Title - VA Health Services Research at the Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion: Opportunities for Multidisciplinary Research and Collaboration

Abstract - The Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion (CHERP) at the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System, established in 2001, facilitates innovative and high-impact health services research focusing on health equity, clinical therapeutics, and cutting-edge dissemination and implementation science. CHERP’s mission is to advance the equity and quality of Veteran health and healthcare through impactful research facilitated by partnerships, collaborations, Veteran engagement, mentoring, and service. The Directors of CHERP and of its well-established Bioinformatics and Computing Core will present an overview of the Center’s background and identify opportunities to conduct data-driven health services research within the VA Healthcare System – the nation’s largest integrated, federally funded healthcare system. They will describe the types of data available to investigators and the high-impact research conducted by CHERP faculty. The projects described will highlight sustained collaborations between CHERP investigators and faculty members from the Department of Biostatistics and Health Data Science. They will also discuss future opportunities for collaboration to ensure the continued development of research and quality improvement projects to inform clinical practice and healthcare policy within the VA Healthcare System and beyond.

Michael J. Fine, MD, MSc

                                                              i.      Titles:

Corresponding Co-Director, Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion (CHERP)

Distinguished Professor of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

                                                            ii.      Biography:

Michael J. Fine, MD, MSc is the Corresponding Co-Director of CHERP and Distinguished Professor of Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. His research focuses on ways to improve the quality and equity of medical care for patients with common medical problems, such as pneumonia, diabetes, and pulmonary embolus. As Co-Founder and the Corresponding Co-Director of CHERP, he is particularly interested in conducting research to detect, understand, and eliminate disparities in health and health care among marginalized patient populations. His past research employed retrospective and prospective cohort designs, with extensive emphasis on assessment of patient-centered outcomes. His research has also utilized randomized clinical trial design to test the effectiveness and safety of implementing medical practice guidelines to improve the quality and efficiency of care for patients with common medical illnesses.

Maria K. Mor, PhD

                                                              i.      Titles:

Core Investigator, Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion (CHERP)

Co-Director, Biostatistics & Informatics Core (BIC), CHERP

Biostatistician, VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System

Adjunct Research Assistant Professor of Biostatistics and Health Data Science, University of Pittsburgh

                                                            ii.      Biography:

Maria K. Mor, PhD, is Co-Director of the Biostatistics & Informatics Core (BIC) for the Pittsburgh site of the VA Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion (CHERP). As a collaborative statistician at CHERP, she works with investigators on a variety of health services research projects focused on understanding and improving the quality and equity of health and health care for vulnerable populations of Veterans, including racial and ethnic minorities, women, and Veterans with chronic renal function and comorbid mental health conditions.

Dr. Mor has statistical expertise in the analysis of clustered and multilevel data, is well-versed in the data management and manipulation of the VA clinical and administrative databases, and also has experience in prospective data collection within VA. As Co-Director of the BIC, she oversees the statistical and programming aspects of CHERP research and actively facilitates the sharing of programs, methods, and ideas to address the statistical analyses and database management between research projects.