July 1, 2013

VA/HSR&D Research Recognized at AcademyHealth Annual Meeting

VA's Health Services Research & Development Service (HSR&D) was well-represented at the recent 2013 AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting, which was held in Baltimore, June 23-25. In addition to VA sessions—"VA Implementation Research: Lessons Learned for the U.S. Healthcare System" and "The Use of Complementary and Integrative Medicine in VA Research to Enhance Veterans' Health"—HSR&D investigators were involved in more than 40 competitively-selected presentations. Topics covered in these presentations targeted an array of issues important to healthcare for Veterans, such as long-term care, chronic conditions, patient-centered medical homes, and racial/ethnic disparities. Further, several HRS&D investigators were the recipients of special awards:

• Andrea Finlay, Ph.D., part of the VA Palo Alto Healthcare System, received the Carol Weisman & Gary Chase Gender-Based Research Award for Best Poster Abstract. This award is given in honor of Drs. Weisman and Chase, health services researchers who charted the frontier of gender-based research and health policy.
• Joanne Pavao, M.P.H., also part of the VA Palo Alto Healthcare System, received the Carol Weisman & Gary Chase Gender-Based Research Award for Best Abstract.
• Alicia Cooper, Ph.D., M.P.H., an HSR&D investigator at the Providence VAMC, received the Outstanding Dissertation Award for "Predictors and Outcomes of High-Risk Prescribing among Elderly Medicare Beneficiaries."
• Isomi Miake-Lye, B.A., part of HSR&D's Evidence-Based Synthesis Program at the West Los Angeles VAMC, is one of the 2013 Public Health Systems Research (PHSR) Student Scholarship Program Recipients. These scholarships recognize graduate students who demonstrate the potential to contribute to the field of PHSR through promising research.
• Khary Rigg, Ph.D., part of HSR&D's Center for Health Equity Research & Promotion (CHERP) in Philadelphia, is one of the 2013 AcademyHealth/Aetna Foundation Minority Scholars. This program engages junior researchers from racial/ethnic groups that are under-represented in health services research.

AcademyHealth is the leading professional organization for health services researchers, policy analysts, and practitioners, and is a non-partisan informational resource for health services research and policy. Recognition of VA research across multiple areas at this high-profile meeting reflects positively on VA's research mission, and is of importance in disseminating valuable lessons learned via research conducted within the nation's largest integrated healthcare system.