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November Updates from the Mongan Institute
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Mongan ReflectionsFrom the Director
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With the alarming resurgence in the incidence and mortality associated with COVID-19 sweeping across the nation, we are witnessing the unrelenting course of the pandemic and its consequences spanning our physical, social, and economic health. Once again, we are seeing a disproportionate impact on vulnerable populations, on people from low socioeconomic groups, older adults, people with disabilities, and people of color. COVID-19 has brought into bold relief disparities that have been with us for centuries, while also revealing long-standing inadequacies in our public health system and willingness to collectively embrace prevention as essential to our health. As we surpass 11 million cases and over 1000 deaths each day in the United States and persevere to remain connected to family, friends, and colleagues, each day we are faced with the realities of a “new normal” that will be with us for some time to come. So why is there reason to be highly optimistic?
In brief, the critical role and impact of science and the promise and dedication of our scientific community have rarely been more evident. It is from this vantage point that the work of faculty and staff across MGH and at Mongan is extraordinary to witness. The rapid deployment of COVID-19 research across MGH has advanced our understanding of the clinical course of COVID-19, and our participation in clinical trials has contributed to the early findings on vaccines predicted to exceed 90 percent effectiveness. Additionally, there has rarely been a time in which population and health care delivery science – the core work of the Mongan Institute – have been more critical to our future. Our capacity to span data science to delivery science and our particular focus on advancing health equity and improving outcomes for people with complex health-related needs could not be more timely.
This month’s update provides a snapshot of our many achievements and vitality. As we celebrate and recognize the achievements of our senior faculty, our heartbeat and our future is represented by the outstanding contributions of our junior faculty along with some exciting new additions to the Mongan family. One of the cross-cutting themes in this month’s update is critical work by our faculty and staff on the impact of systemic racism on our health and health care delivery system, and efforts to address health disparities. These are only a few of the many examples of work at Mongan aimed at pursuing equity, diversity, and inclusion as tangible expressions of our core mission. Finally, as we look forward to the challenging work yet to be done, the future context of our work within the national agenda clearly matters. It is in this vein that there may also be reason to embrace a renewed sense of optimism. As expressed in the recent acceptance speech of President-Elect Joe Biden, real impact in our collective work going forward will be achieved when it is “built on a bedrock of science…constructed out of compassion, empathy, and concern”. It is up to all of us to consider how to advance these principles as we look to the future of our science, our health, and our community.
- Steve Bartels, MD, MS
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Dear Colleague,
In this newsletter you will find:
Mongan Institute News and Events
- Amy Clara, PsyD, Irene Falgas-Bague, MD, PhD, Peggy Lai, MD, MPH, and Jenny Zhen-Duan, PhD, Join Mongan Institute Faculty
- Boram Lee, PhD, Joins Health Policy Research Center and Tobacco Research & Treatment Center as Postdoctoral Research Fellow
- Awards and Honors:
- Margarita Alegría, PhD, Awarded APHA's 2020 Rema Lapouse Award
- Karen Donelan, ScD, EdM, Named Honorary Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing
- Elyse Park, PhD, Selected as American Psychosocial Oncology Society 2021 Fellow
- Nancy Rigotti, MD, Recognized with MACP Mastership from American College of Physicians
- Christine Ritchie, MD, MSPH, Named New Chair of MGH Department of Medicine Community Council
- Jenny Zhen-Duan, PhD, Selected as 2020-2022 NIHA-funded R25 UCLA HIV/AIDS, Substance Abuse, and Trauma Training Program (HA-STTP) Scholar
- In the News
- Recent Publications
- Job Opportunities
- Social Media Highlight
- Health Policy Grand Rounds with Jonathan Gruber, PhD: "The Past, Present, and Future of Health Care Reform"
News and Events from Our Partners
- Apply Now: Commonwealth Fund Fellowship in Minority Health Policy at Harvard University
- Register: MPHA's Annual Conference, "Creating the Equitable Local Public Health System We (Still) Need"
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Amy Clara, PsyD, Irene Falgas-Bague, MD, PhD, Peggy Lai, MD, MPH, and Jenny Zhen-Duan, PhD, Join Mongan Institute Faculty
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Irene Falgas-Bague, MD, PhD
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Please join us in welcoming Amy Clara, PsyD, Irene Falgas-Bague, MD, PhD, Peggy Lai, MD, MPH, and Jenny Zhen-Duan, PhD, as Mongan Institute faculty members.
