2019 Research/Scholarship Report

by Judy Arnetz, PHD, MPH, PT, Professor, Associate Chair for Research

 

Research Accomplishments 2015-2019

Beginning in the fall of 2015, department leadership established a framework for departmental research (Figure 1) that was finalized after input from department faculty in early 2016. The framework places “High Reliability Health Care” as the overarching goal of all departmental research, with three main focal areas: Healthcare Systems, Patients, and Healthcare Workforce (which also encompasses medical education research). The framework serves as a strategic plan for departmental research and continues to guide research activities and recruitment of new faculty.

Figure 1. Framework for Department of Family Medicine research: High Reliability Health Care

Grant funding: Since 2015, the department has established partnerships and grant-funded collaborative research relationships with Sparrow, Spectrum, and Trinity Health Systems. Department faculty submitted an average of 21 grants each year and grant funding has increased steadily from 6 funded projects in 2015 (total awards $906,000) to a current total of 21 projects in 2019 (awards totaling over

$14 million). Grants have been federally funded by NIH, NIOSH, HRSA, AHRQ, PCORI, SAMHSA, and the U.S. Department of the Army, as well as by healthcare systems (Trinity Health, Mercy Health Saint Mary’s) and a variety of foundations, including Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation of Michigan. Research projects cover all 3 aspects of our research framework aiming to improve healthcare systems, patient health, and the health, safety, and education of the healthcare workforce. Projects cover an array of topics, including air pollution exposure and cardiovascular health; health effects of cannabinoids; workplace violence towards healthcare workers; the neuroscience of Alzheimer’s disease; family medicine workforce recruitment and retention; educational curricula to improve primary care of rural and underserved patients; patient participation in clinical trials; brain health; treatment of chronic pain and anxiety in children and adolescents; substance use disorder education in rural Michigan; and implementation science in healthcare. In 2018, our department ranked #38 out of 43 U.S. family medicine departments on NIH funding according to the Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research. In 2019, we ranked #20,  representing a positive trajectory towards establishing our department    as  a national player in   research.

Publications: Department faculty have averaged 39 publications per year in peer-reviewed journals since 2015. Some of these have been in high-impact journals, such as JAMA Internal Medicine (impact factor 20.768) and International Journal of Epidemiology (impact factor 7.339). Over the past 4.5 years, faculty have presented an average of 67 abstracts per year at national and international conferences. Four faculty publications were in the top 5% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric, indicating that our research is recognized and of interest to the scientific and general public. These publications concerned cannabis and weight gain (Alshaarawy & Anthony, 2019); fine particulate matter exposure and blood pressure among low-income seniors (Morishita et al., 2018); prevention of patient-to-worker violence in hospitals (J. Arnetz et al., 2017); and stress and near-misses among emergency medicine residents (B. Arnetz et al., 2017).

Faculty recruitment: The department has successfully recruited 3 tenure-stream NIH-funded researchers who bring unique expertise in areas of relevance to family medicine. These include environmental exposure science; the health effects of cannabinoids; and chronic pain in children and adolescents. In collaboration with the Department of Statistics and Probability, we have also recently recruited a fixed term faculty member with expertise in data-driven medical decision-making and healthcare management.

Research Infrastructure: Creating a well-functioning internal infrastructure for faculty support for research has been an important part of the department’s research mission. Bi-monthly departmental Research Division meetings have continued. Open to all department faculty and staff, these meetings are opportunities for faculty to present and discuss their own research and to listen to outside speakers.

In early 2016, the Research Subcommittee was formed. This is a monthly forum for all faculty and research staff interested in developing research skills, knowledge, and opportunities. The Committee is comprised of both experienced researchers as well as faculty striving to develop their research portfolios. The subcommittee created the “Guppy Tank,” a forum for internal peer-review of faculty manuscripts, presentations, grant proposals, and grant ideas. To this end, standardized electronic evaluation forms were developed to facilitate the review process as well as serve as a guide for faculty less-experienced in conducting peer-reviews. In 2017, the department revised its 2012 Continuing Medical Education (CME) Funds Policy used to finance faculty conference travel to a Faculty Scholarship Research Fund. Using the same annual pool of funds ($12,000), awards are now earmarked for faculty who want to establish preliminary data or test research ideas that can potentially lead to externally- funded research projects. Applications are submitted via standardized electronic forms 3 times per year and are limited to $5000 per faculty proposal. The Research Subcommittee reviews all applications and makes recommendations for funding to the department leadership council. To date, the department has awarded 5 grants. Funded awards to date have resulted in 2 publications and 1 successful external grant awarded by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Foundation.

Next five years: A main goal for the next 5-year period is to increase NIH funding to enhance and secure our reputation as a research-strong department. Some key opportunities include the following:

1. Expand successful cannabinoid, chronic pain, and exposure science research into outpatient clinic- based research projects by expanding collaboration with our DFM residency network and community federally-qualified health
2. Translate published research on biomarkers of stress in healthcare workers and patients into funded research through strategic collaborations with our community healthcare system
3. Increase publications from our funded collaborative research endeavor with Mercy Health Saint Mary’s to establish ourselves as leaders in healthcare implementation
4. Expand recent collaborations with MSU Extension and local and rural health departments into funded research
5. Create departmental infrastructure to house a training and/or center grant.

The plan to achieve these goals includes continuing to provide department faculty with research support through peer mentoring, research subcommittee activities, and research division meetings. Our reputation as a research-strong department will be strengthened by the addition of our newly-recruited tenure-stream junior faculty who continue their successful NIH-funded research. A key element to our research success will be the strong partnerships that we have developed with our healthcare system partners across Michigan.