing Older in World Cities: New York, London, Paris, and Tokyo, Vanderbilt University Press, 2006.
This volume compares what it is like to grow older in four cities with respect to health and quality of life, living arrangements and housing, and the provision of long-term care to older persons when they eventually become frail.
David Rosner and Gerald Markowitz, Are We Ready? Public Health since 9/11, Milbank Memorial Fund and University of California Press, 2006.
A contemporary history of a critical period, this book analyzes the impact of 9/11, the anthrax attacks that followed, and subsequent preparations for a possible smallpox attack on the nation’s public health infrastructure.
Rosemary Stevens, The Public Private Health Care State: Essays on the History of American Health Care Policy, Transaction Publishers, December 2006.
The Public-Private Health Care State explores the interweaving of public and private enterprise in health care in the United States as a basis for thinking about health care in terms of its history and its continuing evolution today.
Rosemary Stevens, Charles Rosenberg, Lawton R. Burns, editors. History and Health Policy in the United States: Putting the Past Back In. Rutgers University Press, 2006.
In this book, a collaborative product of the Investigator Awards in Health Policy Research program, 17 leading scholars make the case for the usefulness of history in evaluating and formulating health policy today.Source: National Program Office
Thursday November 9, 2006
Letter of Intent Deadline - March 28, 2007The next opportunity to apply for an Investigator Award in Health Policy Research will be March 28, 2007. We expect to post the 2007 call for applications in early January, so be sure to visit our site then for more information on how to apply. Thanks for your interest!Source: National Program Office
Tuesday November 7, 2006
Congrats to Bill Sage, MD, JD, 1998 Awardee!In September, William M. Sage, MD, JD, recipient of an Investigator Award in 1998, was appointed Vice Provost for Health Affairs and James R. Dougherty Chair for Faculty Excellence in Law at the University of Texas at Austin.Source: National Program Office
Wednesday October 25, 2006
Congrats to Deborah Haas-Wilson, PhD, 1994 Awardee!Deborah Haas-Wilson, 1994 Awardee and author of the book, Managed Care and Monopoly Power: The Antitrust Challenge, was recently named the Marilyn Carlson Nelson Professor of Economics at Smith College.Source: National Program Office
Tuesday October 17, 2006
Congrats to Bernice Pescosolido, PhD, 1999 Awardee!Bernice Pescosolido, 1999 Awardee and Chancellor’s Professor of Sociology at Indiana University, has won the 2006-07 Hans O. Mauksch Award for Distinguished Contributions from the ASA Section on Teaching and Learning.Source: National Program Office
Tuesday October 10, 2006
Investigators and NAC Members Elected to the Institute of MedicineExciting news from the Institute of Medicine - the group of 65 new members, whose names were announced on October 9, 2006, included several investigators and National Advisory Committee members. Election to the IOM is one of the highest honors a health scholar or researcher can earn. Congratulations to Nicholas Christakis (2000 Awardee and National Advisory Committee member), Sherry Glied (1995 Awardee and Past NAC member), Catherine McLaughlin (NAC member), and Tom Rice (2005 Awardee)!Source: National Program Office
Tuesday September 26, 2006
Read All about Them: New Books by InvestigatorsHot off the press are new books by Barron Lerner, 2003 Awardee (When Illness Goes Public: Celebrity Patients and How We Look at Medicine), Stephen Kunitz, 2001 Awardee, (The Health of Populations: General Theories and Particular Realities), David Mechanic, 1994 Awardee (The Truth about Health Care: Why Reform Is Not Working in America), and David Rosner and Gerald Markowitz, 2002 Awardees (Are We Ready? Public Health since 9/11). Keep posted for news about forthcoming books by Rosemary Stevens, Robert Aronowitz, Phil Brown, Philip Cook, Steven Epstein, and Daniel Greenberg.Source: National Program Office
Tuesday July 25, 2006
Congrats to Thomas H. Rice, PhD, 2005 Awardee!Thomas H. Rice, Professor and Vice Chair of the Department of Health Services at UCLA and recipient of an Investigator Award in 2005, was recently appointed Vice Chancellor for Academic Personnel at UCLA. He will assume his new position in August, overseeing promotion, retention, and recruitment of faculty campus-wide.Source: National Program Office
Tuesday June 20, 2006
Stop by Our Exhibit Booth at the AcademyHealth Annual Research MeetingThe Investigator Awards program will have an exhibit booth at the AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting in Seattle. Feel free to stop by the booth on either Sunday, June 25 or Monday, June 26 to learn more about the program's funding opportunities and to check out recent publications by investigators.Source: National Program Office
Thursday June 15, 2006
Seven New Books by Investigators Coming Out This Summer and FallSeven new health policy books by investigators will be published this summer and fall:
History and Health Policy in the U.S.: Putting the Past Back In, Rosemary Stevens, Charles Rosenberg, Lawton R. Burns, editors, Rutgers University Press.
Better but Not Well: Mental Health Policy in the U.S. since 1950, Richard Frank and Sherry Glied, Johns Hopkins University Press.
The Truth about Health Care: Why Reform Is Not Working in America, David Mechanic, Rutgers University Press.
Are We Ready?: Public Health Since 9/11, David Rosner and Gerald Markowitz, U of California Press and Milbank Memorial Fund.
The Health of Populations: General Theories and Particular Realities, Stephen Kunitz, Oxford University Press.
When Illness Goes Public: Celebrity Patients and How We Look at Medicine, Johns Hopkins University Press.
The Public Private Health Care State: Essays on the History of American Health Care Policy, Rosemary Stevens, Transaction Publishers.