Dr. Clara is a clinical psychologist at the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center and Center for Psychiatric Oncology & Behavioral Sciences. She is joining the faculty at the Cancer Outcomes Research and Education Program at the Mongan Institute.
Dr. Falgas-Bague is an Instructor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. She is joining the faculty at the Disparities Research Unit at the Mongan Institute.
Dr. Lai is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, Physician in the MGH Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Research Associate in the Department of Environmental Health at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and Courtesy Staff at Boston Children's Hospital. She is joining the Clinical and Translational Epidemiology Unit at the Mongan Institute as an investigator.
Dr. Zhen-Duan is an Instructor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Previously a postdoctoral fellow at the Disparities Research Unit, she has been promoted to the faculty.
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Boram Lee, PhD, Joins Health Policy Research Center and Tobacco Research & Treatment Center as Postdoctoral Research Fellow
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Boram Lee, PhD, is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Health Policy Research Center and the Tobacco Research & Treatment Center at Massachusetts General Hospital. Her primary research interests include health disparities, evaluation of tobacco control policies, co-occurring substance use, and tobacco use among vulnerable populations including individuals with low socioeconomic status and those with mental illness. She earned her PhD in Health Behavior from the School of Public Health at Indiana University. She received her BPH and MA in Health Education and Management, and BA in Social Welfare from Ewha Womans University in South Korea.
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Margarita Alegría, PhD, Awarded APHA's 2020 Rema Lapouse Award
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Margarita Alegría, PhD, received the 2020 Rema Lapouse Award for Achievement in Epidemiology, Mental Health and Applied Public Health Statistics from the American Public Health Association (APHA). Each year the Mental Health, Epidemiology and Applied Statistics in Public Health Sections jointly honor one individual to encourage them to follow the example of Dr. Rema Lapouse, who looked beyond contemporary explanations to understand and improve public mental health. Dr. Lapouse, a founding member of the MH Section, was a pioneer in her dedication to impacting public policy and the quality of care to promote public health and social justice. She studied pediatric psychiatric epidemiology in support of public mental health.
Dr. Alegría joined the Mass General community as Chief of the Disparities Research Unit at the Massachusetts General Hospital and the Mongan Institute in 2015. Her career has focused on testing new models of care and interventions for improving health care and eliminating health care disparities for diverse populations. This past month, Dr. Alegría formally accepted the inaugural Harry G. Lehnert, Jr. and Lucille F. Cyr Lehnert Endowed MGH Research Institute Chair in a virtual celebration that was attended by over 100 people and included remarks by Dr. Peter Slavin, Dr. Maurizio Fava, Dr. Katrina Armstrong, and Dr. Steve Bartels.
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Karen Donelan, ScD, EdM, Named Honorary Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing
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Karen Donelan, ScD, EdM, has been named an Honorary Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, alongside Lord Nigel Crisp, Anthony Fauci, MD, and Ahrin Mishan, MPA, MAVA. This distinction is given to top health leaders who have demonstrated a firm commitment to nursing and to transforming health policy, and who is a true champion of science, innovation, and leadership.
Dr. Donelan is a Senior Scientist and Associate Professor of Medicine at the Mongan Institute’s Health Policy Research Center at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Harvard Medical School. In September, she began a new role as the inaugural Stuart H. Altman Professor of US Health Policy at Brandeis University's Heller School for Social Policy and Management.
