Center to Improve Veteran Involvement in Care (CIVIC)
CIVIC Core Investigators
Steven Dobscha, MD is CIVIC’s Director. His research focuses on topics highly relevant to the care of Veterans including suicide prevention, chronic pain, and patient-centered care. Dr. Dobscha has received prior HSR funding for studies of depression and chronic pain collaborative care, studies that examined care received in proximity to suicidal ideation and suicide, and a study of impacts of Veteran on-line access to mental health progress notes. He also partnered with the Technology and Telehealth (T2) group at Joint Base Lewis-McChord to examine effectiveness of a smartphone app in reducing suicidal thoughts, and recently developed and evaluated a program to train primary care clinicians to deliver lethal means safety messaging to at risk Veterans in primary care settings. Dr. Dobscha serves as Research Consultant for the VA Portland Health Care System Mental Health and Clinical Neuroscience Division, and has served on several HSR CDA Scientific Merit Review Boards and other national VA workgroups and committees. He is Professor of Psychiatry at Oregon Health & Science University.
You can contact Steven Dobscha by email at Steven.Dobscha@va.gov.
Consortium of Research (CORE): Suicide Prevention Research Impact Network (SPRINT) (Principal Investigator)
The mission of SPRINT is to accelerate health services research that will lead to improvements in care and result in reductions in suicide behaviors among Veterans. SPRINT members include health services suicide prevention researchers from around the country, VA operations partners, and other stakeholders. Three hubs will assist researchers in designing and conducting team science projects that address high priority topics.
Understanding Impact of VHA's New Suicidal Ideation Screening Initiative: Veteran's Perspective (Principal Investigator)
The primary goal of this study is to characterize Veteran experiences with VHA’s new SI screening process and the clinical evaluation that takes place in response to screen results. We will also examine the extent to which screening process variables are associated with mental health treatment utilization over 6 months.
Grant: VA HSR IIR
Characterizing suicide risk trajectories among reintegrating women Veterans over time (Co-Investigator)
The goals of this longitudinal cohort study of reintegrating Veterans are to describe the reintegration trajectories of Veterans at risk for suicide, identifying any gender differences, and examine the associations among reintegration trajectories and suicide risk, accounting for predisposing factors. Findings will inform suicide prevention efforts during Veteran reintegration, tailored by gender.
PI: Lauren Denneson
Grant ID: I01 HX003660-01
Tele-Collaborative Outreach to Rural Patients with Chronic Pain: The CORPs Trial (Co-Investigator)
The major goals of this pragmatic effectiveness trial are to determine if a telehealth intervention can improve pain and quality of life outcomes, while increasing use of non-pharmacologic pain treatments, in rural veterans with chronic pain.
Principal Investigator: Travis Lovejoy
Grant ID: NIH UG3 AT012257
Impact of Prescription Opioid Dose Changes on Cannabis Use and Clinical Outcomes (Co-Investigator)
This is a national prospective cohort study examining changes in cannabis use following prescription opioid discontinuation and the impact of these changes on pain and quality of life.
Principal Investigator: Morasco
Grant ID: NIH National Institute on Drug Abuse 1R01DA048817
You can find a full list of publications at PubMed.
- Denneson LM, Newell S, Elliott V, Rynerson A, Niederhausen M, Salvi A, Handley R, Bahraini N, Post EP, Carlson KF, Dobscha SK. Veteran Perspectives on Population-Based Suicide Risk Screening in VHA Primary Care: Mixed-Methods Study. Journal of general internal medicine. 2023 Aug 1; 38(11):2537-2545.
- Han L, Luther SL, Finch DK, Dobscha SK, Skanderson M, Bathulapalli H, Fodeh SJ, Hahm B, Bouayad L, Lee A, Goulet JL, Brandt CA, Kerns RD. Complementary and Integrative Health Approaches and Pain Care Quality in the Veterans Health Administration Primary Care Setting: A Quasi-Experimental Analysis. Journal of integrative and complementary medicine. 2023 Mar 27; 29(6-7):420-429.
- Smolenski DJ, McDonald KL, Hoffmire CA, Britton PC, Carlson KF, Dobscha SK, Denneson LM. Informing measurement of gender differences in suicide risk and resilience: A national study of United States military veterans. Journal of Clinical Psychology. 2023 May 1; 79(5):1371-1385.
- Teo AR, Niederhausen M, Handley R, Metcalf EE, Call AA, Jacob RL, Zikmund-Fisher BJ, Dobscha SK, Kaboli PJ. Using Nudges to Reduce Missed Appointments in Primary Care and Mental Health: a Pragmatic Trial. Journal of general internal medicine. 2023 Jul 1; 38(Suppl 3):894-904.
Lauren M. Denneson, MS, PhD is CIVIC's Associate Director, Professor of Psychiatry at Oregon Health and Science University's School of Medicine, and a Core investigator with the VA Suicide Prevention Research Impact Network. Dr. Denneson is a social psychologist with training in health promotion and disease prevention. Her research primarily centers on suicide prevention, with special focus areas of patient-centered care and social determinants of health. She also serves as the lead evaluator for the VA Portland Health Care System’s Whole Health transformation, a national VHA initiative that aims to transform VHA into a patient-centered health care system that facilitates patient self-management and empowerment. Dr. Denneson completed her BA in Psychology at the University of Minnesota and her MS and PhD in Applied Social Psychology at Portland State University.
You can contact Lauren Denneson by email at Lauren.Denneson@va.gov.
Gender differences in Veteran reintegration and associated suicide risk (Principal Investigator)
The goals of this longitudinal cohort study of reintegrating Veterans are to describe the reintegration trajectories of Veterans at risk for suicide, identifying any gender differences, and examine the associations among reintegration trajectories and suicide risk, accounting for predisposing factors. Findings will inform suicide prevention efforts during Veteran reintegration, tailored by gender.
Grant ID: I01 HX003660 SDR
A Multi-Method Examination of Veteran Crisis Line Emergency Dispatches (Site Principal Investigator)
The goal of this study is to examine the impact of emergency dispatch use among Veterans Crisis Line callers on healthcare utilization and subsequent suicide risk outcomes.
Principal Investigator: Britton
Grant Type: VA HSR IIR
Suicide Prevention Trials Database (Principal Investigator)
The goal of this project is to establish a repository of study-level data from all published trials in suicide prevention, using systematic review methods to abstract and harmonize data across studies.
Principal Investigator: Lauren Denneson and Maya O'Neil
Grant ID: VA CSR&D SDR
Advancing Suicide Prevention for Female Veterans (Principal Investigator)
The over-arching goal of this work is to inform gender-tailored suicide prevention approaches, using a large, national sample of female and male Veterans with recent non-fatal suicidal self-directed violence (SSV: fatal and non-fatal suicide attempts). We aim to develop and test explanatory models of female and male risk for a repeat SSV event over 12 months, and identify similarities and differences in patterns of healthcare utilization, coping strategies, and symptom change over time between female and male Veterans at risk for SSV.
Principal Investigator: Lauren Denneson
Grant ID: IIR 17-131
Motivational Interviewing to Address Suicidal Ideation: A Randomized Controlled Trial in Veterans (Site Principal Investigator)
This randomized controlled trial will examine the efficacy of a revised version of Motivational Interviewing to Address Suicidal Ideation (MI-SI-R) plus enhanced usual care (EUC) when compared to EUC alone on risk for suicide attempts and the presence and severity of suicidal ideation over 12 months. It will also explore hypothesized moderators and mediators of the intervention’s efficacy.
Principal Investigator: Britton
Grant ID: I01CX002359
A pilot trial of health coaching to improve functioning and reduce suicide risk among reintegrating Veterans (Principal Investigator)
This randomized controlled pilot trial will 1) Examine the feasibility of study procedures and acceptability of the health coaching intervention among reintegrating Veterans; 2) Evaluate measures of mediators and outcomes for suitability in a future confirmatory efficacy trial; and 3) Determine barriers and facilitators of implementation of health coaching among reintegrating Veterans.
Grant ID: I01 RX003704
Increasing Social Connection Through Crisis Caring Contacts: A Pragmatic Trial (Co-Investigator)
This pragmatic randomized controlled trial will evaluate the effectiveness of crisis caring contacts in decreasing loneliness, evaluate the effect of crisis caring contacts on other important outcomes including treatment engagement and suicidal ideation, explore moderators of treatment response to crisis caring contacts, and explore the effect of crisis caring contacts on all cause mortality, suicide attempts, and drug overdoses.
Principal Investigator: Alan Teo
Grant ID: I01 HX003428
Implementation of a Pragmatic Trial of Whole Health Team vs. Primary Care Group Education to Promote Non-Pharmacological Strategies to Improve Pain, Functioning, and Quality of Life in Veterans (Co-Investigator)
The goal of this UG3/UH3 proposal is to conduct a pragmatic implementation-effectiveness trial in which we will develop, pilot and implement two care delivery approaches for over 600 veterans with moderate to severe chronic pain who will be randomized to receive either: (1) an intensive Whole Health Team (WHT) approach versus (2) a less intensive, usual care Primary Care Group Education (PC-GE).
Principal Investigator: Karen Seal and William Becker
Grant ID: 1UG3AT009765
Suicide Prevention Research Impact NeTwork (SPRINT) (Co-Investigator)
The goals of this consortium are to serve as a collaborative network of VHA and non-VHA researchers, synthesize and report on research in the suicide prevention field, identify and prioritize key gaps in research, facilitate the development of high-quality and high-impact projects, promote growth of the field, and serve as a conduit of information among researchers, operations, and other stakeholders.
Principal Investigator: Steven Dobscha
Grant ID: COR 19-490
Understanding Impact of VHA's New Suicidal Ideation Screening Initiative: Veteran's Perspective (Co-Investigator)
The primary purpose of this 3-year, mixed-methods study is to develop a greater understanding of the impacts of Risk-ID screening processes from the Veterans’ perspective. Information derived from this project will help inform new clinical approaches, and support additional research to improve suicide risk detection, evaluation and clinical response, with the ultimate goal of reducing suicidal self-directed violence (SSV) among Veterans.
Principal Investigator: Steven Dobscha
Grant ID: HSR I01 HX002987
Firearm Injuries among Rural Veterans in the US (Co-Investigator)
This project uses: 1) VA healthcare data to examine patterns and outcomes of rural versus non-rural Veterans’ firearm injuries; and 2) DIPEx methodology to understand the culture of firearms among rural Veterans.
Principal Investigator: Kathleen Carlson
Grant ID: VRHRC 0160RH.
Serving all who have served: Enhancing suicide related care quality for black, indigenous, and people of color Veterans (Co-Investigator)
This project seeks to evaluate key components of VHA suicide related care quality for BIPOC Veterans to inform future intervention development.
Principal Investigator: Jason Chen
Grant ID: I01 HX003660
You can find a full list of publications at PubMed.
- Britton PC, Bohnert KM, Denneson LM, Ganoczy D, Ilgen MA. Analysis of veterans crisis line data: Temporal factors associated with the initiation of emergency dispatches. Suicide & Life-Threatening Behavior. 2023 Aug 1; 53(4):538-545.
- Carlson KF, Gilbert TA, Maxim L, Hooker ER, Shull S, DeBeer B, DeFrancesco S, Denneson L. Associations between nonfatal firearm injuries and risk of subsequent suicide among Veteran VA users: A retrospective cohort study. Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine. 2023 Apr 1; 30(4):278-288.
- Conner KR, Kearns JC, Denneson LM. Qualitative analysis of hospital patient narratives of warning signs on the day of their suicide attempt. General hospital psychiatry. 2022 Nov 9; 79:146-151.
- Denneson LM, Bollinger MJ, Meunier CC, Chen JI, Hudson TJ, Sparks CS, Carlson KF. Veteran suicide and associated community characteristics in Oregon. Preventive medicine. 2023 May 1; 170:107487.
- O'Neil ME, Baker-Robinson W, Hannon S, Krushnic D, Veazie S, Adams J, McDonald K, Willis K, Jungbauer R, O'Shea B, Carlson KF, Hamblen J, Denneson LM. Suicide Prevention Trials Database Data Story 1: What Interventions Have Been Studied. Portland, OR: VA CSR&D Project # SDR-SPTD-20S; 2023 Mar 1. 8 p.
Alan Teo, MD, MS, is CIVIC’s Director of Education. He serves as Director of CIVIC’s Postdoctoral Fellowship in Health Systems Research and is Professor of Psychiatry at Oregon Health & Science University. Dr. Teo's primary research focus is on the role of social connection in influencing mental health outcomes. He has a particular focus on insights and interventions that can mitigate loneliness and social isolation as a suicide prevention strategy. He is a Core investigator with the VA Suicide Prevention Research Impact Network.
In current and recent intervention studies funded by the VA, he has evaluated VA S.A.V.E., a form of “gatekeeper training” designed to help family and friends assist military veterans at risk for suicide, and he is conducting a pragmatic trial of an adaption of Caring Contacts called the “Buddy Check Postcard Project.” He also maintains interests in leveraging social media in health services research and recently has helped lead an evaluation of digital ads used in VA’s “Keep It Secure” suicide prevention campaign, which focuses on firearms safety. He completed an HSR career development award (CDA), which was aimed at engaging Veterans' close social relationships in the treatment of their depression. Dr. Teo is an international expert in a severe form of social withdrawal called hikikomori and has collaborated extensively with research colleagues internationally, particularly in Japan.
Dr. Teo’s research has been disseminated by national and international media such as the New York Times, NPR, TIME, and the Wall Street Journal. Clinically, Dr Teo’s interests include collaborative care and cultural psychiatry. He also enjoys opportunities to provide mentorship to physicians interested in research. Dr. Teo completed training at Stanford University, University of California San Francisco, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars Program at University of Michigan. In his personal time, he enjoys dispersed camping with his family and running mountain and trail ultramarathons.
You can contact Alan Teo by email at Alan.Teo@va.gov or teoa@ohsu.edu.
Buddy Check Postcard Project (Principal Investigator)
The primary objective of this project is to evaluate an adaptation of Caring Contacts tailored to older Veterans who may be struggling with social connection and treatment engagement with primary care or mental health in the VA. This is called the Buddy Check Postcard Project, and the project will determine if the intervention reduces loneliness and improves mental health outcomes.
