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July Updates from the Mongan Institute
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Mongan Reflections from the Director: Staying in our lane
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We begin July in a new political landscape marked by Supreme Court decisions with wide-ranging legal, political, and public health implications. Acknowledging that the issues of gun ownership and abortion are complex and intersect with strongly held beliefs and political views—should we as clinicians and researchers “stay in our lane” by avoiding issues that are steeped in political controversy and social conflict; or is our lane precisely the issues in healthcare that are scientifically and socially controversial and most in need of objective, rigorous research?
The answer for the Mongan Institute was exemplified in one day. The day began with a special Department of Medicine Community Health Grand Rounds presentation by a member of the Mongan Institute—Dr. Chana Sacks. She presented research findings on the public health impact of gun violence including data on factors associated with the increasing incidence of gun-related homicides, suicide, and injuries in the United States. Engaging communities, undergraduate students, and medical students, Dr. Sacks described a project providing clinicians and public health officials with evidence-based practical approaches to inquire about gun access as a component of health screening and to specify strategies to support gun safety measures. Ironically, on the same morning, the U.S. Supreme Court announced their decision to strike down a New York state law restricting gun-carrying rights outside of the home.
Later in the day, many of us convened in our 16th floor conference room to recognize efforts in another area related to another recent U.S. Supreme Court decision. In a celebration of Pride onth, we heard brief presentations by Dr. Kevin Ard (Medical Director of the National LGBTQIA+ Health Education Center at The Fenway Institute and the Director of the Sexual Health Clinic here at MGH) and Dr. Jenny Siegel (Medical Director of the MGH Transgender Health Program). In addition to brief summaries of work being done in these programs, we were offered reflections by the speakers on the implications of state policies restricting access to gender-affirming healthcare and the potential impact of the overturning of Roe v. Wade for access to reproductive healthcare—especially for queer people of color. This event also provided the opportunity to introduce one of the Mongan Institute’s newest faculty members, Dr. Alex McDowell. Dr. McDowell is joining us to pursue research on state Medicaid policy for gender-affirming healthcare and mental health outcomes and to help to grow our research at the Mongan Institute in LGBTQIA+ healthcare delivery and policy research.
What is our lane? Faculty at the Mongan Institute apply disciplined, hypothesis-based, and scientific methods to address critical issues that have high public health impact and address unresolved scientific controversies—sometimes represented by polarized positions in heated personal, local, state, and national debates. Mongan is dedicated to highpact population and healthcare delivery team science with a specific focus on improving the lives of people with complex needs and advancing health equity—irrespective of the controversy. This is undoubtably “in our lane”.
- Steve Bartels, MD, MS
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Launch of Secondary Mentorship Program for Diverse Research Faculty
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Aderonke Bamgbose Pederson, MD
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Marisela E. Dy-Hollins, MD
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| With MGH Equity and Community Health funding, the Disparities Solutions Center Directed by Aswita Tan-McGrory launched the Secondary Mentorship Program Pilot for Diverse Research Faculty. This program aims to support four junior research faculty at MGH from historically under-represented groups through a dedicated secondary mentor in research. In addition to helping the tenure-track faculty member adjust to the environment of Mass General, the secondary mentor is available to provide another perspective on questions related to scholarly expectations and progress, work/life balance, and personal issues. In addition to research mentorship, participants will receive a $3,000 stipend grant, the opportunity to apply for additional funding through the Equity Innovation Grant and the Collaboration Catalyst Grant from the MGH Equity and Community Health Office and work with a summer intern from the MGH COVID Corps Biomedical Research Internship Program. The following four research faculty were selected for participation in the inaugural launch of this program: Jehan Alladina, MD, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, Aderonke Bamgbose Pederson, MD, Department of Psychiatry, Marisela E. Dy-Hollins, MD, Department of Neurology, Giselle Perez, Ph.D., Department of Psychiatry
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Alexander Tsai, MD, receives the 2022 Stephanie Robert Mentoring Award from the Interdisciplinary Association for Population Health Science
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Alexander Tsai, MD, has received the 2022 Stephanie Robert Mentoring Award from the Interdisciplinary Association for Population Health Science. The award is presented annually to a single individual for making a significant positive impact on the intellectual and professional development of emerging population health science scholars.
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Below are a few publications recently published by Mongan Institute investigators.
- STI prevalence, incidence, and partner notification among women in a periconception HIV prevention program in Uganda. Chitneni P, Muyindike W, Bwana MB, Owembabazi M, O'Neil K, Kalyebara PK, Hedt-Gauthier B, Bangsberg DR, Marrazzo JM, Kaida A, Haberer JE, Matthews LT. Int J STD AIDS. 2022 Jun 30:9564624221110992. doi: 10.1177/09564624221110992. Online ahead of print. PMID: 35775125
- Duration of Shedding of Culturable Virus in SARS-CoV-2 Omicron (BA.1) Infection. Boucau J, Marino C, Regan J, Uddin R, Choudhary MC, Flynn JP, Chen G, Stuckwisch AM, Mathews J, Liew MY, Singh A, Lipiner T, Kittilson A, Melberg M, Li Y, Gilbert RF, Reynolds Z, Iyer SL, Chamberlin GC, Vyas TD, Goldberg MB, Vyas JM, Li JZ, Lemieux JE, Siedner MJ, Barczak AK. N Engl J Med. 2022 Jun 29. doi: 10.1056/NEJMc2202092. Online ahead of print. PMID: 35767428 No abstract available.
- Translating Clinical Guidelines Into Care Delivery Innovation: The Importance of Rigorous Methods for Generating Evidence. Berman AN, Wasfy JH. J Am Heart Assoc. 2022 Jun 29:e026677. doi: 10.1161/JAHA.122.026677. Online ahead of print. PMID: 35766287 No abstract available.
- Paradox of telemedicine: building or neglecting trust and equity. Yee V, Bajaj SS, Stanford FC. Lancet Digit Health. 2022 Jul;4(7):e480-e481. doi: 10.1016/S2589-7500(22)00100-5. PMID: 35750399 Free PMC article. No abstract available.
- Acceptability of and Preferences for Long-Acting Injectable HIV PrEP and Other PrEP Modalities among Sexual Minority Men in Nigeria, Africa. Ogunbajo A, Tsai AC, Kanki PJ, Mayer KH. AIDS Behav. 2022 Jul;26(7):2363-2375. doi: 10.1007/s10461-022-03575-y. Epub 2022 Jan 21. PMID: 35061117
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Please visit our website to stay updated on all open positions at the Mongan Institute and our centers/programs. To apply, visit the MGH Careers website and search the job number listed.
- Administrative Coordinator - 3197302
The Mongan Institute in the Department of Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital is seeking a full time Administrative Coordinator. Founded in 2015, the Mongan Institute is dedicated to supporting research across MGH in the areas of population and health care delivery science. The Institute bridges research spanning data science to delivery science, and evaluative science to implementation science including a variety of disciplines and methods such as epidemiology, predictive analytics, cost-effectiveness, health policy, decision science, health disparities, health intervention and implementation research.
- Grant Coordinator - 3189458
The MGH Mongan Institute in the Department of Medicine seeks a detail oriented, organized, self-directed individual to work with investigators throughout the research funding application and administration process. The candidate will be responsible for assisting investigators from various centers and units in the preparation of research grants, including pre award processes. Serving as the primary liaison between the investigators, Partners Research Management, research administrators based at affiliate and subaward sites, and sponsors, the Grant Coordinator will facilitate all aspects of the application process, including budget development, to ensure timely submission of proposals to meet both internal and external review deadlines.
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