The 2023 Emerging Areas of Science IDeA Symposium will be held at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University on June 1, 2023. This year’s event will be held in a hybrid format, allowing both virtual and in-person attendance.

The theme of the 2023 symposium is “Data Science.” The symposium aims to educate and engage biomedical investigators in RI regarding the role data science plays in the planning and the execution of clinical and translational research in our increasingly data-driven society.

For the past 16 years, the NIGMS-funded Innovation Development Awards (IDeA) programs in Rhode Island have joined together to hold a state-wide, day-long symposium that celebrates successes and fosters collaborations among Rhode Island investigators. The symposium includes programs from Brown University, the University of Rhode Island, Lifespan Hospital System, Care New England Health System, and the VA Providence Health Care System.

We are pleased to announce two keynote speakers for this year’s Symposium:

• Lucila Ohno-Machado, MD, PhD, MBA, Deputy Dean for Biomedical Informatics at Yale University will speak on “Data Science to Promote Precision Medicine for All” and
• Eytan Ruppin, MD, PhD, from the Center for Cancer Research at the National Cancer Institute will speak on “Next Generation Transcriptomics-Based Precision Oncology”

Additionally, we hope you will enjoy the science talks and additional sessions featuring investigators representing Rhode Island’s IDeA programs.

The Center for Gerontology and Health Care Research is pleased to announce that our May 31st Brown Bag will be presented by Bart Laws, Associate Professor, Health Services, Policy, and Practice.

CORES is a privately funded program of Justice Assistance Corporation, in collaboration with the Rhode Island Courts. People who are charged with crimes typically face multiple disadvantages including the need for mental health, substance use disorder, or medical treatment; limited education and employability; unstable housing; and need for other specific counseling or social support. People on bail awaiting trial cannot readily obtain such services. CORES provides comprehensive services under one roof for people referred by the courts, including assessment, service planning, case management, and counseling, with referral arrangements for more intensive services if needed. The program emphasizes employability, which is a common element of need for people with criminal justice involvement. Clients who complete the program will have their charges dismissed and their record expunged. The talk will describe the evaluation design for CORES, which is being conducted by Professors Laws and Elizabeth Tobin-Tyler; and the results of the program after 6 months

The Center for Gerontology and Health Care Research is pleased to announce that our May 24th Brown Bag will be presented by Lindsey Smith, PhD, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Cassandra Hua, PhD, Investigator, and Jacy Weems, MPH, PhD student, Health Services Research, Policy, and Practice.

Regulation in assisted living (AL) is crucial for ensuring access to care, resident safety, and quality of care outcomes. However, unlike nursing homes, there are no national regulatory standards of care for AL communities. Instead, state governments develop and enforce regulations, leading to significant variation across states and licensure types. To address this issue, we developed a conceptual framework consisting of regulatory oversight, scope, and specificity to measure regulatory stringency. We used a mixed methods approach to examine the stringency of AL regulations in the United States, using data from 2018 to develop measures for each licensure category across all states. We will be presenting our findings, including the distribution of the three dimensions of stringency across the US. We are seeking feedback on our proposed measures and ideas from potential future stringency measure users.

NIA IMPACT Collaboratory Grand Rounds

Thursday, May 18, 2023
12:00 – 1:00 pm ET

“eRADAR: An embedded, pragmatic trial using electronic health record data for targeted dementia screening”

Presented by:

Deborah Barnes, PhD
Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Epidemiology & Biostatistics, University of California, San Francisco

AND

Sascha Dublin, PhD, MD
Senior Investigator, Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute Physician, Washington Permanente Medical Group, Internal Medicine Affiliate Associate Professor, Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine

Zoom Conferencing
Join from PC, Mac, iOS or Android:
https://hebrewseniorlife.zoom.us/j/97344810673
Dial In : +1 312 626 6799 (US Toll) or +1 470 250 9358 (US Toll)
Meeting ID: 973 4481 0673

On May 17th at 10:00AM EST, the Brown Pandemic Center will host a discussion with the World Health Organization, the World Bank, and Makerere University School of Public Health on Health Systems Resilience During COVID-19: Cross-Country Lessons for Future Public Health Emergencies.

COVID-19 has demonstrated the global consequences of underinvestment in health systems. Access to essential health services has been disrupted around the world, contributing to excess mortality and morbidity from preventable causes. This webinar will focus on key insights from the Exemplars in Global Health (EGH) research on cross-cutting best practices, strategies, and lessons learned for maintaining the delivery of essential health services while responding to COVID-19 in six exemplar countries from Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Latin America. We will also explore how these findings can be translated to policy and practice to strengthen health systems globally. Panelists will further discuss new approaches, tools, and initiatives, informed by EGH research, for shared learning and collective action to improve preparedness and resilience for emerging threats.