Grant ID: SDR 21-087
Comparative Effectiveness PTSD Trial of Sequenced Pharmacotherapy and Psychotherapy in Primary Care (Site PI)
This project has three main aims: we propose to 1) compare outcomes among patients randomized to initially receive pharmacotherapy or brief psychotherapy, 2) compare outcomes among patients randomized to treatment sequences (i.e., switching and augmenting) for patients not responding to the initial treatment and 3) examine variation in treatment outcomes among different subgroups of patients.
Principal Investigator: John Fortney
Grant ID: PCORI PTSD-2019C1-15636.
Virtual Yoga for Social Isolation and loneliness in Rural Veterans (Principal Investigator)
This project aims to understand how to expand access to rural Veterans through virtual yoga group classes, while simultaneously evaluating fidelity of the intervention using sensor technology and addressing underlying issues of social isolation and loneliness in the target population.
Grant ID: VHA VRHRC-Portland FY22
KeepItSecure (PREVENTS) Lethal Means Safety Campaign Evaluation (Co-Investigator)
The overall goal of this project is to describe initial responses to VA KeepItSecure PSA to guide future message content and delivery approaches of lethal means messaging.
Principal Investigator: Karras
Exposure to Suicide Among Post 9/11 Veterans: Prevalence, Correlates, and Treatment Needs (Co-Investigator)
The primary objective of this study is to describe the health and functional outcomes of suicide exposure among a cohort of Veterans at particularly high risk for suicide and of priority for VA suicide prevention strategies - post-9/11 Veterans transitioning to civilian life. Our second objective is to elucidate the reasons some Veterans develop persistent problems following suicide exposure while others do not.
Grant ID: SDR 21-046
Principal Investigator: Sayer
VA COVID-19 Observational Research Collaboratory (CORC) Long Term Outcomes (Clinical Co-Investigator)
This project aims to improve Veteran’s health by conducting and supporting rigorous research to understand the long-term effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection while fostering research collaborations within and outside of the Department of Veterans Affairs. CORC comprises a Coordinating center (CC) and a Long-term Outcomes (LTO) Study teams.
Principal Investigator: Denise Hynes
Grant ID: C19-21-279
Reducing Social Isolation and Loneliness Through Physical Activity to Lower Cardiovascular Disease Risk Among Military Women and Men Reintegrating Into Civilian Life (Mentor)
The purpose of this 5-year Mentored Research Scientist Development Award is to characterize the needs related to physical activity and social factors and utilize community-based participatory research to co-design a group-based physical activity intervention with veterans transitioning to civilian life. Additionally, the aim is to test the feasibility and acceptability (i.e., retention and satisfaction) and preliminary health effects (i.e., blood pressure, social isolation, and loneliness) of the group-based physical activity intervention that harnesses components of social support, sense of belonging, and feelings of social connectedness to reduce social isolation and loneliness among veterans transitioning from active duty to civilian life.
Principal Investigator: Yarish
Grant ID: 1K01HL159348-01A1
Assessing and Enhancing Social Support to Improve Treatment Outcomes Among Veterans with PTSD (Mentor)
This study evaluates the feasibility, acceptability, and psychometric properties of social support measurement instruments among Veterans with and without PTSD and tests iteratively refines a brief, behavioral activation-based PTSD treatment in Primary Care Mental Health Integration (PCMHI) designed to improve social support for Veterans with PTSD in preparation for a future Hybrid Type 1 trial.
Principal Investigator: Campbell
Grant ID: CDA 19-208
You can find a full list of publications at PubMed.
- Alvarez-Mon MA, Pereira-Sanchez V, Hooker ER, Sanchez F, Alvarez-Mon M, Teo AR. Content and User Engagement of Health-Related Behavior Tweets Posted by Mass Media Outlets From Spain and the United States Early in the COVID-19 Pandemic: Observational Infodemiology Study. JMIR infodemiology. 2023 Aug 22; 3:e43685.
- Amendola S, Presaghi F, Teo AR, Cerutti R. Psychometric Properties of the Italian Version of the 25-Item Hikikomori Questionnaire. International journal of environmental research and public health. 2022 Oct 19; 19(20).
- Gurbuz PG, Tez OY, Deveci ME, Teo AR. Psychometric Properties of the Hikikomori Questionnaire (HQ-25) in Türkiye. Eurasian Journal of Sport Sciences and Education. 2022 Dec 1; 4(2):123-134.
- Lyakina YS, Federov AA, Teo AR. Validation and application practice of the Russian-language version of the 25-item Hikikomori Questionnaire (HQ-25). Psychology Journal of the Higher School of Economics. 2023 Jan 1; 20(2):doi: 10.17323/1813-8918-2023-2-257-281.
- Teo AR, Niederhausen M, Handley R, Metcalf EE, Call AA, Jacob RL, Zikmund-Fisher BJ, Dobscha SK, Kaboli PJ. Using Nudges to Reduce Missed Appointments in Primary Care and Mental Health: a Pragmatic Trial. Journal of general internal medicine. 2023 Jul 1; 38(Suppl 3):894-904.
Dr. Barrett is a Hospitalist physician educator, scientist, and entrepreneur at the Portland VA and Associate Professor in the Division of Hospital Medicine, Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU). Perioperative medicine was an early focus of his research career with database inquiries and a small prospective patient cohort study. He then collaborated with nanotechnology engineers in the Oregon Nanomedicine Interdisciplinary Research Group and spun out two biotech companies in the diagnostic space with applications in sepsis and cardiovascular disease. After shutting down the last company, Dr. Barret has been focusing on teaching biotechnology innovation and entrepreneurship to OHSU medical students and faculty and has remained active in the Oregon biotech community. Dr. Barrett’s research has also returned to perioperative medicine, and he is currently working to update how risk is assessed before surgery using pharmacogenomics, artificial intelligence, and super computers on a team that includes the VA National Artificial Intelligence Institute and the VA Surgical Quality Improvement Program.
Dr. Barrett received a BS from Georgetown University, MD with Residency in Internal Medicine at The Ohio State University, and a Masters In Clinical Research from OHSU. Dr. Barrett founded the Oregon Chapter of the Society of Hospital Medicine and the Portland Chapter of the Society of Physician Entrepreneurs.
Precision Pharmacogenomic Perioperative Prediction (Principal Investigator)
Major Goals: Update risk prediction before surgery using perioperative pharmacogenomics and machine learning/artificial intelligence
Grant ID: VA Merit Pilot MVP075
ACTIV3 (Accelerating COVID-19 Therapeutic Interventions and Vaccines), a Multicenter, Adaptive, Randomized, Blinded Control Trial of the Safety and Efficacy of Investigational Therapeutics for Hospitalized Patients with COVID-19 (Co-Investigator)
The major goals of this project are to assess therapeutic interventions for inpatients with COVID-19.
Principal Investigator: Jens Lundgren, PhD
Grant ID: Clinical Trials # NCT04501978
STRIVE (Strategies and Treatments for Respiratory Infections; Viral Emergencies), a Multicenter, Adaptive, Randomized, Blinded Control Trial of the Safety and Efficacy of Investigational Therapeutics for Hospitalized Patients with COVID-19 (Co-Investigator)
The major goals of this project are to assess therapeutic interventions for inpatients with COVID-19.
Principal Investigator: Jens Lundgren, PhD
Grant ID: Clinical Trials # NCT05605093
You can find a full list of publications at PubMed.
- Sing H, DuBois B, Al-Jammali Z, Barrett T. Pharmacogenomics in the clinic: genetic polymorphism contributing to venlafaxine-associated heart failure. Pharmacogenomics. 2019 Nov;20(17):1175-1178
Jennifer L. Barton, MD, MCR is the Rheumatology Section Chief at the VA Portland Health Care System and Professor of Medicine at Oregon Health & Science University. Her research focuses on patient-clinician communication, shared decision making, and the rheumatic diseases. She is also co-lead of the VISN 20 VA Rheumatology ECHO which began in 2019.
Dr. Barton has received a K23 award from the NIH to examine patient-clinician goal concordance in rheumatoid arthritis. Dr. Barton completed fellowship at University of California, San Francisco, and was an assistant professor at UCSF, where she received a career development award from the American College of Rheumatology to study patient-physician discordance around assessment of disease severity in rheumatoid arthritis, and led the development of a low literacy medication summary guide and decision aid tool for vulnerable populations with RA.
Dr. Barton is currently a co-investigator on three CIVIC projects: "Listening to Gulf War Veterans: A Qualitative Inquiry into the Health Experience and Treatment of those with Chronic Multisymptom Illness" (VA HSR grant I01 HX002148-01A@; PI: Helfand); "Patient-Centered Decision Support for Veterans Making Choices About Where to Get Their Health Care: 'Should I Stay or Should I Go?'" (VA HSR Research to Impact for Veterans grant; PI: Slatore); and "Adapting Caring Contacts to Counteract Adverse Effects of Social Distancing during COVID-19" (HSR grant C19 20-216; PI: Teo).
Implementation of shared decision making in rheumatoid arthritis: A stepped wedge, cluster-randomized trial (Principal Investigator)
The purpose of this project is to evaluate the effectiveness of a multi-component shared decision making intervention on RA disease activity, adherence to RA medications and patient knowledge of RA.
Grant ID: 1 I01 HX003260-01A2
You can find a full list of publications at PubMed.
- Baker R, Mantilla B, Graf J, Katz PP, Goglin S, Barton JL, Liew JW, Wysham KD. Racial and Ethnic Differences in a Biochemical Marker of Rheumatoid Arthritis Disease Activity. ACR open rheumatology. 2023 Mar 1; 5(3):142-148.
- Barton JL. Unequal Treatment: Physical Therapy Utilization in Rheumatoid Arthritis. The Journal of rheumatology. 2023 Nov 1; 50(11):1359-1361.
- Barton JL, Markwardt S, Niederhausen M, Schue A, Dougherty J, Katz P, Saha S, Yelin EH. Are We on the Same Page? A Cross-Sectional Study of Patient-Clinician Goal Concordance in Rheumatoid Arthritis. Arthritis care & research. 2023 Mar 1; 75(3):625-633.
- McGoldrick J, Molina-Ochoa D, Schwab P, Edwards ST, Barton JL. An Evaluation of Burnout Among US Rheumatology Fellows: A National Survey. The Journal of rheumatology. 2023 Sep 1; 50(9):1185-1190.
- Montgomery A, Tarasovsky G, Izadi Z, Shiboski S, Whooley MA, Dana J, Ehiorobo I, Barton J, Bennett L, Chung L, Reiter K, Wahl E, Subash M, Schmajuk G. An Electronic Dashboard to Improve Dosing of Hydroxychloroquine Within the Veterans Health Care System: Time Series Analysis. JMIR medical informatics. 2023 May 12; 11:e44455.
Eilis Boudreau MD, PhD is a CIVIC Investigator and Professor of Neurology, and Medical Informatics and Clinical Epidemiology at Oregon Health & Sciences University. She is the VA-site PI for a multi-site, HSR-funded study comparing the efficacy of different clinical pathways for Veterans referred for sleep apnea care, and for evaluation of the negative predictive value of Home Sleep Apnea testing. She also heads up the VA Portland participation in the VA Enterprise-Wise TeleSleep program designed to improve access and quality of sleep care to rurally located Veterans. Dr. Boudreau's research focuses on improving data capture at the point of clinical care from the Electronic Health Record (EHR), data harmonization across EHR and research studies, with an interest in developing computational phenotypes.
Reducing Cardiovascular and Metabolic Morbidity: Deep Phenotyping of Obstructive Sleep Apnea, a Model for Targeted Treatment for Modifiable Risk Factors (Principal Investigator)
Grant Source: VA Million Veteran Program (MVP) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
Improving Access to Sleep Apnea Care: A Pragmatic Study of New Consultation Models (Site Principal Investigator)
The goal of this project is to compare a health care delivery model, Direct Referral for Apnea Monitoring (DREAM), with initial in-person (IP) clinic encounters for Veterans at risk for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). The central hypothesis of the proposed research is that the DREAM clinical pathway can improve Veterans' access to sleep services by reducing wait times for home sleep apnea testing (HSAT) and OSA treatment while maintaining prognostic accuracy that is comparable to IP assessments.
Principal Investigator: K. Sarmiento
Grant Source: VHA Health Systems Research Service
You can find a full list of publications at PubMed.
- Chun VS, Whooley MA, Williams K, Zhang N, Zeidler MR, Atwood CW, Folmer RL, Totten AM, Smith CJ, Boudreau EA, Reichert JM, Sarmiento KF. Veterans Health Administration TeleSleep Enterprise-Wide Initiative 2017-2020: bringing sleep care to our nation's veterans. Journal of clinical sleep medicine. 2023 May 1; 19(5):913-923.
- Folmer RL, Smith CJ, Boudreau EA, Totten AM, Chilakamarri P, Atwood CW, Sarmiento KF. Sleep disorders among rural Veterans: Relative prevalence, comorbidities, and comparisons with urban Veterans. The Journal of rural health. 2023 Jun 1; 39(3):582-594.
- Hahn Z, Hotchkiss J, Atwood C, Smith C, Totten A, Boudreau E, Folmer R, Chilakamarri P, Whooley M, Sarmiento K. Travel Burden as a Measure of Healthcare Access and the Impact of Telehealth within the Veterans Health Administration. Journal of general internal medicine. 2023 Jul 1; 38(Suppl 3):805-813.
