MESSAGE FROM SENIOR ASSOCIATE DEAN FOR HEALTH SCIENCES RESEARCH
For anyone who has written research grants, you know the extraordinary amount of creative and intellectual effort poured onto the pages, checking that ideas match the goals of the funding agency, highlighting your team’s research skills, and describing the importance of the work to the larger society. Too often though, what we think is the best idea ever, prompts reviewers to inevitably seek changes before the study can be considered for funding. “Thanks, but no thanks,” can be hard to hear – but criticism (rather than rejection) is part of research. It is rare for studies to be funded on the first submission; indeed, Zev Rymer, a mentor with the Training in Grantsmanship for Rehabilitation Research, says you should expect to submit three to four proposals for every one that is funded. That is, we should expect to resubmit our proposals at least once and to shop them to different agencies.
As I work with the Health Sciences Research Advisory Committee (HSRAC) to build a database of funded research, I find that year over year, we are at about the rate of success that Rymer suggests: overall, HS researchers receive about one award for every three submitted. Drilling down however, our success is with smaller grants (less than $50,000); larger unsuccessful proposals are mostly not resubmitted. This data shows that we are not capitalizing on the initial investments we make in developing these larger proposals. Part of the challenge lies in generating additional pilot data, or building more diverse research teams that would enhance a resubmission without financial support. To that end, HS is initiating a Competitive Grant Resubmission (CGR) program—an award that supports HS researchers developing grant resubmissions that effectively respond to reviewer feedback. We piloted this idea with Mary Corcoran of the Department of Clinical Research and Leadership (CRL) last year. Corcoran had received positive reviews for her proposal to study the effectiveness of “Customized Toolkit of Information and Practical Solutions (C-TIPS)” submitted to the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD. Although reviews were positive, the team received critiques about the lack of pilot data and limited evidence of the team working and publishing together. These are common, and resolvable, issues but without funding, hard to address. Corcoran completed an application (and helped us revise the forms and procedure based on her feedback), which was reviewed by two members of the HSRAC. She was awarded funds to implement a pilot test of C-TIPS with 50 caregivers. The team has started recruitment through social service agencies and is also looking to collaborate on recruitment with health care systems. Funds are being used for three purposes – hiring a PhD student as a research assistant, providing small incentives for caregiver participants, and purchasing assessment materials. The team plans to complete the pilot study and publish two manuscripts in preparation for resubmission to DOD in early 2021.
Given the initial success in supporting the CTIPS team, the HSRAC is launching the CGR program for all faculty. Full details can be found on the Research Portal in the HS Hub. The goal of the CGR Award is to support investigators who have already received encouraging reviews for a proposal that has a high chance of success on resubmission. These awards can be used to provide support for additional data collection, re-analysis of existing data, to develop further collaborations, or other critical activities that will substantively enhance the proposal’ competitiveness. Both smaller and larger proposals previously submitted and well-reviewed are welcome to apply. These awards advance two focus areas of our 2020-2023 Strategic Plan --investing in people and catalyzing innovation and entrepreneurism. I encourage you to look into a CGR Award; it can assist with resubmission of promising proposals that may result in future external funding.
--Trudy Mallinson, associate dean for Health Sciences research
PEOPLE
Next chapter. GW Health Sciences bids farewell to Lisa Alexander of the Department of Physician Assistant Studies (PAS) who is retiring after 38 years of service. Alexander, a triple GW alumna (PA-C ’79, MPH ’89, EdD ’03), is a recognized leader at the local, national, and international level. She served as program director from 1989-1996 and 2011-2015. A passionate advocate for health equity and access to care, Alexander was the first faculty advisor to SMHS’s inter-professional student run clinic, the HEALing Clinic and served as a volunteer clinician at the clinic since its inception in 2007. In 2011, she received the Margaret B. and Cyril A. Schulman Distinguished Service Award and in 2009, she was the faculty recipient of the Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award. A leader in PA education, she’s a former president of the Physician Assistant Education Association and previously served as president of the PA Foundation. A member of the International Academy of PA Educators, she assisted with the development of the clinical associate program at Kigali Health Institute in Rwanda through appointment as a Fulbright Senior Specialist. She will serve as a GW adjunct faculty member while she makes an impact globally as director of the physician associate programme at the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin, Ireland. READ MORE
Career advancement. You could say that Brandon Beattie, MMS, PA-C, found his health care calling in the military, like many pioneers in the field. Beattie, who joined PAS this month as a visiting assistant professor, said it was his U.S. Army experience that prompted him to pursue being a PA. “I worked closely with PAs there in many trauma bays as a combat medic,” Beattie said of his service from 2003-2009. “I enjoyed seeing their scope of practice. I like that PAs are trained as general practitioners and then can specialize.” Following his deployments, Beattie earned a bachelor’s degree from Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan and then a master’s degree from Yale University. A resident of Alexandria, Virginia, he worked in urgent care at Virginia Hospital Center and as an adjunct faculty member in PAS before assuming his current role. “I really enjoy it,” he said of working with the PA Program. “I’m excited to advance my role with the program. I love interacting with PA students … their skills and intellect are incredible. They make me a better PA and person.” Away from work, Beattie enjoys family time with his wife, Eline, who’s also a PA, and their 10-month-old daughter, Nora. An enthusiast of the outdoors, he enjoys hiking, biking, and running.
