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Alex Sox-Harris, Ph.D.
Alex Sox-Harris, Ph.D., is the first recipient of the HSR&D Health System Impact Award, which honors HSR&D- and QUERI-funded research that has had a direct and important impact on clinical practice or clinical policy within the VA healthcare system.
Director of VA/HSR&D's Substance Use Disorder Quality Enhancement Research Initiative (SUD-QUERI) and HSR&D Research Career Scientist Awardee, Dr. Sox-Harris is being recognized for research that has had a direct and important impact on clinical policy and the measurement of policy implementation, as well as being consistently responsive to the needs of VA substance use disorder clinical program directors and frontline clinicians. For example, his work on validating and refining addiction-related quality measures for SUD treatment has been central to the development of 15 SUD-related measures that are reported in VA's Office of Mental Health Operations' Mental Health Information System (MHIS), including the most recent refinement of a measure on pharmacotherapy for alcohol use disorders. Over his career, Dr. Sox-Harris also has shown that conducting small, well-focused projects that are faster and in direct response to a stakeholder's questions or challenges can have great impact on moving evidence-based research into practice in a timelier manner.
Dr. Sox-Harris is currently developing several metrics that will be used to assess high-value targets of quality improvement efforts among the 63 VA substance abuse residential rehabilitation treatment programs. This will be another example of how research is successfully translated into VA's policy or operations in order to impact the health and care of Veterans.