Kathleen Carlson, MS, PhD is a CIVIC Core Investigator and Professor of Epidemiology at the Oregon Health and Science University - Portland State University (OHSU-PSU) School of Public Health. Dr. Carlson trained in injury epidemiology and health services research and has been conducting VA research since 2006. She participated in the VA Advanced Fellowship in Health Services Research at the Minneapolis VA Healthcare System from 2006-2008 and completed a VA HSR Career Development Award from 2010-2015. Dr. Carlson's work focuses on the co-occurrence of physical and psychological trauma among returning Veterans and their post-deployment reintegration into families, work, and community; she is currently examining VA and community health services for Veterans diagnosed with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and their physical and psychosocial. Her research also focuses on the epidemiology, prevention, and control of TBI and other traumatic injurities; firearm-related injuries including self-harm and interpersonal violence; opioid and other medication safety; and the epidemiology of, and clinical services for, tinnitus and other auditory disorders among Veterans. Her OHSU research focuses on injury and violence epidemiology and prevention among Oregonians more broadly. Dr. Carlson also teaches masters- and doctoral-level epidemiology students in the OHSU-PSU School of Public Health and leads the OHSU-PSU Gun Violence as a Public Health Issue initiative and the OHSU Center for Gun Violence Prevention Research.
You can contact Kathleen Carlson by email at Kathleen.Carlson@va.gov.
Preventing Gun Violence Using the Tools of Public Health: Laying the Foundation for an OHSU Gun Violence Prevention Research Center (Principal Investigator)
The goals of this award are to build an evidence base for an OHSU-based research center focused on gun violence prevention, identifying new methods to reduce the rates, and impacts, of firearm injuries in our communities and across the population.
Grant Source: OHSU Faculty Excellence and Innovation Award
Developing and Implementing a Gun Violence Review Commission to Reduce Gun Injury and Death in Multnomah County (Principal Investigator)
The overarching aim of this project is to establish a Gun Violence Review Commission in Multnomah County and build the infrastructure to support and sustain its work.
Use of Data Linkage and Natural Language Processing to Improve Suicide Risk Prediction among Firearm Injury Patients: Expansion of the Oregon FASTER Project (Principal Investigator)
The goal of this project is to develop and apply natural language processing (NLP) models to Oregon ESSENCE data to improve the classification of firearm injury intent in emergency department records.
Prevention of Firearm Injuries among Rural Veterans in the US (Principal Investigator)
Grant ID: VRHRC 0160RH
Community Care Utilization among Post-9/11 Veterans with Traumatic Brain Injury (Principal Investigator)
Grant ID: HSR I01 HX003088
Long-Term Impact of Military-Relevant Brain Injury Consortium (LIMBIC): Longitudinal Study (Site Principal Investigator)
The overall goal of LIMBIC is to identify and longitudinally follow Veterans with TBI to examine prevalence of, and risk factors for, decline over time consistent with neurodegeneration.
Principal Investigator: Walker; Cifu
Grant ID: CSR&D I01 CX-002097-001
Long-term Effects of Noise and Other Explosures on Audtory Functioning in Post-9/11 Veterans: NOISE Study 3.0 (Co-Investigator)
The purpose of this continuation study would allow the team to continue to collect data on the long-term effects of military and non-military exposures on auditory function, gathering up to 11 years of longitudinal data on the currently enrolled cohort of study participants. Continued funding would provide the unique opportunity to obtain evidence on whether military noise exposures can result in delayed-onset hearing loss and/or tinnitus in Veterans.
Principal Investigator: Henry
Grant ID: RX003701
Suicide Prevention Trials Database (Co-Investigator)
The goal of this project is to establish a repository of study-level data from all published trials in suicide prevention, using systematic review methods to abstract and harmonize data across studies.
Principal Investigator: Lauren Denneson and Maya O'Neil
Grant ID: VA CSR&D SDR
Advancing Suicide Prevention for Female Veterans (Co-Investigator)
The over-arching goal of this work is to inform gender-tailored suicide prevention approaches, using a large, national sample of female and male Veterans with recent non-fatal suicidal self-directed violence (SSV: fatal and non-fatal suicide attempts). We aim to develop and test explanatory models of female and male risk for a repeat SSV event over 12 months, and identify similarities and differences in patterns of healthcare utilization, coping strategies, and symptom change over time between female and male Veterans at risk for SSV.
Principal Investigator: Lauren Denneson
Grant ID: IIR 17-131
Effects of Military Noise Exposure on Auditory Function in Service Members and Recently Discharged Veterans (Co-Investigator)
This proposal serves as a continuation to study # PR121146. The objective of this longitudinal epidemiologic study is to estimate and describe the prevalence, etiology, and effects of early-onset tinnitus and hearing loss among newly-discharged military Veterans.
Principal Investigator: James Henry
Grant ID: JW160036
Understanding Impact of VHA's New Suicidal Ideation Screening Initiative: Veteran's Perspective (Co-Investigator)
This project evaluates the effectiveness of VA’s newly implemented suicide screening program, Risk-ID.
Principal Investigator: Steven Dobscha
Grant ID: HSR I01 HX002987/19-215
FITBIR: Accelerating Synthesis of TBI Research Using Novel Methods (FAST RUN Methods) (Co-Investigator)
Principal Investigator: Maya O'Neil
Grant ID: DoD/CDMRP W81XWH2010564
Improving Suicide Prediction Using NLP-Extracted Social Determinants of Health (Co-Investigator)
Principal Investigator: Hong Yu
Grant ID: NIH/NIMH R01MH125027
VA-DoD Long-term Impact of Military-Relevant Brain Injury Consortium (LIMBIC): Phenotypes of Persistent Comorbidity in Post-9/11 Era Veterans with mTBI (Co-Investigator)
Principal Investigator: Mary Jo Pugh
Grant ID: RR&D I01 RX003443-01
Effects of Military Noise Exposure on Auditory Function in Service Members and Recent Veterans (Co-Investigator)
The primary goal of the NOISE Study is to estimate and describe the prevalence, etiology, and effects of tinnitus and hearing loss among Military Veterans.
Principal Investigator: Reavis
Grant ID: JW160036
Increasing Social Connection through Crisis Caring Contacts: A Pragmatic Trial (Co-Investigator)
This pragmatic randomized controlled trial will evaluate the effectiveness of crisis caring contacts in decreasing loneliness, evaluate the effect of crisis caring contacts on other important outcomes including treatment engagement and suicidal ideation, explore moderators of treatment response to crisis caring contacts, and explore the effect of crisis caring contacts on all-cause mortality, suicide attempts, and drug overdoses.
Principal Investigator: Alan Teo
Grant ID: I01 HX003428 IIR
A pilot trial of health coaching to improve functioning and reduce suicide risk among reintegrating Veterans (Co-Investigator)
This randomized controlled pilot trial will 1) Examine the feasibility of study procedures and acceptability of the health coaching intervention among reintegrating Veterans; 2) Evaluate measures of mediators and outcomes for suitability in a future confirmatory efficacy trial; and 3) Determine barriers and facilitators of implementation of health coaching among reintegrating Veterans.
Principal Investigator: Lauren Denneson
Grant ID: I01 RX003704
Patient Health Experiences: Using Patient Narratives to Improve Tinnitus Rehabilitation Services and Outcomes (Co-Investigator)
The long-term goal of this research is to improve functioning and quality of life outcomes among Veterans with tinnitus by increasing access to, and uptake of, evidence-based tinnitus rehabilitation strategies.
Principal Investigator: Clark
Grant ID: I21 RX003888
Improving OHSU Trauma Patient Outcomes through Evaluation of Healing Hurt People – Portland: A Photovoice Pilot Project (Principal Investigator)
The aim of this pilot project is to use Photovoice methodology to evaluate the effects of hospital-based violence intervention programs (HVIPs) on the reduction of violence in Oregon.
Grant Source: OHSU Faculty Excellence and Innovation Award, Silver Family Innovation Fund
You can find a full list of publications at PubMed.
- Carlson KF, Gilbert TA, Maxim L, Hooker ER, Shull S, DeBeer B, DeFrancesco S, Denneson L. Associations between nonfatal firearm injuries and risk of subsequent suicide among Veteran VA users: A retrospective cohort study. Academic emergency medicine. 2023 Apr 1; 30(4):278-288.
- Clark KD, Zaugg TL, DeFrancesco S, Kaelin C, Henry JA, Carlson KF. Rehabilitation Service Needs and Preferences among Veterans with Tinnitus: A Qualitative Study. Seminars in Hearing. 2023 Jun 22; N/A(N/A):N/A.
- Coco L, Hooker E, Gilbert TA, Prewitt AL, Reavis KM, O'Neil ME, Clark KD, Henry JA, Zaugg TL, Carlson KF. Associations Between Traumatic Brain Injury and Severity of Tinnitus-Related Functional Impairment among US Military Veterans: A National, Population-based Study. Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation. 2023 Sep 12; DOI: 10.1097/HTR.0000000000000896.
- Coco L, Hooker ER, Gilbert TA, Harker GA, Clark KD, Reavis KM, Henry JA, Zaugg TL, Carlson KF. The Impact of Tinnitus Severity on Work Functioning among U.S. Military Veterans with Tinnitus. Seminars in Hearing. 2023 Jul 24; DOI: 10.1055/s-0043-1770152.
- Denneson LM, Bollinger MJ, Meunier CC, Chen JI, Hudson TJ, Sparks CS, Carlson KF. Veteran suicide and associated community characteristics in Oregon. Preventive medicine. 2023 May 1; 170:107487.
Jason I. Chen, PhD is a CIVIC Core Investigator, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Chair of the Curriculum Committee for the Clinical Psychology PhD Program at OHSU. He received his PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of South Florida in 2016 where he focused on mechanisms of suicide risk and the implementation and dissemination of suicide prevention programming. Dr. Chen completed his APA accredited internship at the VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System and a postdoctoral fellowship in health services research at CIVIC. Dr. Chen is currently funded on a 5-year, VA HSR Career Development Award titled, "Enhancing Social Connectedness Among Veterans at High Risk for Suicide through Community Engagement," (CDA 18-185; IK2HX002787). His research lab, the Connecting Communities for Suicide Prevention Lab (CCSP), studies suicide prevention for high-risk populations, with a focus on military veterans, community-based approaches, and help-seeking processes. Dr. Chen also collaborates with the OHSU Media Team and Suicide Prevention Program Managers to provide technical support and training for the OHSU community.
You can contact Jason Chen by email at Jason.Chen1@va.gov.
Serving All Who Have Served: Enhancing Suicide-Related Care Quality for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color Veterans (Principal Investigator)
The goal of this grant is to evaluate factors contributing to equitable suicide-related care for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color Veterans.
Grant ID: IIR 21-218; I01HX003545-01
Exploring Developmentally Sensitive Mechanisms of Exposure to Suicide-Related Media and Suicide Risk (Principal Investigator)
The goal of this grant is to understand mechanisms contributing to the association between suicide-related media and individual suicide risk.
Grant ID: OHSU Medical Research Foundation #1023551
Enhancing Social Connectedness Among Veterans at High Risk for Suicide through Community Engagement (Principal Investigator)
The current project proposes to develop and pilot a multicomponent, peer-support facilitated intervention for increasing social connectedness through participation in community activities among Veterans at elevated risk of death by suicide via the following research aims: 1) Identify Veterans’ current behaviors, needs, and preferences for community engagement following psychiatric hospitalization, 2) Identify VHA staff and community stakeholder perceptions and perceived needs related to Veteran community engagement following psychiatric hospitalization, and 3) Develop and pilot a multicomponent, peer-support facilitated intervention for increasing social connectedness among Veterans at elevated risk of death by suicide. Expected outcomes from these aims include clinical toolkits for VA and community stakeholders, academic manuscripts and presentations, and two HSR IIR submissions over the course of the CDA award period.
Grant ID:1IK2HX002787-01/CDA 18-185
A Pilot Trial of Health Coaching to Improve Functioning and Reduce Suicide Risk among Reintegrating Veterans (Co-Investigator)
Major goal: Complete a preliminary efficacy trial of health coaching as an upstream suicide intervention for recently separated Veterans.
Principal Investigator: Lauren Denneson
Grant ID: 1I01RX003704-01A2
VA Long Term Outcomes from COVID Study (Co-Investigator)
The goal of this collaborative project is to evaluate the long-term physical health, mental health, and health utilizations impacts among Veterans who have recovered from COVID-19.
Principal Investigator: Hynes
Grant ID: C19 21-279
You can find a full list of publications at PubMed.
- Denneson LM, Bollinger MJ, Meunier CC, Chen JI, Hudson TJ, Sparks CS, Carlson KF. Veteran suicide and associated community characteristics in Oregon. Preventive medicine. 2023 May 1; 170:107487.
- Denneson LM, Cameron DC, Hooker ER, Laliberte AZ, Chen JI. Self-Directed Violence Surveillance in the Veterans Health Administration: A National Examination of Factors Associated with Undetermined Versus Suicide Attempt Classification. Community mental health journal. 2023 Jul 1; 59(5):954-961.
- Laliberte AZ, Salvi A, Hooker E, Roth B, Handley R, Carlson K, Hynes D, Tuepker A, Chen JI. Factors associated with a lack of health care utilization among Veterans after a positive suicide screen in the emergency department. Academic emergency medicine. 2023 Apr 1; 30(4):321-330.
- Peterson A, Chen J, Bozzay M, Bender A, Chu C. Suicide risk profiles among service members and veterans exposed to suicide. Journal of Clinical Psychology. 2024 Jan 1; 80(1):65-85.
- Ward MJ, Hwang U, Hastings SN, Timko C, Chen JI, Vashi AA, Mattocks K, Abel EA, Bravata DM. Research and policy recommendations from the SOTA XVI: State of the Art Conference on VA Emergency Medicine. Academic emergency medicine. 2023 Apr 1; 30(4):240-251.
Samuel Edwards, MD, MPH is a primary care physician, general internist, and health services researcher at the Portland Veterans Affairs (VA) Health Care System and an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU). Dr. Edwards’s research focuses on the role and function of primary care in health systems, with a focus on the care for high needs individuals through Home-Based Primary Care (HBPC). His Career Development Award uses mixed methods to explore what features of HBPC drive its success in reducing hospitalizations for ambulatory care sensitive conditions, and uses these insights to develop an intervention to promote best practices in HBPC.
Dr. Edwards received his medical degree from the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University, received his training in internal medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and completed fellowship in General Medicine and Primary Care at Harvard Medical School, VA Boston Healthcare System and Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
You can contact Samuel Edwards by email at Samuel Edwards@va.gov.