This webinar will be hosted by Jennifer Nuzzo, Professor of Epidemiology and Director of the Pandemic Center at Brown University. The panel will be comprised of experts in global health systems and policy, health security, and international development:

• Gina Samaan, Unit Head, Pandemic Preparedness Global Platforms, World Health Organization
• Sulzhan Bali, Health Specialist & Task Team Leader, Health, Nutrition & Population Global Practice, World Bank
• Rhoda Wanyenze, Professor & Dean, Makerere University School of Public Health
• Moytrayee Guha, Assistant Director, Dean’s Special Projects & Project Director, Center for Health System Sustainability, Brown School of Public Health

This project was part of the EGH initiative led by Gates Ventures which seeks to identify and analyze positive outliers to inform evidence-based policy and practice in comparable settings. The work has been supported by our partners including Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Makerere School of Public Health, Rockefeller Foundation, and in-country research partners.

Please contact [email protected] with any questions.

The Department of Health Services, Policy &Practice is pleased to welcome Dr. Nicole Rogus-Pulia for our HSR Seminar Series May Lecture: “Preserving the Joy of Eating: Advances in Dysphagia Care for Vulnerable Older Adults” 

On May 4th, at 12:00PM EDT, the Pandemic Center will host a webinar titled “Vaccine Manufacturing in Africa.” This is part of the Pandemics & Society series, which focuses on current pandemic threats and response systems as well as how to build preparedness for the future.

This webinar will be hosted by Wilmot James, Ph.D, Professor of Practice in Health Services, Policies and Practice at Brown University and Senior Advisor to the Pandemic Center. It will focus on the viability of sustainable end-to-end vaccine manufacturing on the African continent, vaccine equity and access, and the regulatory challenges involved.

The panel will be comprised of experts who’ve been working to tackle these issues: Stavros Nicolaou, Senior Executive, Strategic Trade at Aspen Pharma Group; Peter J. Hotez, MD, Ph.D, Dean for the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine and Director of the Texas Children’s Hospital Center For Vaccine Development; and Lora du Moulin, Global Health and Security Lead at the World Economic Forum.

Please contact [email protected] with any questions.

Carney Special Seminar: “Risk Reduction Strategies for Primary Prevention of Dementia”- Kristine Yaffe, Ph.D., Scola Endowed Chair and Vice Chair, Professor of Psychiatry, Neurology, and Epidemiology, and Director of the Center for Population Brain Health at the University of California, San Francisco.

Modifiable risk factors are hypothesized to account for 30-40% of dementia. Targeting these risk factors could have a large downstream effect on Alzheimer disease and related disorders (ADRD) incidence and prevalence and be a key strategy for primary prevention. I will highlight our work as well as others’ related to several key risk factors with the best evidence: data from underlying mechanisms to public health implications will be presented for cardiovascular risk factors, physical activity, sleep quality and traumatic brain injury (TBI). I will then present very recent results from an NIH-funded 2-year personalized, risk reduction intervention called the Systematic Multi-domain Alzheimer’s Risk Reduction Trial (SMARRT).

The Center for Gerontology and Health Care Research is pleased to announce that our April 20th Brown Bag will be presented by Kaley Hayes, PharmD, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Health Services, Policy and Practice.

Over 90% of nursing home (NH) residents with Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD) have hypertension, and most are treated with antihypertensive medications. Current clinical guidelines recommend a blood pressure (BP) treatment goal of <130/80 mmHg (“intensive” BP control). However, evidence is extremely limited on the benefits of intensive BP control for multimorbid older adults with limited life expectancy like those with ADRD and NH residents. The overall objective of this R01 application is to compare the safety and effectiveness of different BP treatment targets and antihypertensive medication regimens in NH residents with ADRD.

NIA IMPACT Collaboratory Grand Rounds

Thursday, April 20, 2023
12:00 – 1:00 pm ET

“More than a Meal: Results from a Pilot Pragmatic Clinical Trial Evaluating Two Models of Home-Delivered Meals for Older Adults Living with Dementia”

Presented by:

Kali Thomas, PhD

Associate Professor of Health Services, Policy and Practice

Providence VA Medical Center’s Center of Innovation for Long-term Services and Supports and

Brown University School of Public Health

Zoom Conferencing
Join from PC, Mac, iOS or Android:
https://hebrewseniorlife.zoom.us/j/97344810673
Dial In : +1 312 626 6799 (US Toll) or +1 470 250 9358 (US Toll)
Meeting ID: 973 4481 0673

Public Health Research Day is an annual conference hosted by Brown University’s School of Public Health that highlights the research accomplishments of our students, trainees, and partners. All members of the Brown community are welcome to visit the poster session to learn more about Brown students’ high-impact public health work!

