DoM Faculty Appointments and Promotions – June 2024

Congratulations to the following Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine faculty on their recent promotion.

Associate Professor

Nhan Do, MD, MS, Medicine, specializes in medical bioinformatics focused on effective development and delivery of knowledge tools in the clinical and research workflow. He is the director of the Boston VA Cooperative Studies Program Informatics Center, and he has been instrumental in developing the infrastructure to support research under a learning health system framework, including a large data repository, knowledge repository and software applications to deliver actionable knowledge. One of the informatics center’s projects focuses on improving the efficiency of and facilitating the screening and enrollment of veterans into clinical trials for investigators locally at VA Boston Healthcare System as well as nationally. Prior to joining BU and VA Boston, Dr. Do led the first personal health record for the military and the first health information exchange between the military and its civilian partners at a time when healthcare organizations were reluctant to share data outside of their boundaries. Dr. Do was also the first chief medical information officer to serve on the battlefield to evaluate the health outcomes of military tactics.

Sarah Kimball, MD, Medicine/GIM, specializes in immigration-informed medical care, where she has helped to research and build health systems that are responsive to the needs of immigrant patients. She is the director of the Immigrant & Refugee Health Center at Boston Medical Center, a comprehensive medical home that addresses the barriers that immigrants face to being holistically healthy. Her studies of the critical health care needs of immigrant and refugee health populations have influenced national best practices. For her work in this field, she is known as a national expert in immigrant and refugee health, serving on the board of directors of the Society for Refugee Health Providers and as an associate editor for the Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health. In addition, Dr. Kimball has designed and taught a year-long curriculum for general internal medicine residents focusing on care for immigrant and refugee patients, for which she won a teaching award from the GIM residency office in 2022.

Announcing Chief of Preventive Medicine – Donald M. Lloyd-Jones, MD, ScM

We are pleased to announce that Donald M. Lloyd-Jones, MD, ScM, has accepted the position of director of the Framingham Center for Population and Prevention Science, principal investigator of the Framingham Heart Study, and chief of the section of preventive medicine within the department of medicine at the Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine and Boston Medical Center, effective January 1, 2025.

Dr. Lloyd-Jones is the chair of preventive medicine and Eileen M. Foell Professor of Heart Research and professor of preventive medicine, medicine and pediatrics at Northwestern University. He previously served as senior associate dean for clinical and translational research and PI/director of the Northwestern University Clinical and Translational Sciences (NUCATS) Institute from 2012-20. Dr. Lloyd-Jones also served as the national president of the American Heart Association in 2021-22.

He received his BA from Swarthmore College, his MD from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, and a master of science in epidemiology from Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health. He completed a residency in internal medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and served as chief medical resident. After a cardiology fellowship at MGH, he joined the staff as an attending cardiologist, and was an instructor and then assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and MGH. He joined the Framingham Heart Study as a research fellow in 1997 and was a research associate from 1999-2004. In 2004, he moved to Northwestern’s Feinberg School of Medicine and became chair of preventive medicine in 2009.

"I am truly excited to return to the Framingham Study and BU, where I began my research career in earnest,” Dr. Lloyd-Jones said. “I am mindful of the incredible legacy of past leaders, who are all giants in our field, like Drs. Dawber, Kannel, Castelli, Wolf and Ramachandran. I am also excited to partner with Drs. Dan Levy, Joanne Murabito, George O'Connor and Emelia Benjamin, who have been ongoing leaders of the Framingham studies for decades. We have an incredible team, and remarkable opportunities to take Framingham and BU to new heights."

“Over decades, the Framingham Heart Study has produced great learnings that further our understanding of cardiovascular disease in America. This transition to new leadership retains the depth of familiarity with the study while advancing the latest science and innovations in epidemiology. We have great confidence in Dr. Lloyd-Jones’ ability to lead the Framingham Heart Study into a new era of scientific excellence,” said David C. Goff, MD, PhD, director of the division of cardiovascular sciences at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health.

Dr. Lloyd-Jones’ research interests include the study of the mechanisms and life course of cardiovascular health and healthy aging, and cardiovascular disease epidemiology, risk estimation and prevention. Other areas of interest include the use of novel biomarkers and imaging of subclinical atherosclerosis to improve prevention, and the epidemiology and outcomes of hypertension and dyslipidemia. His clinical and teaching interests lie in general cardiology, with a focus on prevention.

He also has been a national leader in public health and clinical approaches to promoting cardiovascular health and preventing cardiovascular diseases across the life course. He served as co-chair of the Risk Assessment Guidelines and a member of the Cholesterol Treatment Guidelines Panel for the 2013 ACC/AHA Guidelines for Cardiovascular Disease Risk Reduction; and was the lead member for risk assessment on the 2018 Cholesterol Guidelines Panel and the 2019 Primary Prevention Guidelines Panel. He has authored over 750 peer-reviewed scientific publications and has been a PI or co-investigator on more than 120 grants (the vast majority from NIH).

Dr. Lloyd-Jones has been named a “Highly Cited Researcher” by Clarivate Analytics in each of the last 10 years for being in the top 1% of cited authors in the field of clinical medicine – a distinction that includes only ~420 investigators worldwide.

The recipient of numerous awards and honors, he is a fellow of the American Heart Association, American College of Cardiology and American Society for Preventive Cardiology.

We would like to thank Joanne Murabito, MD, and George O’Connor, PhD, for their valuable contributions and leadership during this interim period. Dr. Murabito will remain co-PI of the Framingham Heart Study.

Please join us in congratulating Dr. Lloyd-Jones and welcoming him to the FHS, BU and BMC.