Defining Successful Program Configurations in Home-Based Primary Care (Principal Investigator)
This mixed-methods study will perform a detailed exploration of variation in the Home-Based Primary Care program, identify configurations of HBPC site features associated with high performance in home time, a novel patient centered outcome, and elucidate mechanisms of success using coincidence analysis, an emerging configurational method.
Grant ID: IIR 22-096
Mixed Methods Evaluation of the RELATE Lab (Co-Principal Investigator)
Principal Investigator: Samuel Edwards and Anais Tuepker
Grant Source: Morris-Singer Foundation
You can find a full list of publications at PubMed.
- Edwards ST, Johnson A, Park B, Eiff P, Guzman CEV, Gordon L, Taylor C, Tuepker A. "What We're Doing Now…Is More Than Water Cooler": Perspectives of Primary Care Leaders on Leading Through (and Beyond) COVID-19. Journal of general internal medicine. 2023 Aug 15.
- Edwards ST, O'Neill A, Niederhausen M, Salvi A, Laliberte A, Saha S, Hynes DM, Pizer S, Kinosian B. Trajectories of care and outcomes of Veterans receiving home-based primary care. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. 2024 Jan 1; 72(1):80-90.
- Govier DJ, Hickok A, Edwards ST, Weaver FM, Gordon H, Niederhausen M, Hynes DM. Early Impact of VA MISSION Act Implementation on Primary Care Appointment Wait Time. Journal of general internal medicine. 2023 Mar 1; 38(4):889-897.
- Holdbrook LE, Hassan N, Clarke SK, Coakley A, Norrie E, Yemane M, Youssef MR, Sahilie A, Antonio M, Cerino ER, Pendharkar SR, Lake D, Spitzer DL, Pottie K, Edwards ST, Fabreau GE. Vaccines for all: A formative evaluation of a multistakeholder community-engaged COVID-19 vaccine outreach clinic for migrant communities. Journal of migration and health. 2023 Mar 26; 7:100188.
- Hulen E, Laliberte A, Saha S, Edwards ST. Relational Coordination in Veterans Affairs Home-Based Primary Care. Journal of interprofessional education & practice. 2023 Sep 1; 32:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xjep.2023.100665.
Robert Folmer, Ph.D. is a CIVIC Investigator and Professor of Otolaryngology at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU). Dr. Folmer is also a Research Investigator at the RR&D National Center for Rehabilitative Auditory Research (NCRAR) at VA Portland. He is Program Manager for a VA Enterprise-Wide Initiative (EWI) called TeleSleep that is funded by the Office of Rural Health (ORH). The goal of the TeleSleep Program, which includes 14 Hub sites and more than 50 Spoke sites nationwide, is to improve the quality of and Veterans’ access to VA Sleep Medicine Services by using advanced telehealth strategies. The group is also conducting a multi-site, HSR-funded study that compares the efficacy of different clinical pathways for Veterans who are referred for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). At OHSU, Dr. Folmer was the Chief of Clinical Services for the Tinnitus Clinic from 1998-2007 and was also part of the team that developed the Dangerous Decibels hearing loss prevention education program. He joined the NCRAR in 2007 and served as Program Manager for a joint VA/Department of Defense Hearing Loss Prevention Initiative. His research interests include transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) for treatment of tinnitus, depression and PTSD; electrophysiological assessment of auditory and cognitive processing in patients who experience neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s Disease, multiple sclerosis, or traumatic brain injury. Dr. Folmer’s team is currently conducting clinical trials of 2 different drugs for treatment of chronic tinnitus: etanercept and ketamine.
You can contact Robert Folmer by email at Robert.Folmer@va.gov.
Validation and Expansion of Established Norms for Measures of Tinnitus Perception (Principal Investigator)
This project aims to automate and standardize measures of patients’ tinnitus perception.
Grant ID: 2I01RX001205-05A2
Improving Access to Sleep Apnea Care: A Pragmatic Study of New Consultation Models (Co-Investigator)
Principal Investigator: Kathleen Sarmiento, MD
Grant Source: VA HSR
Reducing Cardiovascular and Metabolic Morbidity: Deep Phenotyping of a Major Modifiable Risk Factor - Obstructive Sleep Apnea (Co-Investigator)
The primary goal of this project is to improve cardiovascular and metabolic outcomes in Veterans by applying natural language processing (NLP), structured data analytics, and clustering approaches to comprehensively phenotype Veterans suffering from Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA).
Principal Investigator: Eilis Boudreau
Grant Source: VA Million Veteran Program (MVP) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
You can find a full list of publications at PubMed.
- Chun VS, Whooley MA, Williams K, Zhang N, Zeidler MR, Atwood CW, Folmer RL, Totten AM, Smith CJ, Boudreau EA, Reichert JM, Sarmiento KF. Veterans Health Administration TeleSleep Enterprise-Wide Initiative 2017-2020: bringing sleep care to our nation's veterans. Journal of clinical sleep medicine. 2023 May 1; 19(5):913-923.
- Folmer RL. Unresolved Issues Associated with Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) Treatment of Chronic Tinnitus. Journal of clinical medicine. 2023 Jul 12; 12(14).
- Folmer RL, Smith CJ, Boudreau EA, Totten AM, Chilakamarri P, Atwood CW, Sarmiento KF. Sleep disorders among rural Veterans: Relative prevalence, comorbidities, and comparisons with urban Veterans. The Journal of rural health. 2023 Jun 1; 39(3):582-594.
- Hahn Z, Hotchkiss J, Atwood C, Smith C, Totten A, Boudreau E, Folmer R, Chilakamarri P, Whooley M, Sarmiento K. Travel Burden as a Measure of Healthcare Access and the Impact of Telehealth within the Veterans Health Administration. Journal of general internal medicine. 2023 Jul 1; 38(Suppl 3):805-813.
- Henry JA, Folmer RL, Zaugg TL, Theodoroff SM, Quinn CM, Reavis KM, Thielman EJ, Carlson KF. History of Tinnitus Research at the VA National Center for Rehabilitative Auditory Research (NCRAR), 1997-2021: Studies and Key Findings. Seminars in Hearing. 2023 Jun 22; N/A(N/A):N/A.
Mark Helfand, MD, MS, MPH is Professor of Medicine at the Oregon Health & Science University. He is board-certified in Internal Medicine and practices hospital medicine at the Portland VA Medical Center. He founded the VA Evidence Synthesis Program Coordinating Center in 2009 and was the director until 2023. He directs the AHRQ Scientific Resource Center for the Effective Health Care Program, and is a founding member of the steering committee of the Health Experiences Network, the US branch of Dipex International. He is a founding member of the steering committee of the Health Experiences Research Network, the US branch of Dipex International.
Dr. Helfand has served on the Methodology Committee of the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute since 2011 and was Editor-in-chief of Medical Decision Making from 2005 to 2012. Dr. Helfand received a BA and BS from Stanford University, an MD and MPH from University of Illinois Medical School, and an MS in health services research from Stanford University.
You can contact Mark Helfand by email at Mark.Helfand@va.gov.
Scientific Resource Center III (Investigator)
The Scientific Resource Center (SRC) supports the activities of the Effective Health Care Program in a variety of ways, including scientific and technical support to protect scientific credibility and independence of Effective Health Care Program products; Coordinating peer review for comparative effectiveness reviews and other products; supporting of the work of reviews and other research projects by supplying trusted methods for conducting the research itself and by maintaining the Methods Guide for Conducting Comparative Effectiveness Reviews; and Technical support for topic nomination development and selection processes.
Principal Investigator: Mark Helfand
Grant ID: AHRQ HHSA 29020120004C
Listening to Gulf War Vets: A qualitative Inquiry into the Health Experience and Treatment of those with Chronic Multisymptom Illness (Principal Investigator)
The first comprehensive qualitative study of the health experiences of Gulf War era veterans will yield significant insight into the features of effective care models and treatments, as well as satisfaction with care. It will also create a rich, ongoing resource that can inform VA’s efforts to improve customer service and care for these veterans, identify better illness-specific health measures and promising therapeutic approaches, and activate veterans to be more engaged with the health system.
Grant ID: SDR 17-151
You can find a full list of publications at PubMed.
- Holmer HK, Mackey K, Fiordalisi CV, Helfand M. Major Update 2: Antibody Response and Risk for Reinfection After SARS-CoV-2 Infection-Final Update of a Living, Rapid Review. Annals of internal medicine. 2023 Jan 1; 176(1):85-91.
- Morgan RL, Yepes-Nuñez JJ, Ewusie J, Mbuagbaw L, Chang S, Baldeh T, Hempel S, Helfand M, Shekelle P, Wilt TJ, Schünemann HJ. Improving grading of recommendations assessment, development, and evaluation evidence tables part 4: a three-arm noninferiority randomized trial demonstrates improved understanding of content in summary of findings tables with a new format. Journal of clinical epidemiology. 2023 Feb 1; 154:125-135.
- O'Hare AM, Vig EK, Iwashyna TJ, Fox A, Taylor JS, Viglianti EM, Butler CR, Vranas KC, Helfand M, Tuepker A, Nugent SM, Winchell KA, Laundry RJ, Bowling CB, Hynes DM, Maciejewski ML, Bohnert ASB, Locke ER, Boyko EJ, Ioannou GN, VA COVID Observational Research Collaboratory (CORC). Complexity and Challenges of the Clinical Diagnosis and Management of Long COVID. JAMA Network Open. 2022 Nov 1; 5(11):e2240332.
- Hickam DH, Gordon CJ, Armstrong CE, Coen MJ, Paynter R, Helfand M. Efficacy of Dental Services for Reducing Adverse Events in Those Receiving Chemotherapy for Cancer. AHRQ Rapid Evidence Products. Rockville (MD): Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (US); 2023 Jul 1.
Denise Hynes, MPH, PhD, RN has been a Research Scientist in the US Department of Veterans Affairs since 1991 and joined CIVIC as a Core Investigator in 2018. She is an experienced nurse, health services researcher, and data scientist. Her research focuses on innovative approaches to improve healthcare quality and access. Her service focuses on database and informatics methods to support research and evaluation of healthcare interventions.
She received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from Loyola University of Chicago, Master of Public Health degree from Johns Hopkins University, School of Hygiene and Public Health, and her Doctoral degree (PhD) from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, School of Public Health. She completed postdoctoral training at the Cecil B. Sheps Center for Health Services Research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and at Drexel University through the Hedwig van Ameringen Executive Leadership for Academic Medicine (ELAM) in 2014. She served as tenure track faculty at Duke University, Loyola University Chicago, and the University of Illinois at Chicago. Dr. Hynes also holds an appointment at Oregon State University as Professor in the College of Public Health and Human Sciences and as the Director of the new Health Data & Informatics (HDI) Center in the Center for Genome Research and Biocomputing.
You can contact Denise Hynes by email at Denise.Hynes@va.gov or hynesd@oregonstate.edu.
Access and Community Care Engagement Network Team (ACCENT) Consortia of Research (CoRe) (MPI)
The goal of the COREs is to accelerate research that will lead to measurable improvements in the care delivered to Veterans, regarding improving access to care and in navigating VA community care.
Grant ID: COR 23-190
Care Coordination and Outcomes for High Risk Patients: Building the Evidence for Implementation (Principal Investigator)
Examine impacts of care coordination services on mortality, health care use, and costs using electronic health record data; prospectively evaluate patient perceptions of care integration and provider perceptions about what is working well.
Grant ID: HX-20-001
VA COVID-19 Observational Research Collaborative (CORC) (Multiple Principal Investigators)
Evaluate long term outcomes of COVID illness in an observational study emulating a clinical trial and using electronic health records and surveys’ of Veterans who receive VA healthcare.
Principal Investigators: Iaonnou, Iwashyna, Hynes, Boyko, O'Hare, Maciejewski, Bohnert, Bowling
Grant ID:C19-21-278
VA COVID-19 Observational Research Collaborative (CORC) Long-term Outcomes Study (Multiple Principal Investigators)
Evaluate long term outcomes of COVID illness in an observational study emulating a clinical trial and using electronic health records and surveys’ of Veterans who receive VA healthcare.
Principal Investigators: Iaonnou, Iwashyna, Hynes, Boyko, O'Hare, Maciejewski, Bohnert, Bowling
Grant ID: C19-21-279
Improving Care Coordination for Youth with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) to Enhance Health and Quality of Life (Co-Investigator)
Evaluate the effectiveness of a care coordination intervention at selected sites in North Carolina aimed at improving health and quality of life of emerging adults with IDD.
Principal Investigator: Thomas
Grant ID: PCORI-22459
Temporal trends and clinical factors associated with suicide risk among veterans with cancer: A retrospective cohort analysis (Co-Investigator)
Pilot observational study using existing data in the VHA to describe and examine the association of suicide and self-directed violence among cancer patients by cancer type.
Principal Investigator: Donald Sullivan
Grant ID: SWI 24-004
VA community mental health and substance use disorder provider networks and Veterans’ access to care: Building evidence for implementation (MPI)
Pilot observational study using existing data in the VHA to describe and examine characteristics of realized MHSUD provider networks that Veterans use in VA community care (Aim 1), and assess the relationship between MHSUD provider network characteristics and access to care among Veterans with MHSUD (Aim 2).
Grant ID: SWI 24-002
You can find a full list of publications at PubMed.
- Admon AJ, Wander PL, Iwashyna TJ, Ioannou GN, Boyko EJ, Hynes DM, Bowling CB, Bohnert ASB, O'Hare AM, Smith VA, Pura J, Hebert PL, Wong ES, Niederhausen M, Maciejewski ML. Consensus elements for observational research on COVID-19-related long-term outcomes. Medicine. 2022 Nov 18; 101(46):e31248.
- Bajema KL, Berry K, Streja E, Rajeevan N, Li Y, Mutalik P, Yan L, Cunningham F, Hynes DM, Rowneki M, Bohnert A, Boyko EJ, Iwashyna TJ, Maciejewski ML, Osborne TF, Viglianti EM, Aslan M, Huang GD, Ioannou GN. Effectiveness of COVID-19 Treatment With Nirmatrelvir-Ritonavir or Molnupiravir Among U.S. Veterans: Target Trial Emulation Studies With One-Month and Six-Month Outcomes. Annals of internal medicine. 2023 Jun 1; 176(6):807-816.