First appointment. Nate’le’ge’ Wardlow, MPH, PA-C, says it was high caliber PA students and GW Health Sciences focus on diversity and inclusion that prompted her to join the PA Program this month as an assistant professor and director of clinical education. Wardlow, who practiced in surgical critical care for the last 14 years at Sinai Hospital of Baltimore, was familiar with our program through her work as a preceptor. GW is her first faculty home, and she has hit the ground running. “It’s a big job during this pandemic time,” she said. “One of my goals is to expand our clinical rotations and to incorporate more cultural competency training and a public health perspective into the students’ clinical education. I’m excited to help train the next generation of PAs.” Wardlow lives in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, with her husband, Greg, and a pit bull/mastiff mix named Ziggy. In her spare time, she enjoys walks in the woods, running, reading, traveling, and church activities. One trip on her wish list? Visiting the Maldives. “I want to stay in an over-the-water villa and come out and step down into a clean beautiful ocean,” she said. A native of New York City, Wardlow earned her PA degree from CUNY-City College/Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education-Harlem Hospital Center and an MPH from the University of Maryland at Baltimore.
New titles. Souheil Ghannouchi and Bart Gillum of PAS, have been named assistant professors. They previously served as visiting assistant professors. Liana Wooten of the Department of Health, Human Function, and Rehabilitation Sciences (HHFR) has been named visiting assistant professor; she previously served in a part-time faculty role.
Leadership collaboration. Trudy Mallinson, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA, FACRM, and Samar A. Nasser, PhD, MPH, PA-C, have been named co-program directors of the PhD in Translational Health Sciences Program (THS) in the Department of Clinical Research and Leadership (CRL). Nasser will lead the program's didactic portion which comprises the first two years of study, while Mallinson will direct the research and dissertation phase of study. READ MORE
Vice chair. Paige McDonald (EdD’12) has been promoted to serve as vice chair of CRL. In the new role, McDonald will work closely with program directors in assessment and modifications to curricula as well as develop cross-curricular initiatives. An expert in teaching and educational research, she will lead faculty in academic programming, course development, and teaching excellence. READ MORE.
PROGRAMS
Calling all writers! Leigh Frame of CRL is serving as guest editor for a special issue of the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. Frame invites her colleagues to submit manuscripts that focus on the impact of the lifestyle medicine movement. The special issue, “The Lifestyle Medicine Movement: An Extension of Public Health into Medicine,” will address the growing recognition of the importance of lifestyle factors in the prevention of disease and promotion of health and wellness (including their inclusion into practice guidelines). More information can be found at the special issue website. If interested in contributing, contact Frame or jasmine.zhang@mdpi.com at the journal’s editorial office. Submissions deadline is March 14, 2021, but papers will be individually published on an ongoing basis.
Tuning in. PAS is hitting the airways with a new podcast, “PA Connections,” that addresses professional issues relevant to PA practice. The biweekly podcast, launched this month and co-produced by the IMPACT Initiative, will be available on Apple and Spotify podcast directories, and on the PAS website. READ MORE.
DPT takeover. Faculty, students, and alumni of the Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) Program authored all of the articles in the July issue of Orthopedic Physical Therapy Practice, the official journal of the Academy of Orthopaedic Physical Therapy. The “all GW” issue was spearheaded by Dhinu Jayaseelan (DPT ’10) of HHFR. “I was given a lot of leeway on how to construct the issue,” Jayaseelan said. ”I wanted to make sure that our faculty, students, alumni, residents, and schoolwide collaborators were all represented … specific topics were driven by content expertise and showcase the wide-ranging and interdisciplinary nature of the projects we are involved in.” The issue featured 12 authors from DPT as well as co-authors from other programs within SMHS and the GW School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.