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Elyse Park, PhD, Selected as American Psychosocial Oncology Society 2021 Fellow
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Elyse Park, PhD, was selected by the American Psychosocial Oncology Society (APOS) as an APOS 2021 Fellow. The purpose of Fellow status is to recognize and honor outstanding contributions to the science and practice of psychosocial oncology. Membership in the Fellowship is not purely honorific, however: it carries an expectation of ongoing contributions to and leadership within the Society.
Dr. Park is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School; Associate Director of Survivorship Research and Psychosocial Services for the MGH Cancer Center; Director of Behavioral Sciences at the MGH Tobacco Treatment & Research Center; and Director of Behavioral Research at the MGH Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine.
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Nancy Rigotti, MD, Recognized with MACP Mastership from American College of Physicians
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Nancy Rigotti, MD, has been recognized with a MACP Mastership from the American College of Physicians. Masterships are awarded to highly accomplished persons demonstrating impact in practice, leadership, or in medical research.
Dr. Rigotti is Director of the Tobacco Research and Treatment Center at the Mongan Institute, an Associate Chief of the Division of General Internal Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.
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Christine Ritchie, MD, MSPH, Named New Chair of MGH Department of Medicine Community Council
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Christine Ritchie, MD, MSPH, has been named the new Chair of the Department of Medicine Community Council at Massachusetts General Hospital. The Council serves as the primary governance body to oversee initiatives and programs within the DOM that aim to develop, strengthen, and support partnerships within the communities in which MGH serves locally, nationally, and globally. The Council was founded three years ago to advance our community mission, joining the three other DOM councils: the Education Council, the Research Council, and the Clinical Council. Council Chairs are appointed for three year terms.
Dr. Ritchie is the Kenneth L. Minaker Endowed Professor of Geriatric Medicine at MGH and Harvard Medical School. She directs the Mongan Institute Center for Aging and Serious Illness and the research program within the MGH Division of Palliative Care and Geriatric Medicine. She is a board-certified geriatrician and palliative care physician with long-standing experience in research and clinical care at the intersection of aging and serious illness.
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Jenny Zhen-Duan, PhD, Selected as 2020-2022 NIHA-funded R25 UCLA HIV/AIDS, Substance Abuse, and Trauma Training Program (HA-STTP) Scholar
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Jenny Zhen-Duan, PhD, was selected as a 2020-2022 NIDA-funded R25 UCLA HIV/AIDS, Substance Abuse, and Trauma Training Program (HA-STTP) Scholar. This award provides early career investigators with pilot grant funding and multidisciplinary training and tools to become successful independent investigators.
Dr. Zhen-Duan is an Instructor at Harvard Medical School and a Researcher at the Disparities Research Unit at the Mongan Institute.
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Adjoa Anyane-Yeboa, MD, MPH, shared her perspective on racism in health care with Healio Hematology/Oncology in an article titled "Addressing racism in medicine: Experts call on colleagues to turn talk into action."
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Joseph Betancourt, MD, MPH, wrote an article for the Harvard Health Blog titled “Communities of color devastated by COVID-19: Shifting the narrative,” the first of a three-part series.
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Christine Ritchie, MD, MSPH, is featured on the latest episode of MGH’s podcast, “Charged.” She discussed how her upbringing in South Korea ignited her passion for geriatric medicine and research, her experience as a personal caregiver to her parents and grandmother at the end of their lives, and the impact of COVID-19 on the older population.
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Mark Siedner, MD, MPH, spoke with the Boston Herald about what the NFL needs to do in order to survive the season without a shutdown due to COVID-19 in an article titled "Mass. General doctor: NFL needs independent oversight for coronavirus protocols."
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Dr. Siedner also co-authored an article in STAT titled “How to spot good COVID-19 vaccine trials results when you see them,” aimed at engendering public engagement in vaccine trial results.