The conference, held in Alumnae Hall, is one of several events held to commemorate National Public Health Week, April 3-9, 2023. Visitors are encouraged to discuss posters with students, fellows, staff, faculty, and affiliates.

Posters will be reviewed by a panel of judges. Prizes will be awarded for posters judged to be the best in the following categories:

• undergraduate student
• master’s student
• doctoral student

Winners will be announced by the School of Public Health in mid-April.

The Schools of Engineering and Public Health are introducing a new seminar series, Enabling Health Through Technology: Research Discussions at the Intersection of Engineering and Public Health.

Brown University’s Stefan Gravenstein, MD, MPH, the David S. Greer Professor of Geriatric Medicine, Director, Division of Geriatrics and Palliative Care, Professor of Health Services, Policy and Practice, will be the inaugural speaker. 

“Technologies for Living: From Biology to Age Friendly Nursing Homes”

These seminars are discussion based to facilitate collaboration among Engineering and Public Health researchers. Lunch is available outside Barus & Holley 190, beginning at 12:30 p.m.

The three-part series is hosted by Profs. Marissa Gray and Ellen McCreedy.  

On March 24th, at 12:00PM EDT, the Pandemic Center will host a webinar titled “American Democracy and Pandemic Security.” This is part of the Pandemics & Society series, which focuses on current pandemic threats and response systems as well as how to build preparedness for the future.

This webinar, hosted by Jennifer Nuzzo, DrPH, Director of the Pandemic Center, will bring together a panel of experts who’ve been working to tackle these issues: Elizabeth (“Beth”) Cameron, PhD, Professor of the Practice and Senior Advisor to the Pandemic Center; J. Stephen Morrison, Senior Vice President, Center for Strategic and International Studies and Director, Global Health Policy Center; and Gary Edson, President, COVID Collaborative.

A zoom link will be sent via email to those who RSVP.

Please contact [email protected] with any questions.

The Center for Long-Term Care Quality & Innovation is pleased to announce our next Joint Seminar on Clinical Trials in Aging.

Title of this presentation: “Longitudinal analysis of nursing home residents’ response to COVID-19 vaccines”

Featuring: Oladayo A. Oyebanji, MBChB, MS, Postdoctoral Research Scholar (Canaday Lab), Division of Infectious Disease, Case Western Reserve University.

Dr. Oyebanji will discuss recent findings on how vaccines have been vital in reducing the disproportionate burden of COVID-19 among nursing home residents.

This talk draws from ongoing NIH and CDC-sponsored COVID-19 immunology studies among nursing home residents and workers. It focuses on the use of vaccines among this population highlighting their effectiveness (clinically and immunologically), as well as lessons learned to optimize protection among this population.

Grand Rounds: Megan Morris, PhD, MPH presents “Advancing Healthcare Equity for Persons with Disabilities through Documentation in the Electronic Health Record”

Persons with disabilities experience significant barriers in accessing high quality, equitable health care services. The presentation will discuss research, policy, and advocacy efforts to advance systematic collection of disability status in the electronic health record, which is the first step to addressing these disparities.

This event is part of LeaRRn’s Series “Using Health System Research to Revolutionize Rehabilitation Care.”

THE LAUNCH

The Department of Africana Studies at Brown University welcomes you into the world of THE BLACK FRONTLINE. The Black Frontline is the largest oral history project of global Black doctors and nurses. On the 3 year anniversary of Covid, the global pandemic which created unprecedented upheaval in our lives and transformed us all, The Black Frontline brings you the stories of sacrifice, survival, community, loss, humanity from Black doctors and nurses on the frontlines of healthcare in the US, the UK and Ghana.

Join us on March 15th 5:30 pm EST for the launch.
This is an in-person & live streamed event

Register for the livestream of the event here! 

Webinar: Hadi Kharrazi MD, PhD, MS presents “Population Health Informatics: What, how, and why?”

In this presentation, we will discuss what is the rapidly growing field of Population Health Informatics (PHI), how PHI is leveraged to achieve the objectives of population health, and why PHI is critical for value-based care. We will also discuss the role of PHI in risk stratification efforts and the added value of new concepts in PHI such as social determinants of health, health disparities, frailty, and unique EHR data types.