For more information, please visit the Publications page of this web site.Source: National Program Office
Wednesday June 14, 2006
Linda H. Aiken, PhD and 1998 Awardee Selected as the Inaugural Recipient of the William B. Graham Prize for Health Services ResearchIn recognition of her notable contributions to the public through innovative health services research, Linda H. Aiken, Ph.D., has been selected as the first recipient of the William B. Graham Prize for Health Services Research. The Prize will be awarded on June 24, 2006 at the Association of University Programs in Health Administration (AUPHA) annual meeting in Seattle. It is the highest distinction that researchers in the health services field can achieve, and is sponsored by The Baxter International Foundation and administered by AUPHA.
Dr. Aiken has been a major contributor to health workforce and outcomes research for two decades. Her work has advanced understanding of the impact of nursing on the quality of patient care.
Previous winners of the Baxter International Health Services Research Prize include Harold Luft (2004 Awardee), David Mechanic (1994 Awardee) and Rosemary Stevens (1997 Awardee).Source: National Program Office
Thursday May 11, 2006
Congrats to Barron H. Lerner, MD, PhD, 2003 Awardee!Barron H. Lerner, MD, PhD, Angelica Berrie Gold Foundation Associate Professor at Columbia University and recipient of an Investigator Award in 2003, received the William H. Welch Medal from the American Association for the History of Medicine for his book, The Breast Cancer Wars: Hope, Fear, and the Pursuit of a Cure in Twentieth-Century America.
Investigators who have won the Welch medal in prior years include Rosemary Stevens (1997 Awardee and NAC member), Nancy Tomes (2002 Awardee), and Keith Wailoo (2001 Awardee and NAC member).
Source: National Program OfficeTuesday May 2, 2006
Congrats to Robert J. Sampson, PhD, 2004 Awardee!Robert J. Sampson, PhD, Henry Ford II Professor of the Social Sciences at Harvard University and recipient of an Investigator Award in 2004, was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences on April 25, 2006.Source: National Program Office
Tuesday April 4, 2006
New Awardees Examine U.S. Health PolicyThe National Advisory Committee of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s (RWJF) Investigator Awards in Health Policy Research program has completed its selection of this year’s award recipients. Sixteen scholars affiliated with leading universities across the country will receive a total of $2.8 million to support eleven new research projects. The award recipients are:
• Co-principal investigators Peter S. Bearman, Ph.D. (Columbia University), and Hannah Brückner, Ph.D. (Yale University and Columbia University)
• Charles L. Bosk, Ph.D. (University of Pennsylvania)
• Jonathan P. Caulkins, Ph.D. (Carnegie Mellon University)
• M. Robin DiMatteo, Ph.D. (University of California, Riverside)
• Pamela B. Jackson, Ph.D. (University of Indiana)
• Co-principal investigators Barbara Katz Rothman, Ph.D. (City University of New York, Baruch College), and Rachel Grob, Ph.D. (Sarah Lawrence College)
• Co-principal investigators Jay S. Kaufman, Ph.D. (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill), and Richard S. Cooper, M.D. (Loyola University)
• David McBride, Ph.D., M.Phil. (Pennsylvania State University)
• Co-principal investigators Kimberly Morgan, Ph.D. (George Washington University), and Andrea Campbell, Ph.D. (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
• Co-principal investigators Thomas H. Rice, Ph.D., and Yaniv Hanoch, Ph.D. (University of California, Los Angeles)
• Jonathan S. Skinner, Ph.D. (Dartmouth University)
For more information and a description of the new projects, please click on Publications and view our Research in Profile, Issue 16.Source: National Program Office
Monday April 3, 2006
Next Application DeadlineThe deadline for this year's letter of intent applications has passed. The next opportunity to apply for funding support will be March 28, 2007. We expect to post the 2007 call for applications in early January, so be sure to visit our site then for more information on how to apply. Thanks for your interest.Source: National Program Office
Thursday March 9, 2006
Letter of Intent - Application DeadlineThe deadline for this year's letter of intent applications has passed. We expect that the next opportunity to apply for funding support will be March or April 2007. Thanks for your interest.Source: National Program Office
Monday December 12, 2005
We've MovedThe National Program Office for the Investigator Awards in Health Policy Research moved its offices on December 12, 2005. Our new address and contact information are:
Investigator Awards in Health Policy Research
55 Commercial Ave.
Third Floor
New Brunswick, NJ 08901-1340
Phone: 732-932-3817
Fax: 732-932-3819
Email: depdir@ifh.rutgers.edu
Web: www.ihhcpar.rutgers.edu/rwjfSource: National Program Office
55 Commercial Ave.
Third Floor
New Brunswick, NJ 08901-1340
Phone: 732-932-3817
Fax: 732-932-3819
Email: depdir@ifh.rutgers.edu
Web: www.ihhcpar.rutgers.edu/rwjfSource: National Program Office
Monday November 21, 2005
2006 Call for Applications and 2005 Award AnnouncementsThe 2006 Call for Applications will be released and posted on our site in mid-January. The deadline for submitting letters of intent is March 29, 2006. For a copy of the Call for Applications, please visit after January 12, 2006.
The 2005 Awardees will be announced in early spring 2006 in our Research in Profile.Source: National Program Office
Home | The Program | Investigators & Projects | Publications
Awardees | Reviewers | Contact © 2010 Investigator Awards In Health Policy Research 112 Paterson Street, 2nd Floor, New Brunswick, NJ, 08901
Tel: 1-732-932-4105 ext. 23817 | Fax: 1-732-932-3819 | Email: depdir@ifh.rutgers.edu
Awardees | Reviewers | Contact © 2010 Investigator Awards In Health Policy Research 112 Paterson Street, 2nd Floor, New Brunswick, NJ, 08901
Tel: 1-732-932-4105 ext. 23817 | Fax: 1-732-932-3819 | Email: depdir@ifh.rutgers.edu