- Bajema KL, Rowneki M, Berry K, Bohnert A, Bowling CB, Boyko EJ, Iwashyna TJ, Maciejewski ML, O'Hare AM, Osborne TF, Viglianti EM, Hynes DM, Ioannou GN. Rates of and Factors Associated With Primary and Booster COVID-19 Vaccine Receipt by US Veterans, December 2020 to June 2022. JAMA Network Open. 2023 Feb 1; 6(2):e2254387.
- Bajema KL, Wang XQ, Hynes DM, Rowneki M, Hickok A, Cunningham F, Bohnert A, Boyko EJ, Iwashyna TJ, Maciejewski ML, Viglianti EM, Streja E, Yan L, Aslan M, Huang GD, Ioannou GN. Early Adoption of Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Pharmacotherapies Among US Veterans With Mild to Moderate COVID-19, January and February 2022. JAMA Network Open. 2022 Nov 1; 5(11):e2241434.
- Bohnert AS, Kumbier K, Rowneki M, Gupta A, Bajema K, Hynes DM, Viglianti E, O'Hare AM, Osborne T, Boyko EJ, Young-Xu Y, Iwashyna TJ, Maciejewski M, Schildhouse R, Dimcheff D, Ioannou GN. Adverse outcomes of SARS-CoV-2 infection with delta and omicron variants in vaccinated versus unvaccinated US veterans: retrospective cohort study. BMJ (Clinical research ed.). 2023 May 23; 381:e074521.
Devan Kansagara, MD, MCR is Professor of Medicine and Associate Professor of Medical Informatics and Clinical Epidemiology at Oregon Health and Science University. He practices internal medicine in the VA Portland Health Care System. One of his areas of interest is evidence based medicine, and the use of evidence to guide health policy. Dr Kansagara serves as a Systematic Review Consultant for the Evidence Synthesis Program Coordinating Center, a program nationally responsible for developing evidence syntheses to help guide VA policy. He is currently the Vice Chair of the American College of Physicians Clinical Guidelines Committee, and also works on health policy for the Oregon Health Authority. Dr Kansagara's other main area of interest is health systems redesign. In particular, he has done intervention and implementation work with hospital to home care transitions and the patient centered medical home. Dr Kansagara completed his BA in English at Amherst College. He received an MD from the University of Connecticut School of Medicine, and completed residency training at Yale University. He received his Masters in Clinical Research from Oregon Health and Science University.
Dr. Kansagara serves as a primary mentor to Haley Holmer, MPH, PhD, one of CIVIC's post-doctoral fellows.
You can contact Devan Kansagara by email at Devan.Kansagara@va.gov or kansagar@ohsu.edu.
Systematically Testing the Evidence on Marijuana (STEM) (Principal Investigator)
The goal of this project is to develop a continually updated and systematically assessed web resource for information about the health effects of cannabis for providers, patients, and researchers.
Grant ID: ORH-VRHRC-PDX-FY20-7
ACP Center for Evidence Reviews (Principal Investigator)
In this project we will conduct living systematic reviews that will be used by the ACP to develop clinical guidelines. The first year will focus on management of osteoporosis.
Grant Source: American College of Physicians
You can find a full list of publications at PubMed.
- Ayers C, Kansagara D, Lazur B, Fu R, Kwon A, Harrod C. Effectiveness and Safety of Treatments to Prevent Fractures in People With Low Bone Mass or Primary Osteoporosis: A Living Systematic Review and Network Meta-analysis for the American College of Physicians. Annals of internal medicine. 2023 Feb 1; 176(2):182-195.
- Bulls HW, Althouse AD, Feldman R, Arnsten JH, Liebschutz JM, Nugent SM, Orris SR, Rohac R, Slawek DE, Starrels JL, Morasco BJ, Kansagara D, Merlin JS. Dispensary Staff Perceptions About the Benefits, Risks, and Safety of Cannabis for Medical Purposes. Substance Abuse. 2023 Jul 1; 44(3):226-234.
- Lo JO, Shaw B, Robalino S, Ayers CK, Durbin S, Rushkin MC, Olyaei A, Kansagara D, Harrod CS. Cannabis Use in Pregnancy and Neonatal Outcomes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Cannabis and cannabinoid research. 2023 Feb 1.
- Slawek DE, Althouse AD, Feldman R, Arnsten JH, Bulls HW, Liebschutz JM, Nugent SM, Orris SR, Rohac R, Starrels JL, Morasco BJ, Kansagara D, Merlin JS. Cannabis dispensary staff approaches to counseling on potential contraindications to cannabis use: insights from a national self-report survey. BMC primary care. 2023 Jul 14; 24(1):145.
Travis Lovejoy, PhD, MPH is a clinical psychologist with specialized training in quantitative methodologies, health psychology, behavioral medicine, and substance use disorders. Dr. Lovejoy’s research interests include the scientific development, testing, and implementation of theory-based clinical and health services interventions that improve individual and population health. He is currently in the 4th year of a 5-year VA HSR-funded Career Development Award that examines novel treatment approaches for chronic pain in veterans with co-occurring substance use disorders. Additional VA-funded research examines patient outcomes following discontinuation of long-term opioid therapy. Dr. Lovejoy’s research approaches include large retrospective administrative database studies, prospective cohort studies, clinical and health services efficacy and effectiveness trials, and mixed methods approaches to study the implementation of evidence-based practices. Dr. Lovejoy is the Lead of the CIVIC Implementation Science Core and Executive Committee Member of the Oregon Health & Science University Dissemination & Implementation Research Collaborative.
You can contact Travis Lovejoy by email at Travis.Lovejoy@va.gov.
Tele-Collaborative Outreach to Rural Patients with Chronic Pain: The CORPs Trial (Principal Investigator)
The major goals of this pragmatic effectiveness trial are to determine if a telehealth intervention can improve pain and quality of life outcomes, while increasing use of non pharmacologic pain treatments, in rural veterans with chronic pain.
Grant ID: UG3 AT012257
Chronic Pain Management and Patient-Centered Outcomes Following Discontinuation of Long-Term Opioid Therapy (Principal Investigator)
The goal of this VA HSR career development award is to characterize pain treatment utilization in veterans with co-occurring substance use disorders and develop and test the preliminary effectiveness of a collaborative pain intervention for veterans with chronic pain receiving specialty treatment for alcohol and drug use disorders.
Grant ID: IIR 17-268
Impact of Prescription Opioid Dose Changes on Cannabis Use and Clinical Outcomes (Co-Investigator)
This is a national prospective cohort study examining changes in cannabis use following prescription opioid discontinuation and the impact of these changes on pain and quality of life.
Principal Investigator: Benjamin Morasco
Grant ID: NIH/NIDA R01DA048817
You can find a full list of publications at PubMed.
- Somohano VC, Smith CL, Saha S, McPherson S, Morasco BJ, Ono SS, Zaccari B, Lovejoy J, Lovejoy T. Patient-Provider Shared Decision-Making, Trust, and Opioid Misuse Among US Veterans Prescribed Long-Term Opioid Therapy for Chronic Pain. Journal of general internal medicine. 2023 Sep 1; 38(12):2755-2760.
- Wyse JJ, Lovejoy TI, Gordon AJ, Mackey K, Herreid-O'Neill A, Morasco BJ. "I'm Clean and Sober, But Not Necessarily Free": Perceptions of Buprenorphine Among Patients in Long-Term Treatment. Substance Abuse. 2023 May 3; 44(1):41-50.
- Wyse JJ, Shull S, Lindner S, Morasco BJ, Gordon AJ, Carlson KF, Korthuis PT, Ono SS, Liberto JG, Lovejoy TI. Access to Medications for Opioid Use Disorder in Rural Versus Urban Veterans Health Administration Facilities. Journal of general internal medicine. 2023 Jun 1; 38(8):1871-1876.
- Zaccari BA, Lovejoy TI, O'Neil ME. Skills training in affective and interpersonal regulation narrative therapy delivered via synchronous telehealth: A case study of a rural woman Veteran with complex posttraumatic stress disorder. Clinical case studies. 2023 Feb 20; 22(4):420-435.
Kate Mackey, MD, MPP is the Director of the VA Evidence Synthesis Program Coordinating Center, where she works on evidence reviews covering a broad range of topics of interest to VHA patient populations and VA leadership. She is board-certified in Internal Medicine and Addiction Medicine and works in primary care and substance use disorder treatment at the VA Portland Health Care System. She serves as a facility and VISN-level PACT Pain Champion, positions supported by the PMOP initiative. Kate is from Washington, DC and has a BA from Georgetown University, Master of Public Policy from Duke University, and MD from the University of Texas in San Antonio. She completed her residency and chief residency at OHSU where she is now an Associate Professor of Medicine. Her research interests include chronic pain, substance use, and preventive medicine.
You can contact Kate Mackey by email at Katherine.Mackey@va.gov.
Evidence Synthesis Program Coordinating Center (Principal Investigator)
The ESP Coordinating Center was created to expand the capacity of Health Systems Research (HSR) and is charged with managing national ESP program operations, ensuring methodological consistency and quality of products, engaging with health system stakeholders, and producing Rapid Evidence Reviews to address high-priority, time-sensitive needs of VHA senior leadership.
Principal Investigator: Katherine Mackey, MD, MPP
Grant ID: VA ESP 09-199
Assessing Episode-Based Surgical Quality in VA and Community Care Settings (Co-Investigator)
Grant Source: VA Health Services Research & Development (IIR 21-166)
Predictors and Processes of Early Buprenorphine Discontinuation (Co-Investigator)
Grant Source: VA Health Services Research & Development
You can find a full list of publications at PubMed.
- Holmer HK, Mackey K, Fiordalisi CV, Helfand M. Major Update 2: Antibody Response and Risk for Reinfection After SARS-CoV-2 Infection-Final Update of a Living, Rapid Review. Annals of internal medicine. 2023 Jan 1; 176(1):85-91.
- Mackey KM, Beech EH, Williams BE, Anderson JK, Young S, Parr NJ. Effectiveness of Syringe Services Programs: A Systematic Review. Washington, DC: Evidence Synthesis Program, Health Services Research and Development Service, Office of Research and Development, Department of Veterans Affairs. VA ESP Project #09-199; 2023.
- Anderson JK, Mackey KM, Beech EH, Young S, Parr NJ. Factors Associated with Homelessness Among US Veterans: A Systematic Review. VA Evidence-based Synthesis Program Reports. Washington (DC): Department of Veterans Affairs (US); 2023 Jul 1.
- Mackey KM, Anderson JK, Williams BE, Ward RM, Parr NJ. Evidence Brief: Psychedelic Medications for Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders. Evidence Synthesis Program, Health Services Research and Development Service. Washington, DC: Office of Research and Development, Department of Veterans Affairs; 2022 Oct 1. 45 p. Report No.: VA ESP Project #09-199.
- Mackey KM, Beech EH, Young S, Parr NJ. Orthopedic Surgery Complication Risk Associated with Smoking Cessation and Use of Nicotine Replacement Therapies: A Systematic Review. VA Evidence-based Synthesis Program Reports. Washington (DC): Department of Veterans Affairs (US); 2023 Jun 1.
Benjamin Morasco, PhD is a Core Investigator, a staff psychologist at the VA Portland Health Care System, and Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Oregon Health and Science University. His primary research focus is on improving the safety and effectiveness of treatment for chronic pain. Dr. Morasco’s currently funded projects are examining outcomes of cannabis use for pain, strategies to change prescription opioid use, and randomized controlled trials examining the effectiveness of different multidisciplinary treatments for chronic pain. He also collaborates on other projects examining strategies for improving pain care for veterans living in rural settings, treating pain in patients with substance use disorders, and decision support to improve safety in pain management. He serves on local and national pain management workgroups, is a supervisor with the clinical psychology training program at the VA Portland Health Care System, and is Associate Director for Education for the VISN-20 MIRECC. Within CIVIC, Dr. Morasco also served as a research mentor for other investigators with career development awards.
You can contact Benjamin Morasco by email at Benjamin.Morasco@va.gov.
Impact of Prescription Opioid Dose Changes on Cannabis Use and Clinical Outcomes (Principal Investigator)
This is a national prospective cohort study examining changes in cannabis use following prescription opioid discontinuation and the impact of these changes on pain and quality of life.
Grant ID: NIH National Institute on Drug Abuse R01DA048817
Implementation of a Pragmatic Trial of Whole Health Team vs. Primary Care Group Education to Promote Non-Pharmacological Strategies to Improve Pain, Functioning, and Quality of Life in Veterans (Site Principal Investigator/Co-Investigator)
The goal is to conduct a pragmatic implementation-effectiveness trial in which we will develop, pilot and implement two care delivery approaches for over 600 veterans with moderate to severe chronic pain who will be randomized to receive either: (1) an intensive Whole Health Team (WHT) approach versus (2) a less intensive, usual care Primary Care Group Education (PC-GE).
Principal Investigator: Karen Seal and Becker
Grant ID: 1UG3AT009765
Chronic Pain Management and Patient-Centered Outcomes Following Discontinuation of Long-Term Opioid Therapy (Co-Investigator)
The goal of this VA HSR career development award is to characterize pain treatment utilization in veterans with co-occurring substance use disorders and develop and test the preliminary effectiveness of a collaborative pain intervention for veterans with chronic pain receiving specialty treatment for alcohol and drug use disorders.
Principal Investigator: Travis Lovejoy
Grant ID: IIR 17-268
Living Systematic Review on Plant-based Treatment for Chronic Pain (Co-Investigator)
This project will create a Living systematic Review (LSR) on the use of plant-based compounds to treat chronic pain.
Principal Investigator: McDonagh
Grant ID: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality 042-574-355
Video-Telecare Collaborative Pain Management to Improve Function and Reduce Opioid Risk in Patients with End Stage Renal Disease Receiving Hemodialysis (Co-Investigator)
The goal is to conduct a multi-site RCT of different strategies for pain among patients with end stage renal disease.
Principal Investigator: Becker
Grant ID: NIH U01DK123817
Systematically Testing the Evidence on Marijuana (STEM) (Co-Investigator)
To conduct living systematic reviews related to cannabis for various health conditions and to develop clinician education materials based on the latest science.