In the summertime. The fourth annual Biomedical Laboratory Sciences (BLS) Summer Immersion Program didn’t skip a beat this year, even with the pandemic. Marcia Firmani reports that instead of the usual in-person, two session programs, she and her BLS team developed a virtual program. “We could have just cancelled it due to the pandemic, yet in short order, we completely revised it and developed a fully virtual, synchronous experience for the high school students,” Firmani said. Special thanks go to Emma Levine and Allison Cannon for the application and admissions process and to Cliff Cymrot for revising the program for a virtual format. Kudos also to Cymrot, Yousif Barzani, Firmani, and Carol Rentas for serving as module developers and presenters. The program, held in June and July, featured live Blackboard Collaborate sessions with lectures on lab skills, safety, and techniques; disease case studies, diagnostic techniques, and molecular technologies. In all, 67 high school students attended.
APPLAUSE
Clinical reasoning. Anthony Artino of HS Administration and HHFR and co-authors have published, “Effects of live and video simulation on clinical reasoning performance and reflection,” in the July issue of Advances in Simulation. Artino and co-authors also published, “Military medical students’ intentions to pursue operational medicine: Survey design and initial validation,” in the August issue of Military Medicine.
Master teacher. Yousif Barzani of BLS completed the SMHS Master Teacher Leadership Development Program.
Advising relationships. Terri Bevilacqua, Jonalyn Phelan, and Ivy Meadows of BLS participated in a webinar earlier this month sponsored by the National Academic Advising Association and the Association for Orientation, Transition, and Retention in Higher Education. The webinar, “Leveraging the Advising Relationship to Support the Transition and Retention of Online Students,” addressed the importance of building relationships, supporting students, and maintaining connections in a virtual environment. One strategy from the session will be piloted this fall by BLS: leveraging the learning management system to assist in community building, engagement with academic advisors, and a creating a centralized hub for advising.
Continuing credit. BLS was approved to offer continuing education credit to laboratory professionals nationally through the Professional Acknowledgment for Continuing Education Program of the American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science. Lisa Schwartz is serving as program administrator; the first session, “Genetic Counseling: History, Utility, and Impact,” was held earlier this month.
Future faculty. Earlier this month, Reamer Bushardt co-chaired a virtual workshop, “Health Professions Faculty for the Future,” as part of the Global Forum on Innovation in Health Professional Education in the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The webinar reviewed and discussed proposed steps for developing faculty development programs to build the faculty of the future. Leaders from more than 16 health professions (representing professional associations and accreditation bodies), higher education, and health organizations around the world participated. The workshop built on prior work to strengthen the connection between health professions education and health care practice. The workshop featured a presentation from Anthony Artino of HS Administration and HHFR titled, “Starting with the end in mind: Designing and evaluating faculty development.” A recording of the webinar is available here.
Keys to the future. Cliff Cymrot and Sachi De Silva of BLS received the Keys to the Future Award at the American Society of Clinical Laboratory Science (ASCLS) conference in July. The award recognizes members in leadership positions that are helping to support and promote the profession. Also at the conference, Cymrot graduated from the ASCLS Leadership Academy. The academy is an intense 12-month program that develops members' abilities and improves leadership strengths, teamwork, and professional and public advocacy. Graduates are tasked with improving the medical laboratory science (MLS) profession and promoting the group’s mission and vision.
Poster & visit. Cliff Cymrot and Marcia Firmani of BLS presented a poster, “Exploring the Relationship Between Value Perception and Turnover Among Clinical Laboratory Scientists,” at the ASCLS conference this summer. The poster revealed data demonstrating the link between how medical laboratory scientists feel valued by employers and reasons they leave their jobs. Also, Firmani and Cymrot completed a virtual site visit in July at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center for the National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Sciences (NAACLS). This was the first year for virtual site visits due to the pandemic. Firmani also participated in a review for continuing accreditation with NAACLS in June for the Brigham Young University Medical Laboratory Sciences Program.