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Fatima Cody Stanford, MD, MPH, MPA, discussed her work focusing on racial disparities in obesity as a chronic illness, disparities in access to treatment, stigma, and patient experiences in clinical settings on a podcast episode of “Flip the Script.”
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Aswita Tan-McGrory, MBA, MSPH, was interviewed by American Medical Association about telehealth and health equity in an article titled "Why achieving health equity is so hard in the telehealth age."
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Christine Vogeli, PhD, was interviewed for an episode of "Brave New Planet," the new podcast by Eric Lander, President of the Broad Institute. The episode is titled "What Algorithms Say About You."
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Rochelle Walensky, MD, co-authored an article in NBC News with Joshua Sharfstein, MD, from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health advocating for officials in Washington to follow the same COVID-19 quarantine guidelines that schools have in place.
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Recent Publications
Below are a few publications recently published by Mongan Institute investigators. Please find a more comprehensive list of publications from the past 3 months on our website.
- Comprehensive Assessment of Diet Quality and Risk of Precursors of Early-Onset Colorectal Cancer
Zheng X, Hur J, Nguyen LH, Liu J, Song M, Wu K, Smith-Warner SA, Ogino S, Willett WC, Chan AT, Giovannucci E, Cao Y. Comprehensive Assessment of Diet Quality and Risk of Precursors of Early-Onset Colorectal Cancer. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2020 Nov 2:djaa164. doi: 10.1093/jnci/djaa164. [Epub ahead of print]
- Physical and sexual abuse in childhood and adolescence and leukocyte telomere length: A pooled analysis of the study on psychosocial stress, spirituality, and health
Warner ET, Zhang Y, Gu Y, Taporoski TP, Pereira A, DeVivo I, Spence ND, Cozier Y, Palmer JR, Kanaya AM, Kandula NR, Cole SA, Tworoger S, Shields A. Physical and sexual abuse in childhood and adolescence and leukocyte telomere length: A pooled analysis of the study on psychosocial stress, spirituality, and health. PLoS One. 2020 Oct 30;15(10):e0241363. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0241363.
- Adherence to recommendations for ART and targeted PrEP use among HIV serodiscordant couples in East Africa: the “PrEP as a bridge to ART” strategy
Musinguzi N, Kidoguchi L, Mugo NR, Ngure K, Katabira E, Celum CL, Baeten JM, Heffrom R, Haberer JE, Partners Demonstration Project Team. Adherence to recommendations for ART and targeted PrEP use among HIV serodiscordant couples in East Africa: the “PrEP as a bridge to ART” strategy. BMC Public Health. 2020 Oct 28;20(1):1621. doi: 10.1186/s12889-020-09712-3.
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- Harvard Medical School Center for Bioethics Faculty Search
The Center for Bioethics at Harvard Medical School is recruiting faculty to expand our research portfolio in bioethics. Appointment as an Instructor, Assistant, or Associate Professor, commensurate with training, experience, and achievements, based in both the Center for Bioethics at Harvard Medical School and at the Mongan Institute. Interested individuals should submit a letter of interest and their Curriculum Vitae to: Robert Truog, Director, Center for Bioethics, Harvard Medical School, bioethicssearch@hms.harvard.edu.
- Implementation Research Post-doctoral Research Fellow - 3134514
The Mongan Institute seeks a full-time two-year Implementation Research Post-doctoral Research Fellow who will focus on implementation research related to services for adults with complex needs (physical and mental health conditions) with specific attention to addressing health disparities and advancing health equity. This position will work directly with the Director of the Mongan Institute (Dr. Stephen Bartels), who is also a senior implementation scientist. This mentored research position will take advantage of a robust array of ongoing research and an array of seminars at the Mongan Institute including participation in implementation research seminars.
- Clinical Research Program/Project Manager - 3135108
The Mongan Institute seeks a full-time Project Manager for a large research project to determine and implement best practices in the prevention of COVID-19 for adults with serious mental illness and intellectual and developmental disabilities and the staff providing care in congregate living settings funded by the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). The project manager will work closely with the co-principal investigators (Drs. Bartels and Skotko) and senior project director (Dr. Levison) within the Mongan Institute to assume the leading role in team administration and in the execution of the goals, tasks, and milestones of this this large, multifaceted study.