Principal Investigator: Devan Kansagara
Grant ID: ORH-VRHRC-PDX-FY20
Tele-Collaborative Outreach to Rural Patients with Chronic Pain: The CORPs Trial (Co-Investigator)
The major goals of this pragmatic effectiveness trial are to determine if a telehealth intervention can improve pain and quality of life outcomes, while increasing use of non-pharmacologic pain treatments, in rural veterans with chronic pain.
Principal Investigator: Travis Lovejoy
Grant ID: NIH UG3 AT012257
You can find a full list of publications at PubMed.
- Bulls HW, Althouse AD, Feldman R, Arnsten JH, Liebschutz JM, Nugent SM, Orris SR, Rohac R, Slawek DE, Starrels JL, Morasco BJ, Kansagara D, Merlin JS. Dispensary Staff Perceptions About the Benefits, Risks, and Safety of Cannabis for Medical Purposes. Substance Abuse. 2023 Jul 1; 44(3):226-234.
- Nugent SM, Slatore CG, Winchell K, Handley R, Clayburgh D, Chandra R, Hooker ER, Knight SJ, Morasco BJ. Prevalence and correlates of high-dose opioid use among survivors of head and neck cancer. Head & neck. 2023 Aug 1; 45(8):2058-2067.
- Slawek DE, Althouse AD, Feldman R, Arnsten JH, Bulls HW, Liebschutz JM, Nugent SM, Orris SR, Rohac R, Starrels JL, Morasco BJ, Kansagara D, Merlin JS. Cannabis dispensary staff approaches to counseling on potential contraindications to cannabis use: insights from a national self-report survey. BMC primary care. 2023 Jul 14; 24(1):145.
- Somohano VC, Smith CL, Saha S, McPherson S, Morasco BJ, Ono SS, Zaccari B, Lovejoy J, Lovejoy T. Patient-Provider Shared Decision-Making, Trust, and Opioid Misuse Among US Veterans Prescribed Long-Term Opioid Therapy for Chronic Pain. Journal of general internal medicine. 2023 Sep 1; 38(12):2755-2760.
- Wyse JJ, Lovejoy TI, Gordon AJ, Mackey K, Herreid-O'Neill A, Morasco BJ. "I'm Clean and Sober, But Not Necessarily Free": Perceptions of Buprenorphine Among Patients in Long-Term Treatment. Substance Abuse. 2023 May 3; 44(1):41-50.
- Wyse JJ, Shull S, Lindner S, Morasco BJ, Gordon AJ, Carlson KF, Korthuis PT, Ono SS, Liberto JG, Lovejoy TI. Access to Medications for Opioid Use Disorder in Rural Versus Urban Veterans Health Administration Facilities. Journal of general internal medicine. 2023 Jun 1; 38(8):1871-1876.
Shannon Nugent, PhD is an investigator at the VA Portland Healthcare System, Center to Improve Veteran Involvement in Care (CIVIC) and an Associate Professor at Oregon Health and Science University in the Department of Psychiatry. Dr. Nugent is broadly interested in understanding and improving mental health outcomes among individuals with serious medical conditions. Her research interests are in the areas of palliative medicine, psychosocial oncology, chronic pain, evidence synthesis, and improving access to health care for older adults. She is in her fourth year of a five-year Mentored Research Scholar Grant from the American Cancer Society, "Survivors of Head and Neck Cancer: Optimizing Pain Management." She is also MPI of two VA HSR studies that aim to improve care for Veterans with Gulf War Illness and Long-COVID, respectively. In addition, she has received funding from the National Cancer Institute. She completed her PhD in Clinical Health Psychology from the University of Colorado Denver in 2015 and completed a two-year health services research fellowship with CIVIC in 2018.
You can contact Shannon Nugent by email at Shannon.Nugent@va.gov.
Survivors of Head and Neck Cancer: Optimizing Pain Management (Principal Investigator)
The overall goal of this project is to better understand the pain management practices and preferences among survivors of head and neck cancer. This will be achieved through three interrelated studies that will help us understand the unique pain management needs of survivors of head and neck cancer to provide an adapted pain management telehealth intervention.
Grant ID: 132817 MSRG-18-216-01-CPHPS
Leveraging Knowledge of Chronic Multisymptom Illness to Improve Care for Veterans post-COVID (MPI)
The goal of this project is to adapt an existing Chronic Multisymptom clinician training to improve the experience of care for Veterans with Post-COVID symptoms.
Principal Investigator: McAndrew/Nugent
Grant ID: SDR-23-001
COVID-19 Observational Research Collaboratory (CORC) (Co-Investigator)
The goal of this multi-site study is to advance and support observational research related to the long-term complications of COVID-19 in Veterans.
Principal Investigator: Ioannou, Iwashyna, Hynes, Boyko, Maciejeski, Bowling, Bohnert, O'Hare
Identifying Post-COVID Phenotypes and Related Health Inequities (Co-Investigator)
Our long-term goal is to ensure that every Veteran with PASC receives appropriate, timely, and effective EBP. Our proposed objectives are to engage stakeholders and amplify Veterans’ experiences with PASC systematically. We will identify PASC nationally in VA, describe current models of care, and assess potential inequities.
Principal Investigator: Mohanty/Knight
Grant ID: HX22-031
You can find a full list of publications at PubMed.
- Jones KF, Malinowski J, Paice J, Childers J, Bulls HW, Morrison J, Ho JJ, Alsbrook K, Nugent S, Broglio K, Nickels K, Holbein M, Parajuli J, Merlin JS. Opioid-prescribing considerations in patients with cancer and substance misuse or substance use disorder: a scoping review protocol. JBI evidence synthesis. 2023 Apr 1; 21(4):812-825.
- Lafferty M, Winchell K, Cottrell E, Knight S, Nugent SM. Women of the Gulf War: Understanding Their Military and Health Experiences Over 30 Years. Military medicine. 2023 Aug 29; 188(9-10):3191-3198.
- Nugent SM, Golden SE, Chapa J, Tuepker A, Slatore CG, Vranas KC. "You're Socially Distant and Trying Not to Be Emotionally Distant." Physicians' Perspectives of Communication and Therapeutic Relationships in the ICU During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Study. Critical care explorations. 2023 Feb 1; 5(2):e0854.
- Nugent SM, Slatore CG, Winchell K, Handley R, Clayburgh D, Chandra R, Hooker ER, Knight SJ, Morasco BJ. Prevalence and correlates of high-dose opioid use among survivors of head and neck cancer. Head & neck. 2023 Aug 1; 45(8):2058-2067.
- O'Hare AM, Vig EK, Iwashyna TJ, Fox A, Taylor JS, Viglianti EM, Butler CR, Vranas KC, Helfand M, Tuepker A, Nugent SM, Winchell KA, Laundry RJ, Bowling CB, Hynes DM, Maciejewski ML, Bohnert ASB, Locke ER, Boyko EJ, Ioannou GN, VA COVID Observational Research Collaboratory (CORC). Complexity and Challenges of the Clinical Diagnosis and Management of Long COVID. JAMA Network Open. 2022 Nov 1; 5(11):e2240332.
Maya O'Neil, PhD is a CIVIC Core Investigator and neuropsychologist at the VA Portland Health Care System (OR Psychologist License #2248). She is also a Professor at Oregon Health and Science University in the Departments of Psychiatry and Medical Informatics and Clinical Epidemiology. She is Associate Director for Education for the VISN-20 MIRECC. She recently completed an AHRQ-supported K Fellowship focused on patient experiences related to PTSD and cognitive functioning. Her current research focuses on assessing and treating cognitive problems in Veterans with PTSD, which was recently funded by the VA through a Career Development Award. She is a neuropsychologist on the Rural Telemental Health clinical team at the Portland VA. She supervises practicum students, interns, and postdoctoral fellows, and assesses and treats patients with PTSD and other commonly comorbid conditions like depression and traumatic brain injury. She is the Principal Investigator of two OHSU projects funded by AHRQ and the National Center for PTSD examining randomized controlled trial data on PTSD interventions. She has also been the Principal Investigator of multiple Systematic Reviews of mental health and traumatic brain injury topics for the VA. Her current research examines how PTSD treatment and cognitive problems interact, and how to best treat the cognitive problems associated with PTSD. In her spare time she bikes, swims, and walks her 4 dogs.
Dr. O'Neil serves as a secondary mentor to Julie Kahler, PhD, one of CIVIC's post-doctoral fellows.
You can contact Maya O'Neil by email at Maya.Oneil@va.gov.
Suicide Prevention Trials Database (Principal Investigator)
The goal of this project is to establish a repository of study-level data from all published trials in suicide prevention, using systematic review methods to abstract and harmonize data across studies.
Principal Investigator: Lauren Denneson and Maya O'Neil
Grant ID: VA CSR&D SDR
FITBIR: Accelerating Synthesis of TBI Research Using Novel Methods (FAST RUN Methods) (Principal Investigator)
Grant ID: DoD CDMRP PT190056
Assessment and Treatment of Cognitive Functioning Deficits in Veterans with PTSD (Principal Investigator)
This grant is a mentored career development award. The studies supported by this grant will assess cognitive functioning among Veterans who receive PTSD treatment, and will pilot test Compensatory Cognitive Training, a cognitive rehabilitation program, for Veterans with PTSD and cognitive problems.
Grant ID: 1 IK2 RX002762-01A1
Pharmacologic and Nonpharmacologic Treatments for PTSD: An Update (Principal Investigator)
This is a systematic data abstraction and database development and update project with the AHRQ EPC program. The project updates the recently created PTSD-Repository, reviews and compiles all RCTs on interventions for PTSD, and abstracts detailed data into the PTSD-Repository database. The PTSD-Repository is managed by the National Center for PTSD, and this project includes work with the NCPTSD to further develop and disseminate the PTSD-Repository and results based on analyses of these data.
Grant ID: AHRQ Systematic Review
Harmonizing Veteran Longitudinal Cohorts to Identify Prognostic Factors in Post-Traumatic Brain Health (Principal Investigator)
This is a proof-of-concept data harmonization study bringing together largescale, longitudinal datasets on traumatic brain injury outcomes from the LIMBIC and TRACTS national datasets.
Grant ID: 822-MR-46046
Cognitive Rehabilitation for Older Veterans with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) (Co-Investigator)
This multi-site randomized control trial will evaluate the efficacy of a manualized cognitive rehabilitation intervention for older adults with MCI. The intervention was developed by Drs. Huckans and Twamley (MPIs) and is called “Compensatory Cognitive Training (CCT).”
Principal Investigator: Elizabeth W. Twamley
Grant ID: 1I01CX001592-01
Long-Term Impact of Military-Relevant Brain Injury Consortium (LIMBIC): Longitudinal Study (Co-Investigator)
Project goals: The Portland LIMBIC-CENC site contributes to the ongoing multisite longitudinal epidemiology study of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) among combat Veterans, including a site-specific focus on the auditory sequelae of mTBI.
Principal Investigator: Walker, Cifu
Grant ID: W81XWH-18-PH/TBIRP
The Combat Polytrauma Triad: Photosensitivity as a Link Between PTSD and Chronic Pain After TBI (Co-Investigator)
The goal of the proposed experiments is to use photosensitivity to probe brain changes associated with PTSD and high-impact chronic pain after TBI.
Principal Investigator: Mary Heinricher
Grant Source: Department of the Army
You can find a full list of publications at PubMed.
- Cameron D, Shiner B, O'Neill A, O'Neil M. Factors Associated with Engaging in Evidence-Based Psychotherapy During the First Year of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Treatment Between 2017 and 2019. Administration and policy in mental health. 2023 Sep 1; 50(5):813-823.
- Coco L, Hooker E, Gilbert TA, Prewitt AL, Reavis KM, O'Neil ME, Clark KD, Henry JA, Zaugg TL, Carlson KF. Associations Between Traumatic Brain Injury and Severity of Tinnitus-Related Functional Impairment among US Military Veterans: A National, Population-based Study. Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation. 2023 Sep 12; DOI: 10.1097/HTR.0000000000000896.
- Govier DJ, Gilbert TA, Jacob RL, Lafferty M, Mulcahy A, Pogoda TK, Zogas A, O'Neil ME, Pugh MJ, Carlson KF. Prevalence and Correlates of VA-Purchased Community Care Use among Post-9/11-Era Veterans with Traumatic Brain Injury. The Journal of head trauma rehabilitation. 2023 Aug 14; 10.1097/HTR.0000000000000888.
- Raines AM, Clauss K, Schafer K, Shapiro M, Houstma C, Boffa J, Ennis C, O'Neil ME, Franklin L. Cognitive processing therapy: A meta-analytic review among veteran and military personnel with PTSD. Cognitive Therapy and Research. 2023 Sep 27; https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-023-10429-x.
- Shirley K, O'Neil M, Boyd S, Loftis JM. Differences in rates of impairment in adults who use methamphetamine using two sets of demographically corrected norms. Applied neuropsychology. Adult. 2023 Jan 20; 1-9.
- O'Neil ME, Baker-Robinson W, Hannon S, Krushnic D, Veazie S, Adams J, McDonald K, Willis K, Jungbauer R, O'Shea B, Carlson KF, Hamblen J, Denneson LM. Suicide Prevention Trials Database Data Story 1: What Interventions Have Been Studied. Portland, OR: VA CSR&D Project # SDR-SPTD-20S; 2023 Mar 1. 8 p.
- O'Neil ME, Cheney TP, Yu Y, Hart EL, Holmes RS, Blazina I, Veazie SP, Griffin JC, Fu R, Carlson KF, Chou R. Pharmacologic and Nonpharmacologic Treatments for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: An Update of the PTSD Repository Evidence Base. Rockville, MD: AHRQ; 2023 Sep 1. DOI: https://doi.org/10.23970/AHRQEPCPTSD2023 p. Report No.: 23-EHC028.