This event is part of LeaRRn’s Series “Using Health System Research to Revolutionize Rehabilitation Care.”

Grand Rounds: Claire Kalpakjian, PhD, MS presents “Designing Data Inputs that Matter: Building An Infrastructure in a Real-World Learning Health System”

Meaningful and relevant data are essential for any learning health system. Learning communities benefit from support in selecting and implementing data inputs – clinical assessment and documentation, patient-reported measures – that align with their learning goals. This talk will describe the development of an infrastructure to support the design and practical application of data inputs in medical rehabilitation that power cycles of learning to improve care.

This event is part of LeaRRn’s Series “Using Health System Research to Revolutionize Rehabilitation Care.”

NIA IMPACT Collaboratory Grand Rounds

Thursday, February 16, 2023
12:00 – 1:00 pm ET

“Methods for Designing Cluster Randomized Trials to Detect Treatment Effect Heterogeneity”

Presented by:

Fan Li, PhD

Assistant Professor of Biostatistics

Yale School of Public Health

Zoom Conferencing
Join from PC, Mac, iOS or Android:
https://hebrewseniorlife.zoom.us/j/97344810673
Dial In : +1 312 626 6799 (US Toll) or +1 470 250 9358 (US Toll)
Meeting ID: 973 4481 0673

Join Corrie Pikul, Senior Writer for the Life Sciences, OUC and Caroline Claflin, SPH Director of Communications for: University News: Partnering with OUC to Amplify Your Research

Wednesday, February 15 | 3:00-4:00 pm

Have a paper coming out? Want to promote it?

Learn to collaborate with the Office of University Communications (OUC) and Brown School of Public Health Office of Communications to amplify your upcoming research publication.

Corrie Pikul, Senior Writer for the Life Sciences, OUC, illuminates the University news process; how they evaluate story leads, what constitutes “Brown life sciences news”, and how these stories are shared with journalists ahead of publication. Caroline Claflin, SPH Director of Communications, explains other communication opportunities for Brown SPH researchers, including one-on-one interviews, digital Continuum articles, and podcasts. 

Learn about resources available to get your news out of the lab and into the world!

Virtual Event. Register on Zoom using link below.

The School of Public Health community is invited to join the SPH Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion on Thursday, February 9^th from 12 to 1 pm in room 375 as we kick off our monthly Justice Circle, a space dedicated to conversations, support, and unpacking of current events and public health issues impacting our communities.

Webinar: Rachel Richesson, PhD, MPH, MS, FACMI presents “Learning to Use EHR Data in Learning Health Systems: Focus on Compatible Phenotype”

Learning Health Systems thrive with use of real-world data from electronic health record (EHR) systems in both observational and interventional research to generate real-world evidence. Computable phenotypes are specified definitions that can be used to identify patients with particular clinical conditions through computerized queries to EHR systems or data repositories using defined data elements, codes, and logical expressions. Computable phenotypes can facilitate research and learning by supporting the identification of patient populations, the delivery of clinical interventions, and the assessment of outcomes. The sharing and re-use of computable phenotypes can enhance the efficiency of pragmatic research and the dissemination of evidence-based interventions into real-world settings. This talk will discuss current platforms for identifying existing computational phenotypes as well as challenges and strategies for their implementation and validation in learning health systems.

This event is part of LeaRRn’s Series “Using Health System Research to Revolutionize Rehabilitation Care.”

Grand Rounds: Jacob Kean, PhD presents “Electronic Health Record Repositories: Benefits and Challenges of Data Standardization in Rehabilitation”

Investments by the federal government in electronic health record (EHR) repositories position the research community to advance understanding of the epidemiology of clinical conditions and the quality, effectiveness and personalization of care. Data standardization supports those lines of inquiry but is challenging to achieve in rehabilitation care. This talk will focus on access to and use of existing EHR repositories, the benefits of data standardization in rehabilitation, and practical steps that might accelerate data standardization in rehabilitation and the use of EHR repositories.

This event is part of LeaRRn’s Series “Using Health System Research to Revolutionize Rehabilitation Care.”

NIA IMPACT Collaboratory Grand Rounds

Thursday, January 19, 2023
12:00 – 1:00 pm ET

“Adaptation of behavioral interventions and use of the FRAME to document adaptations and modifications”

Presented by:

Shannon Wiltsey Stirman, PhD

Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

Zoom Conferencing
Join from PC, Mac, iOS or Android:
https://hebrewseniorlife.zoom.us/j/97344810673
Dial In : +1 312 626 6799 (US Toll) or +1 470 250 9358 (US Toll)
Meeting ID: 973 4481 0673