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Shekelle Receives 2011 Under Secretary's Award for Outstanding Achievement in Health Services Research

Paul G. Shekelle, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H., has received this year's Under Secretary's award for Outstanding Achievement in Health Services Research. The award recognizes a VA researcher whose work has met three key criteria: improved our understanding of factors that affect the health of Veterans and improved the quality of their care, contributed to the future of VA health services research by inspiring and training the next generation of investigators, and enhanced the visibility of VA research through national recognition within the research community. Significant research contributions made by Dr. Shekelle include developing methods to assess quality of care, particularly for older adults. For example, five quality indicators he developed are part of VA's benchmarking sets. Through his work at VA's Health Services Research and Development Service (HSR&D) Evidence Synthesis Program, he has added to the overall knowledge regarding how to synthesize evidence in order to reach clinically relevant conclusions by conducting several evidence syntheses targeted toward VA clinical managers.

Dr. Shekelle has been an important part of the VA Greater Los Angeles (GLA) Healthcare System for more than 20 years, where he is Chief of General Internal Medicine. He also leads the HSR&D Evidence Synthesis Program based at GLA, is Director of the Southern California Evidence-based Practice Center, and is Director of the Quality Assessment and Improvement Program at RAND.

Joel Kupersmith, M.D., VA's Chief Research and Development Officer, presented Dr. Shekelle with the highest honor for a VA health services researcher at the HSR&D National Meeting in February.