Sarah Ono, PhD, is a cultural anthropologist with extensive ethnographic and qualitative data experience who specializes in the complementarity of interview, observational, and focus group methods in health services research settings. As a core investigator with the VA HSR Center to Improve Veteran Involvement in Care at the VA Portland Health Care System, Dr. Ono is a leader in promoting and advancing Veteran engagement in research and collaborates on the VA Women's Health Research Network. As the Operations Director of the Veterans Rural Health Resource Center in Portland, OR (VRHRC-P), a field site for the VHA Office of Rural Health, she currently focuses on improving access to health care for rural Veterans and increasing the engagement of patients and communities in the process of research. An Associate Professor in Psychiatry at Oregon Health & Science University, she collaborates on work in the areas of suicide prevention, cannabis as it relates to pain management, and national strategies for rapid implementation of proven practices.
Dr. Ono serves as a primary mentor for Traben Pleasant, MSc, PhD.
You can contact Sarah Ono by email at Sarah.Ono@va.gov.
VA Veterans Rural Health Resource Center-Portland, OR (VRHRC-P) (Co-Director, Operations/Non-Clinical)
Veterans Rural Health Resource Centers (VRHRCs) support targeted research, developing innovative programs, and identifying new care models. Positioned as national centers the VRHRCs are renewed annually based on individual portfolios.
Principal Investigator: Sarah Ono and Travis Lovejoy
Grant ID: VRHRC-P
Women's Health Research Consortium/Practice-Based Research Network (WHRN) (Co-Investigator)
WHRN supports training (direct, web-based, and cyber-seminars), technical consultations (including pre-submission scientific review, access to a professional network of experts), collaborative research development (through national topical work groups), and dissemination support (cyber-seminars, conferences, journal supplements, training) for a national Consortium of VA investigators.
Principal Investigator: Yano, Frayne, Hamilton
Grant ID: HSR SDR 10-012
Impact of Prescription Opioid Dose Changes on Cannabis Use and Clinical Outcomes (Co-Investigator)
This high-impact study will provide novel data characterizing the extent to which cannabis use changes following prescription opioid dose modification, and the impact of these changes on pain, function, substance use status, and quality of life.
Principal Investigator: Benjamin Morasco
Grant ID: NIH R01DA048817
Tele-Collaborative Outreach to Rural Patients with Chronic Pain: The CORPs Trial (Co-Investigator)
Major Goals: The major goals of this pragmatic effectiveness trial are to determine if a telehealth intervention can improve pain and quality of life outcomes, while increasing use of non pharmacologic pain treatments, in rural veterans with chronic pain.
Principal Investigator: Travis Lovejoy
Grant ID: UG3 AT012257
NW Center of Excellence & K12 in Patient Centered Learning Health Systems Science
The aims of this program are to recruit, train, and support 5 scholars at all times to become our nation's leaders and innovators in learning health systems science; prepare scholars to design, implement, and disseminate patient-engaged, evidence-based, real-world research projects to ensure the uptake of research into improvements in health, health decision-making, and health care systems; and convene a cross-systems collaborative to promote cross-institutional scholar interactions, cooperative sharing of curricula, methodological advances, and promote multi-site project opportunities.
Grant ID: AHRQ K12 HS026370
Principal Investigators: Guise and Savitz
Expanding Access to Opioid Use Disorder Treatment and Improving Retention in Rural Primary Care (Consultant/Mentor)
Principal Investigator: Jessica Wyse
Growing Rural Outreach through Veteran Engagement (GROVE) Center Development (Consultant)
Principal Investigator: Kelty Fehling and Leah Wendleton
Grant Source: VHA Office of Rural Health (VRHRC-P)
You can find a full list of publications at PubMed.
- Golden SE, Schweiger L, Melzer AC, Ono SS, Datta S, Davis JM, Slatore CG. "It's a decision I have to make": Patient perspectives on smoking and cessation after lung cancer screening decisions. Preventive medicine reports. 2022 Dec 1; 30:102014.
- Patzel M, Barnes C, Ramalingam N, Gunn R, Kenzie ES, Ono SS, Davis MM. Jumping Through Hoops: Community Care Clinician and Staff Experiences Providing Primary Care to Rural Veterans. Journal of general internal medicine. 2023 Jul 1; 38(Suppl 3):821-828.
- Somohano VC, Smith CL, Saha S, McPherson S, Morasco BJ, Ono SS, Zaccari B, Lovejoy J, Lovejoy T. Patient-Provider Shared Decision-Making, Trust, and Opioid Misuse Among US Veterans Prescribed Long-Term Opioid Therapy for Chronic Pain. Journal of general internal medicine. 2023 Sep 1; 38(12):2755-2760.
- Wyse JJ, Shull S, Lindner S, Morasco BJ, Gordon AJ, Carlson KF, Korthuis PT, Ono SS, Liberto JG, Lovejoy TI. Access to Medications for Opioid Use Disorder in Rural Versus Urban Veterans Health Administration Facilities. Journal of general internal medicine. 2023 Jun 1; 38(8):1871-1876.
- Hulen E, Wall R, O'Neill AS, Ono SS. Demographic Intersectionality of Rural Veterans Enrolled in VA (Strategy 3.1.A, ORH Strategic Plan 2020-2024). Portland, OR: Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Rural Health, Veterans Rural Health Resource Center-Portland; 2023 Mar 1. 17 p.
Christopher D. Pfeiffer, MD, MHS serves as the Hospital Epidemiologist at the VA Portland Health Care System (VAPORHCS) and Associate Professor of Medicine at the Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU). Dr. Pfeiffer’s areas of interest include healthcare-associated infection, multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs), hospital epidemiology, and infections in the immunocompromised host. His work is centered around preventing, detecting, and controlling the spread of of multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) with a particular focus on carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE). He serves as Medical Director for the Drug-Resistant Organism Prevention and Coordinated Regional Epidemiology (DROP-CRE) Network with the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) and is involved in multicenter research collaborations. Most notable is his role as Principal Investigator of a CDC-funded project to implement a novel electronic system to track patients with MDROs such as CRE as they are transferred from VA facility-to-facility across the country. Dr. Pfeiffer is also a co-investigator for the VA HSR-funded CREATE projects, a VA CSP study of treatment for recurrent Clostridium Difficile, and a NIH-funded study of clinician decision making.
You can contact Christopher Pfeiffer by email at Christopher.Pfeiffer2@va.gov.
Optimal Treatment for Recurrent Clostridium Difficile (OpTION) (Site Principal Investigator/Co-Investigator)
Major goal: To determine whether fidaxomicin and vancomycin followed by taper and pulse vancomycin treatment are superior to standard vancomycin treatment for the treatment of recurrent Clostridium difficile infection.
Principal Investigator: Stuart B Johnson and Dale N Gerding
Grant ID: CSP 596
EPIC3: Epidemiology, Immunology and Clinical Characteristics of COVID-19 (Site Co-Principal Investigator/Co-Investigator)
Principal Investigator: Smith and Ross
Grant ID: CSP 2028
VA INTREPID: Investigation of Rifampin to Reduce Pedal Amputations for Osteomyelitis in Diabetics (Co-Investigator)
Principal Investigator: Bessesen
Grant ID: CSP 2001
Fecal Microbiota Transplant to Enhance Response to PD-1 Inhibition in Metastatic Castration Resistant Prostate Cancer (Co-Investigator)
Principal Investigator: Graff
Grant ID: Prostate Cancer Foundation Challenge Award
Effect of Expanding (Gloving) Barrier Precautions for Reducing Clostridium dificile Acquisition (and Infection) in VA: The GLORI Study (Site Principal Investigator)
Major goal: The research question is to determine the effectiveness of healthcare workers’ use of universal gloving for all patient care in reducing the acquisition of C. difficile in hospitalized patients compared with current VA recommended care.
Principal Investigator: Safdar
Grant ID: HSR HX002666-01
Combating Antimicrobial Resistance through Rapid Implementation of Available Guidelines and Evidence (CARRIAGE) 2.0 (Site Principal Investigator)
The major goal is to take a multi-pronged approach to reducing antimicrobial resistance in VA. One project is to evaluate the implementation of the national Inpatient Pathogen Tracker (renamed VA Bug Alert).
Principal Investigator: Evans
Grant ID: QUERI QUE 20-016
Dissemination and Implementation of a Videoconference Antimicrobial Stewardship Team (VAST)
Major goal: Identify and test effective strategies for implementing the VAST. Determine the influence of the VAST overall, on the care of Veterans with suspected infections, and on antibiotic use at each VAMC.
Principal Investigator: Jump
Grant ID: HSR IIR 20-246
You can find a full list of publications at PubMed.
- Fabre V, Davis A, Diekema DJ, Granwehr B, Hayden MK, Lowe CF, Pfeiffer CD, Sick-Samuels AC, Sullivan KV, Van Schooneveld TC, Morgan DJ. Principles of diagnostic stewardship: A practical guide from the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America Diagnostic Stewardship Task Force. Infection control and hospital epidemiology. 2023 Feb 1; 44(2):178-185.
- Suzuki H, Perencevich EN, Hockett Sherlock S, Clore GS, O'Shea AMJ, Forrest GN, Pfeiffer CD, Safdar N, Crnich C, Gupta K, Strymish J, Lira GB, Bradley S, Cadena-Zuluaga J, Rubin M, Bittner M, Morgan D, DeVries A, Miell K, Alexander B, Schweizer ML. Implementation of a Prevention Bundle to Decrease Rates of Staphylococcus aureus Surgical Site Infection at 11 Veterans Affairs Hospitals. JAMA Network Open. 2023 Jul 3; 6(7):e2324516.
Christopher Slatore, MD, MS is a health services researcher and Professor at Oregon Health & Science University. Dr. Slatore completed his HSR CDA in 2015, which was a mixed-methods study of the relationship between communication strategies and patient-centered outcomes among patients with pulmonary nodules. He published nine journal articles directly related to this project. Other ongoing projects focus on the prevention, detection, treatment, and healthcare delivery for patients with tobacco-related lung diseases, chiefly lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). His research aims to improve patient outcomes and to develop innovative approaches to treatment in these areas. Dr. Slatore is or has been funded by the Radiation Oncology Institute, VA, American Cancer Society, and the Knight Cancer Institute to evaluate patient-centered outcomes for patients with and at risk for lung cancer. Clinically, he is helps lead several local and national programs regarding lung cancer screening and pulmonary nodule surveillance. Dr. Slatore's work has been substantially supported by our Center, including grant submission support and assistance from our statistician and data analyst.
You can contact Christopher Slatore by email at Christopher.Slatore@va.gov.
Teachable Moment to Opt-Out of Tobacco (Team OUT): A Stepped Wedge Cluster Randomized Trial (Principal Investigator)
The design and evaluation of a smoking cessation intervention using interactive voice response (IVR) technology to connect smokers to existing cessation services.
Grant: VA HSR IIR
Pragmatic Trial of More versus Less Intensive Strategies for Active Surveillance of Patients with Small Pulmonary Nodules (Co-Principal Investigator)
The goal of this study is to compare two protocols for CT surveillance, both of which are supported by existing guidelines from professional societies and are consistent with current standards of care.
Principal Investigator: Christopher Slatore and Michael K Gould
Grant ID: PCS-1403-12653
Improving Decision Making in All Stage Lung Cancer (I DESCide): A Conversation Tool Among Patients Making Treatment Decisions (Co-Investigator)
The purpose of this randomized control trial is to test the effectiveness of a decision aid among patients making lung cancer treatment-related decisions in clinical settings.
Principal Investigator: Sullivan
Grant ID: Medical Research Foundation New Investigator Grant
Precision screening for lung cancer: importance of comorbid conditions to clinical practice and policy (Co-Investigator)
The goal of this study is to precisely characterize this vulnerable subpopulation with high comorbidity burden, quantifying for them the benefits and harms of LCS to enable more informed decision-making by patients contemplating LCS.
Principal Investigator: Braithwaithe
Grant ID: NIH R01 CA249506
FRONTIERS: Foreign-Born Latinos Cancer Screening (Co-Investigator)
This project will use electronic health record in order provide policy makers and healthcare providers better information about what cancer prevention services their patients or community members are most at risk for underutilizing.
Principal Investigator: John Heintzman
Grant ID: R01CA258464
Smoking Cessation and Elective Surgery among Rural Veterans (Co-Investigator)
This project aims to introduce an intervention that will aid rural Veterans seeking elective surgery in accessing smoking cessation resources.
Principal Investigator: Steffani Bailey
Grant Source: VA Office of Rural Health
Quantifying and improving radiotherapy outcomes among Veterans (Mentor)
This proposal is a mentored VA Career Development Award to investigate genetic risk factors of radiation-induced secondary malignancy and second cancers more generally.
Principal Investigator: Thompson
Grant ID: 1 IK2 CX002049-01
Optimizing Critical Care for Patients with Acute Respiratory Failure: A Mixed-Methods Study (Mentor)
The goal of this study is to investigate how the organizational characteristics and processes of care at Emergency Departments and Intensive Care Units impact the care of patients with diagnoses common in the ICU. We compare outcomes at high-acuity and low-acuity hospitals.
Principal Investigator: Kelly Vranas
Grant ID: VA HSR CDA-2 18-191
You can find a full list of publications at PubMed.
- Gershengorn HB, Vranas KC, Ouyang D, Cheng S, Rogers AJ, Schweiger L, Cooke CR, Slatore CG. Influence of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Author Sex and Manuscript Acceptance Rates among Pulmonary and Critical Care Journals. Annals of the American Thoracic Society. 2023 Feb 1; 20(2):215-225.
- Gogebakan KC, Lange J, Slatore CG, Etzioni R. Modeling the impact of novel systemic treatments on lung cancer screening benefits. Cancer. 2023 Jan 15; 129(2):226-234.
- Kearney LE, Butler C, Nunez ER, Qian S, Slatore CG, Spalluto L, Wiener RS. Highly variable reporting of incidental findings in a national cohort of US veterans screened for lung cancer. Clinical imaging. 2023 Aug 1; 100:21-23.
- Hynes DM, Govier DJ, Niederhausen M, Tuepker A, Laliberte AZ, McCready H, Hickok A, Rowneki M, Waller D, Cordasco KM, Singer SJ, McDonald KM, Slatore CG, Thomas KC, Maciejewski M, Battaglia C, Perla L. Understanding care coordination for Veterans with complex care needs: protocol of a multiple-methods study to build evidence for an effectiveness and implementation study. Frontiers in Health Services. 2023 Aug 15; 3:1211577.