Winning authors. Marcia Firmani and Yuliya Dobrydneva of BLS, along with a former BLS graduate student, received a Clinical Laboratory Science Distinguished Author Award at the 88th American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science Annual Awards ceremony in June for their article, “The impact of blood utilization guidelines on product usage."
Career changer. Rohini Ganjoo of BLS and co-authors virtually presented, “Facilitating collaboration for undergraduate career changer students,” at the American Association of Microbiology Conference for Undergraduate Educators held in July.
Teaching ethics. Rohini Ganjoo, Yuliya Dobrydneva, Lisa Schwartz, and Marcia Firmani of BLS and co-authors authored a chapter, “Teaching Ethics Online to Health Sciences Professionals,” in Advancing Online Course Design and Pedagogy for the 21st Century Learning Environment.
Alum honor. Gaetano “Guy” Lotrecchiano of CRL was selected as this year’s recipient of the GW Graduate School of Education and Human Development (GSEHD) Dean’s Outstanding Alumni Achievement Award. The honor is presented to an alum who has made considerable contributions to their chosen field as well as to their community.
Faculty perceptions. Joyce Maring of HHFR and four co-authors from the GW School of Nursing, Gretchen Wiersma, Catherine Wilson Cox, Angela M. McNelis, and Mary Jean Schumann, published: “Faculty perceptions in facilitating success for accelerated BSN student veterans” in a May issue of Nursing Education Practice.
Presenting… Carol Rentas of BLS presented, “Reinforcing concepts with virtual labs in clinical chemistry,” at the annual ASCLS conference this summer. Rentas completed virtual site visits at Berkshire Medical Center and Santa Fe College for NAACLS. Also, she completed a paper review to assess the self-study submitted by the MLS program at Loyola University Chicago.
Knee matters. David Scalzitti of HHFR and co-authors published, "Physical therapist management of total knee arthroplasty," an online clinical practice guideline in Physical Therapy in June.
SMHS service. Lisa Schwartz of BLS has been appointed chair of the Health Sciences Student Evaluation Committee. Schwartz served on a Joint Task Force on Intellectual Property for the Faculty Senate as a member of the Education Policy and Technology Committee. She is currently serving on the Report of Current Status Program Review Committee of the Accreditation Council for Genetic Counseling.
Predicting success. Lisa Schwartz, Rohini Ganjoo, and Yuliya Dobrydneva of BLS published, “Predictors of success on the MCAT among post-baccalaureate pre-medicine students,” in the peer-reviewed open access journal, Heliyon. Also, Schwartz presented a virtual poster, “Implementation and Evaluation of a Pre-health Professions Advising Service for an Online Student Population,” on the new BLS pre-health professions advising service at the National Association for Advising in the Health Professions in June.
Measuring cognition. Jen Weaver and Alison Cogan of HHFR, Leslie Davidson of CRL, and Trudy Mallinson of HS Administration and CRL have published, ”Combining items from three federally mandated assessments using Rasch measurement to reliably measure cognition across post-acute care,” in the August (ahead of print) issue in the Archives of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation.
Emerging scholar. Maranda Ward of CRL has been awarded a 2020–21 SMHS Emerging Scholars Fellowship. The fellowship program provides intramural funding to support career development and scholarly projects focused on academic advancements, service-learning opportunities, and professional and mentoring partnerships both inside and outside of SMHS. The award is a one-year career development fellowship, renewable for an additional year. READ MORE.
Wdyt contest. Thanks to everyone who entered our “What do you think?” contest of guessing when we would return to campus. We obviously don’t have a definitive date on returning to Foggy Bottom or VSTC, so the most distant date submitted, September 14, is being declared the winner. Congrats to Karen Foote of the IMPACT Initiative with that guess! She will receive a GW branded item as her prize when we do return to campus. Second place goes to Kevin O’Connor of HS Administration with a guess of September 10.
Wellness. Are you facing personal challenges during the pandemic and want to talk with someone? GW offers anytime support via its Wellness Hotline
Work anniversaries. Congratulations to colleagues celebrating anniversaries: Dee Dee Herrmann of PAS and Qing Zeng of the Biomedical Informatics Center (BIC) (15 years), Catherine Golden of HS Administration (10 years), and the following who all celebrate one year -- Desmond Edwards of HS Administration, Lindsay Garmirian of HHFR, Eduardo Trujillo Rivera of BIC, Liana Wooten of HHFR, and Vicki Wu of HS Administration.
