I hope that you are all managing to stay safe and maintain your sanity with all of the stress and uncertainly that lies ahead as we move into month six of the pandemic. Hopefully, many if not all of you will be taking more than a couple of days away from work either for a “staycation” or travel elsewhere.
As a division, I think that we have hit a record this summer with all of the newly funded grants and I want to congratulate members of our research faculty and share with you the array of important topics that they will be studying.
We also have 3 new research faculty joining us and would like to first introduce you to Dr. Melissa Wei who will be starting her appointment at both the Westwood campus and WLA VA this month. My plan is to feature each of these in a separate newsletter.
Please try to enjoy the remaining months of summer!
Carol
Welcome Dr. Melissa Wei to GIM Faculty
Please welcome Melissa Wei, MD, MPH, MS, to the GIM faculty!
Dr. Wei comes from us for University of Michigan where she was Assistant Professor in their Division of GIM. She completed a dual MD MPH in Medicine, Epidemiology and Statistics at Oregon Health and Science University. Following residency at Emory, she went onto a fellowship in General Internal Medicine and Primary Care at Harvard, also completing a masters degree in nutritional epidemiology.
Dr. Wei's research focuses on the measurement, management, prevention and policy implication of multimorbidity. One of her goals is to identify risk factors for multimorbidity in order to implement interventions to prevent its progression and complications.
Dr. Russ Kerbel Named New Medical Director
for Sepsis Prevention
We are delighted that our hospitalist colleague, Dr. Russ Kerbel has been named Medical Director for Sepsis Prevention at UCLA Health. Since his arrival at UCLA in 2014 he has worked tirelessly to increase awareness and standardize sepsis treatment through his advocacy, interdepartmental collaboration and informatics knowledge. He has also been a role model and mentor in this regard for students, residents and fellow hospitalists.
2020 Josiah Brown Summer Research Poster Fair
Approximately 140 medical and dental students from various DGSOM summer research programs, including CTSI’s TL1 summer fellowship program, presented their research projects at the 2020 Josiah Brown Summer Research Poster Fair.
The poster fair, an annual event held virtually this year on Friday, July 24, is a key educational event to learn from, celebrate, and connect with DGSOM and SOD students. Students shared their findings and experiences from an array of diverse research and community engagement projects to which they have dedicated their time and energy over the past few months. Abstracts from the event can be found here.
The UCLA CTSI TL1 summer fellowship program provides mentored research opportunities, with a focus on health disparities, health inequities, and interdisciplinary, community-partnered translational or health services research. Fellows participate in weekly workshops and seminars, in which they learn to organize and report research findings. The program is led by Drs. Alejandra Casillas, Moira Inkelas, and Alex Bui.
Report from the Quarterly Meeting
Michael Lazarus, MD, Professor of Clinical Medicine, Section Chief, Hospitalist Medicine, reported on the role of the Faculty Executive Committee (FEC) of the DGSOM and the Academic Senate as elected representatives of the faculty in shared governance as defined for the University of California and UCLA. Dr. Lazarus is Chair Elect of the DGSOM FEC.
The FEC sets policy and authorizes admission, promotion, and graduation of medical students, advises administration on faculty welfare, academic priorities, and planning and budget allocations within the DGSOM. Janet Pregler, MD, Professor of Clinical Medicine, GIM-HSR is also currently elected to the FEC as a Medical Sciences representative.
An election is currently being held for a representative from the Health Sciences! All Health Sciences faculty are strongly encouraged to vote when you receive your ballot by e-mail later this month.