- Gould MK, Creekmur B, Qi L, Golden SE, Kaplan CP, Walter E, Mularski RA, Vaszar LT, Fennig K, Steiner J, de Bie E, Musigdilok VV, Altman DA, Dyer DS, Kelly K, Miglioretti DL, Wiener RS, Slatore CG, Smith-Bindman R. Emotional Distress, Anxiety, and General Health Status in Patients With Newly Identified Small Pulmonary Nodules: Results From the Watch the Spot Trial. Chest. 2023 Jun 24.
Anaїs Tuepker, PhD, MPH, is a sociologist and health services researcher whose work investigates the impacts of relational, team-based models of primary care on the well-being of health care workers, patients, and communities. She is currently the Principal Investigator for a qualitative study exploring the potential benefits and challenges of community-based ecotherapy programs for Veterans. As the Qualitative Core Director for CIVIC, she helps support CIVIC fellows and investigators to integrate qualitative approaches into their work. Previously, she led a VA Partnered Evaluation Initiative to evaluate interprofessional clinical educational efforts within the VA's Centers of Excellence for Primary Care Education, and was one of four PIs on a national evaluation of iNET, VA's employee innovation training and support network. She is Co-Director of Research with RELATE Lab (Research in Equity, Leadership, And Team Effectiveness) at Oregon Health and Science University, where she contributes to studies on relational leadership, cross-sector alignment, and the use of community organizing tools within healthcare. Her interest in dismantling barriers to care has led to her role as a co-investigator on studies examining topics including how to improve care for women Veterans experiencing Intimate Partner Violence, the impact of supportive housing for Veterans experiencing homelessness, and the role of race in patient-provider communication. Her work often utilizes participatory, realist, and/or action-oriented approaches to engage health system workers and patients in co-creating knowledge for health system redesign.
You can contact Anaїs Tuepker by email at Anais.Tuepker@va.gov.
Tending to Partnerships: Understanding partnership dynamics and Veteran experiences of community-based ecotherapy programs (Principal Investigator)
This project will extend prior research carried out on critical factors influencing implementation of VA-community partnerships with an extended scope including ecotherapy and conservation programs in Washington and Oregon.
Grant Source: Office of Rural Health
Implementation of shared decision making in rheumatoid arthritis: A stepped wedge, cluster-randomized trial (Co-Investigator)
This mixed method study will test and evaluate the performance of a novel tool for engaging patients with rheumatoid arthritis in shared decision making around treatment choices.
Principal Investigator: Jennifer Barton
Grant ID: IIR 20-162
Defining Successful Program Configurations in Home-Based Primary Care (Co-Investigator)
This mixed method study will use configurational analyses to identify critical factors influencing the variation of implementation and success (defined by patient outcomes) of VA’s Home- Based Primary Care program.
Principal Investigator: Samuel Edwards
Grant Source: VA HSR
Care Coordination and Outcomes for High Risk Patients: Building the Evidence for Implementation (Co-Investigator)
This multiple methods study will use administrative data analysis, focus group and key informant interviews to investigate impacts of current and planned innovations in VHA care coordination processes and outcomes for high risk, high need patients.
Principal Investigator: Denise Hynes
Grant ID: IIR 20-165-3
Health Equity and Leadership Inclusive Experience (HEALIX) (Co-Investigator)
The Health Equity And Leadership Inclusion Experience (HEALIX) is a program within the Health Equity And Leadership at Richmond (HEAL-R) initiative, intending to build community organizing skills, relational leadership capacity, and social networks of individuals who have experienced systematic harm (e.g., BIPOC, LGBTQ+, justice-involved individuals), so that they can address health equity issues most important to them.
Principal Investigators: Jessica Savara, Cirila Estela Vasquez Guzman
Grant Source: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
You can find a full list of publications at PubMed.
- Edwards ST, Johnson A, Park B, Eiff P, Guzman CEV, Gordon L, Taylor C, Tuepker A. "What We're Doing Now…Is More Than Water Cooler": Perspectives of Primary Care Leaders on Leading Through (and Beyond) COVID-19. Journal of general internal medicine. 2023 Aug 15.
- Hynes DM, Govier DJ, Niederhausen M, Tuepker A, Laliberte AZ, McCready H, Hickok A, Rowneki M, Waller D, Cordasco KM, Singer SJ, McDonald KM, Slatore CG, Thomas KC, Maciejewski M, Battaglia C, Perla L. Understanding care coordination for Veterans with complex care needs: protocol of a multiple-methods study to build evidence for an effectiveness and implementation study. Frontiers in Health Services. 2023 Aug 15; 3:1211577.
- Laliberte AZ, Salvi A, Hooker E, Roth B, Handley R, Carlson K, Hynes D, Tuepker A, Chen JI. Factors associated with a lack of health care utilization among Veterans after a positive suicide screen in the emergency department. Academic emergency medicine. 2023 Apr 1; 30(4):321-330.
- Nugent SM, Golden SE, Chapa J, Tuepker A, Slatore CG, Vranas KC. "You're Socially Distant and Trying Not to Be Emotionally Distant." Physicians' Perspectives of Communication and Therapeutic Relationships in the ICU During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Study. Critical care explorations. 2023 Feb 1; 5(2):e0854.
- O'Hare AM, Vig EK, Iwashyna TJ, Fox A, Taylor JS, Viglianti EM, Butler CR, Vranas KC, Helfand M, Tuepker A, Nugent SM, Winchell KA, Laundry RJ, Bowling CB, Hynes DM, Maciejewski ML, Bohnert ASB, Locke ER, Boyko EJ, Ioannou GN, VA COVID Observational Research Collaboratory (CORC). Complexity and Challenges of the Clinical Diagnosis and Management of Long COVID. JAMA Network Open. 2022 Nov 1; 5(11):e2240332.
Kelly C. Vranas, MD, is an Associate Professor in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care at Oregon Health & Science University, a Staff Physician at the Portland VA Medical Center, and a Core Investigator at CIVIC. She received her M.D. from Cornell University and completed residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. As part of her Pulmonary and Critical Care fellowship training at Stanford University, she spent a year as a research fellow at the Clinical Excellence Research Center, the first university-based research center exclusively dedicated to discovering, testing, and evaluating cost-saving innovations in healthcare while simultaneously improving the quality and experience of care. She is now a critical care health services researcher at CIVIC focused on improving the quality, efficiency, and value of critical care for Veterans hospitalized with acute respiratory failure through innovations in the care delivery process. Other ongoing projects include studying the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on ICU clinicians experiences as frontline healthcare workers, and the impact of type and timing hospital emergency responses to the COVID-19 pandemic on patient outcomes. Dr. Vranas serves as a secondary mentor to HSR fellow Liana Schweiger.
You can contact Kelly Vranas by email at kelly.vranas@va.gov.
Optimizing Critical Care for Patients with Acute Respiratory Failure: A Mixed-Methods Study (Principal Investigator)
The goal of this study is to quantify the influence of ICU bed supply on ICU demand and identify modifiable organizational factors and processes of care associated with high value care of patients hospitalized with acute respiratory failure.
Grant ID: HSR CDA-2
Long Term Outcomes of COVID-19 on Veterans: A Qualitative Study (Co-Investigator)
The goal of this study is to elicit Veteran experiences of COVID-19 recovery through inductive qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews in purposively sampled Veterans and their care givers. This Aim is part of a larger mixed-method study performed in collaboration with the VA Ann Arbor and VA Puget Sound to advance our understanding of the consequences and care of COVID-19 infection by developing and releasing integrated and multi-modal data and results on long-term outcomes of COVID-19 for use by VA clinical, research, and operations communities.
Grant Source: COVID-19 Observational Research Collaboratory (CORC) Coordinating Center
Components of emergency department pediatric readiness associated with short- and long-term survival among children: a mixed methods evaluation (co-Investigator)
In this proposal, we seek to identify the specific aspects of ED pediatric readiness most closely aligned with survival among injured children, quantify these factors in a single metric, and identify readiness practices among EDs with better-than-expected survival.
Principal Investigator: Craig Newgard
Grant ID: R01HD109134
You can find a full list of publications at PubMed.
- Admon AJ, Iwashyna TJ, Kamphuis LA, Gundel SJ, Sahetya SK, Peltan ID, Chang SY, Han JH, Vranas KC, Mayer KP, Hope AA, Jolley SE, Caldwell E, Monahan ML, Hauschildt K, Brown SM, Aggarwal NR, Thompson BT, Hough CL, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute PETAL Network. Assessment of Symptom, Disability, and Financial Trajectories in Patients Hospitalized for COVID-19 at 6 Months. JAMA Network Open. 2023 Feb 1; 6(2):e2255795.
- Burns KEA, Moss M, Lorens E, Jose EKA, Martin CM, Viglianti EM, Fox-Robichaud A, Mathews KS, Akgun K, Jain S, Gershengorn H, Mehta S, Han JE, Martin GS, Liebler JM, Stapleton RD, Trachuk P, Vranas KC, Chua A, Herridge MS, Tsang JLY, Biehl M, Burnham EL, Chen JT, Attia EF, Mohamed A, Harkins MS, Soriano SM, Maddux A, West JC, Badke AR, Bagshaw SM, Binnie A, Carlos WG, Çoruh B, Çoruh B, Crothers K, D'Aragon F, Denson JL, Drover JW, Eschun G, Geagea A, Griesdale D, Hadler R, Hancock J, Hasmatali J, Kaul B, Kerlin MP, Kohn R, Kutsogiannis DJ, Matson SM, Morris PE, Paunovic B, Peltan ID, Piquette D, Pirzadeh M, Pulchan K, Schnapp LM, Sessler CN, Smith H, Sy E, Thirugnanam S, McDonald RK, McPherson KA, Kraft M, Spiegel M, Dodek PM, Diversity-Related Research Committee of the Women in Critical Care (WICC) Interest Group of the American Thoracic Society. Wellness and Coping of Physicians Who Worked in ICUs During the Pandemic: A Multicenter Cross-Sectional North American Survey. Critical care medicine. 2022 Dec 1; 50(12):1689-1700.
- Gershengorn HB, Vranas KC, Ouyang D, Cheng S, Rogers AJ, Schweiger L, Cooke CR, Slatore CG. Influence of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Author Sex and Manuscript Acceptance Rates among Pulmonary and Critical Care Journals. Annals of the American Thoracic Society. 2023 Feb 1; 20(2):215-225.
- Golden SE, Disher N, Dieckmann NF, Eden KB, Matlock D, Vranas KC, Slatore CG, Sullivan DR. Show me the roads and give me a road map: Development of a patient conversation tool to improve lung cancer treatment decision-making. PEC innovation. 2022 Dec 1; 1:100094.
- Hooker ER, Chapa J, Vranas KC, Niederhausen M, Goodlin SJ, Slatore CG, Sullivan DR. Intersection of Palliative Care and Hospice Use Among Patients With Advanced Lung Cancer. Journal of palliative medicine. 2023 Nov 1; 26(11):1474-1481.
Jessica J Wyse, PhD MPP is an Assistant Professor in the OHSU-PSU School of Public Health and a Core Investigator with CIVIC. She also serves as the Associate Director for Portland's HSR Fellowship. She received a doctorate in Sociology and Public Policy from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and then completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan. She began at CIVIC as an HSR postdoctoral fellow in 2016. Dr. Wyse’s research seeks to understand how to enhance access to, and delivery of, medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) and other evidence-based treatments for substance use disorders. Her research has documented VA’s efforts to increase patient access to MOUD, as well as persistent disparities in access and retention in MOUD treatment. She often uses qualitative research methods to draw out patient experiences and perspectives with the goal of informing and improving upon programs, policies and care delivery. She has also conducted substantial research addressing individuals involved in the criminal justice system, including research addressing the prisoner reentry process and community correctional system. Her VA Career Development Award focuses on expanding access to opioid use disorder treatment for Veterans in rural, primary care settings.
You can contact Jessica Wyse by email at Jessica.Wyse@va.gov.
Expanding Access to Opioid Use Disorder Treatment with Buprenorphine in Rural Primary Care Settings (Principal Investigator)
This is a training grant that will build expertise in implementation science and partnered research in service to improving the treatment of substance use disorders among vulnerable Veterans. Research Aims will investigate the availability and successful delivery of buprenorphine for rural Veterans diagnosed with opioid use disorder, and design and deploy an implementation strategy to facilitate the integration of buprenorphine in rural VA settings.
Grant ID: VA CDA HX003007-01A1
You can find a full list of publications at PubMed.
- Gordon AJ, Saxon AJ, Kertesz S, Wyse JJ, Manhapra A, Lin LA, Chen W, Hansen J, Pinnell D, Huynh T, Baylis JD, Cunningham FE, Ghitza UE, Bart G, Yu H, Sauer BC. Buprenorphine use and courses of care for opioid use disorder treatment within the Veterans Health Administration. Drug and Alcohol Dependence. 2023 Jul 1; 248:109902.
- Lafferty M, O'Neill A, Cerra N, Maxim L, Mulcahy A, Wyse JJ, Carlson KF. Let's Talk About Firearms: Perspectives of Older Veterans and VA Clinicians on Universal and Dementia-Specific Firearm Safety Discussions. Clinical Gerontologist. 2023 Sep 4; 1-11.
- Wyse JJ, Lovejoy TI, Gordon AJ, Mackey K, Herreid-O'Neill A, Morasco BJ. "I'm Clean and Sober, But Not Necessarily Free": Perceptions of Buprenorphine Among Patients in Long-Term Treatment. Substance Abuse. 2023 May 3; 44(1):41-50.
- Wyse JJ, Shull S, Lindner S, Morasco BJ, Gordon AJ, Carlson KF, Korthuis PT, Ono SS, Liberto JG, Lovejoy TI. Access to Medications for Opioid Use Disorder in Rural Versus Urban Veterans Health Administration Facilities. Journal of general internal medicine. 2023 Jun 1; 38(8):1871-1876.