- Senior Data Analyst - 3135110
The Mongan Institute at Massachusetts General Hospital is seeking a full-time Senior Data Analyst to support the research activities under Dr. Stephen Bartels. The Senior Data Analyst will work with a team of investigators on externally funded research studies that focus that range from observational large data set analyses to longitudinal intervention and implementation research studies.
- Research Program/Project Manager, Biometry Unit - 3131079
The Medical Practice Evaluation Center (MPEC) is seeking an intellectually curious and highly organized individual to serve as the Program/Project Manager of the Center’s growing Biometry Unit. The Program/Project Manager for the MPEC Biometry Unit will play a key role in research program administration through coordination of data analysis activities and oversight of Biometry Unit personnel allocations, in addition to potentially contributing to projects as a researcher, if interested. In collaboration with the Directory of Biometry, the Program/Project Manager will lead continuous process improvements to maximize efficiency, transparency, and communication among Investigators and the Biometry Unit.
- Research Data Analyst/Biostatistician - 3129496
The Medical Practice Evaluation Center (MPEC) has an opportunity for an enthusiastic and energetic individual to join our research team investigating the clinical and economic value of alternative strategies of HIV treatment and prevention, as well as modeling other diseases, as a Data Analyst/Biostatistician. The candidate should be highly motivated with experience in quantitative methods and public health research. The candidate should have solid foundation in biostatistics and statistical programming. Ideally, the candidate will have experience in mathematical model development, parameterization, and debugging.
- Data Analyst I - 3129494
The Medical Practice Evaluation Center (MPEC) is seeking a clinical research Data Analyst to join our research team. The Data Analyst will work with investigators in the Outcomes and Implementation Science Program to analyze and evaluate interventions to improve health outcomes in the United States and international settings.
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Health Policy Grand Rounds with Jonathan Gruber, PhD: "The Past, Present, and Future of Health Care Reform"
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Wednesday, December 9, 2020 12:00pm - 1:00pm ET Virtual Presentation
Join the Health Policy Research Center for the MGH Health Policy Rounds with Jonathan Gruber, PhD, who will be giving a talk titled "The Past, Present, and Future of Health Care Reform." Dr. Gruber is the Ford Professor of Economics in the Department of Economics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Please RSVP to HPRC@mgh.harvard.edu to help us assure adequate Zoom capacity.
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Apply Now: Commonwealth Fund Fellowship in Minority Health Policy at Harvard University
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The Commonwealth Fund Fellowship in Minority Health Policy at Harvard University (CFF) is pleased to announce the call for applications for the 2021-2022 year. The Fellowship is designed to prepare physician-leaders who will, over time, improve the capacity of the health care system to promote policies and practices that improve minority, disadvantaged and vulnerable populations’ access to high quality care. The program provides strong academic training and coursework, including an MPH or MPA, for highly qualified physicians, and enhances the leadership ability of physicians, offering them substantive knowledge in health policy and management, while creating a network of physician-leaders capable of advancing successfully among the public, nonprofit, and academic sectors. The deadline to apply is Tuesday, December 1, 2020.
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Register: MPHA's Annual Conference, "Creating the Equitable Local Public Health System We (Still) Need"
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Tuesday, December 8, 2020 9:00am - 10:30am ET Virtual Conference
Join the Massachusetts Public Health Association (MPHA) for the virtual 2020 Annual Conference on December 8, with special guest Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey. Get the latest updates on policies we can change together to transform the MA local public health system and to advance racial justice and support health equity.
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Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay up-to-date on important news, updates, events, and publications from our researchers! Don't forget to tag us and use our hashtag, #MonganInstitute, so we can see your posts, too.
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