Meetings are open to all faculty, all faculty receive monthly e-mail invitations to attend via Zoom. Please contact Michael Lazarus or Janet Pregler with questions or suggestions. For more information: https://medschool.ucla.edu/fec
GIM Seminars & Events
Friday, August 7, 8:00am
Pediatrics Grand Rounds: "Schools and COVID-19"
Alice Kuo, MD
Professor and Chief
Medicine-Pediatrics
Nava Yeganeh, MD, MPH
Assistant Professor
Pediatrics-Infectious Diseases
Kenrik Duru, MD
NIH/NIDDK
A Multi-Level Evaluation of California's New Medicaid Coverage for the Diabetes
Prevention Program
R18 grant
Dates of award- 07/27/2020 – 06/30/2025
DHHS/CDC
UCLA-led Central Coordinating Center For The Natural Experiments Research Network
U18 grant
Dates of award- 09/30/2020– 09/29/2025
Tannaz Moin, MD
NIH/NIDDK
The UC DPP Study: Evaluating a Diabetes Prevention Initiative Across the University of California System
R01 Grant (First R01!)
Dates of award- 07/15/2020 - 03/31/2024
Yusuke Tsugawa, MD, PhD
NIH/NIMHHD
The Impact of Surgeon Factors and Education/Training on Disparities in Surgical Care
R01 Grant (First R01!)
Dates of award- 06/12/2020-01/31/2025
Carol Mangione, MD and Kenrik Duru, MD
DHHS/CDC
A Pragmatic Nationwide RCT of Coordinated Medical, Behavioral, and Social Services to Improve Care and Utilization among High-Cost, High-Need Insured Patients with Diabetes
U18 grant
Dates of award- 09/30/2020– 09/29/2025
New Supplement Awards
Alice Kuo, MD
T25 Addiction Medicine Fellowship supplement
UT2 Autism Intervention Research Network on Physical Health supplement
Joseph Ladapo, MD, PhD
R01 supplement to “Financial incentives to help people with cognitive impairment quit smoking” project
David Zingmond, MD, PhD
R01 Impact of POLST Adoption and of Financial Incentives on Care Receipt and on Intensity of Care Preferences in Nursing Home Patients supplement
David Blumenthal, M.D., M.P.P., Elizabeth J. Fowler, Ph.D., J.D., Melinda Abrams, M.S., and Sara R. Collins, Ph.D.
July 22, 2020
DOI: 10.1056/NEJMsb2021088
New GIM Publications
Nurses should oppose police violence and unjust policing in healthcare. Kia Skrine Jeffers, Hafifa Siddiq, Adrienne S. Martinez-Hollingsworth, Shoshana V. Aronowitz, Laura Sinko, Jasmine L. Travers, D. Anthony Tolentino, Jade Burns, Sue Anne Bell, Dana C. Beck, Jose I. Gutierrez, Dominique Bulgin, Kirstin A. Manges, Lisa N. Mansfield, Amanda P. Bettencourt, Jin Jun, Alex J. Fauer, Rachele K. Lipsky, Gillian I. Adynski, Kristen R. Choi.(Recent & Current NCSP Scholars in bold.)International Journal of Nursing Studies. 2020 Online pre-proof. Contact krchoi@ucla.edu or kiajeffers@ucla.edu for final PDF shortly.
Greetings! 
Please welcome Melissa Wei, MD, MPH, MS, to the GIM faculty! 
We are delighted that our hospitalist colleague, Dr. Russ Kerbel has been named Medical Director for Sepsis Prevention at UCLA Health. Since his arrival at UCLA in 2014 he has worked tirelessly to increase awareness and standardize sepsis treatment through his advocacy, interdepartmental collaboration and informatics knowledge. He has also been a role model and mentor in this regard for students, residents and fellow hospitalists.
Michael Lazarus, MD, Professor of Clinical Medicine, Section Chief, Hospitalist Medicine, reported on the role of the Faculty Executive Committee (FEC) of the DGSOM and the Academic Senate as elected representatives of the faculty in shared governance as defined for the University of California and UCLA. Dr. Lazarus is Chair Elect of the DGSOM FEC. 
Janet Pregler, MD, Professor of Clinical Medicine, GIM-HSR is also currently elected to the FEC as a Medical Sciences representative. 
Alice Kuo, MD