BU DOM Proposal Editing Service | Scott Wilson, Senior Editor

The BU DOM has launched a proposal editing service, with an aim to ensure that our faculty are supported from early draft through to final draft when writing research proposals to prospective sponsors. Through this process, BU DOM hopes to support faculty across all sections as they craft responsive, persuasive, and high quality descriptions of their research potential. A priority area for this service is early- to mid-career investigators (for example, those who are trying to secure RO1s, RO3s, or grants of similar stature). All faculty are welcome and encouraged to engage with this service.

Scott Wilson, senior editor, is available for editing requests by emailing him at sewilson@bu.edu.

Scott has experience and understanding of a wide range of prospective sponsor requirements and RFAs, having worked in research grant management and proposal preparation for European and US sponsors. He can provide consultations with you at every stage of your grant writing process, to help you secure Federal, Foundation, and other types of funding.

How to work with Scott on your research proposal:

• Email Scott at sewilson@bu.edu, with a short description of your request. Please include the deadline you are aiming for!
• Scott will then send you a short questionnaire, which will only take 5 – 10 minutes to complete. This will allow you to include important details about the project that will help Scott tailor his editing to your needs – as well as flag up any concerns you might have with your project.
• Upon receipt of your complete questionnaire, Scott will schedule a call with you. In this first meeting, you and Scott can establish a timeline for your project, discuss unique factors linked to your prospective sponsor (or your project), and touch on any other discussion points you think are relevant to the challenge ahead. It is very common to start with a specific aims page.
• Across a timeline of 3 – 6 months (or perhaps even longer), Scott will work with you on your proposal. You will receive edits and comments that aim to improve your proposal and ensure alignment with the notice of award / requests for applications. Multiple check-in calls can be scheduled as required.
• Prior to your deadline for upload, Scott will help you ensure that your final draft is comprehensive and cohesive and troubleshoot any remaining concerns you may have before you submit your proposal to the sponsor.

Faculty are encouraged to allow 3 – 6 months of time for this process to offer the best value. This means reaching out to Scott early (ideally, at least 3-6 months ahead of your deadline).

We anticipate requests for this service to be high. Scott reports to Dr Salant, Vice-Chair for Research, and manages his portfolio of work accordingly dependent on researcher need & prospective deadline. Although all requests will be considered, priority will be given to those researchers who request the service at least 3 – 6 months ahead of deadline. Should demand be extremely high, a prioritization rubric will be implemented, with details shared to BU DOM faculty in an update.

Message from BU Faculty & Staff Assistance Office for BIPOC Mental Health Awareness Month:

BIPOC Mental Health Awareness Month, observed each July, holds profound significance as it brings critical attention to the mental health challenges uniquely experienced by Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. These communities face systemic racism, discrimination, and historical trauma, which can significantly impact their mental well-being. Recognizing these factors is essential in understanding the full scope of mental health needs within these groups.

The month-long observance underscores the importance of addressing these disparities and advocates for the development and implementation of mental health services that are culturally competent and responsive to the distinct needs of BIPOC individuals.

FSAO is committed to supporting the mental well-being of all our employees, especially acknowledging the unique challenges faced by Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities.

How the FSAO Can Help:

• Confidentiality and Support: FSAO counselors provide a safe and confidential space for employees to discuss any personal or work-related concerns they may be experiencing.
• Culturally Competent Approach: At the FSAO, we aim to provide a safe and welcoming space for every employee, honoring and respecting their unique experiences, challenges, and perspectives. Our approach is trauma-informed and culturally responsive, acknowledging the stresses and traumas experienced by those with historically marginalized identities.
• Resources and Referrals: FSAO works with a diverse network of providers who understand the unique challenges faced by BIPOC communities. We can connect employees with additional resources specifically tailored to the needs of BIPOC individuals.

BIPOC Mental Health Month is a great opportunity to prioritize your mental well-being.

Here are some resources and tips:

• BU FSAO BIPOC Mental Health Resources and Self-Care Tips
• Headspace offers meditations led by diverse teachers. Some collection suggestions are: The Shine Collection and Navigating Injustice.

BMC Ranked Top 10 in Nation for Racial Inclusivity

BOSTON – Boston Medical Center (BMC) has been awarded top grades by the Lown Institute, a nonpartisan healthcare think tank, for its achievements and efforts in health equity, clinical excellence, and community collaborations. BMC received an “A” grade for social responsibility, which combined metrics of health equity and value of care alongside patient outcomes, from more than 3,500 U.S. hospitals and 300 health systems nationwide.

BMC’s outreach extends beyond its walls to the neighborhoods it serves. BMC Health System founded its Health Equity Accelerator, an ambitious and aggressive initiative that aims to eliminate the race-based health equity gaps in five clinical areas where major disparities exist including cancer, infectious diseases, chronic conditions, behavioral health, and pregnancy. Additionally, BMC offers programs such as BMC Curbside Care for Moms and Babies to eliminate barriers to care, such as transportation and childcare, by bringing perinatal care right outside their homes. Mothers and babies receive wellness checks, lactation support, and immunization during the first six weeks of life.

BMC also received “A” grades from the Lown Institute for Health Equity, Racial Inclusivity, Inclusivity, Community Benefit, Value of Care, and Avoiding Overuse. In addition, BMC was ranked #1 in Massachusetts for Inclusivity.

“We are honored to be recognized for our work in delivering extraordinary and empathetic solutions that make life healthier and more equitable for the communities we serve,” said Anthony Hollenberg, MD, President of Boston Medical Center. “As an equity-led academic medical center, we are dedicated to pioneering innovative care models and advancing programs that address social determinants of health, designed collaboratively with and for our patients and communities."

“Great care is only great if everyone can access it,” said Vikas Saini, MD, president of the Lown Institute. “We need hospitals that are not only leaders in clinical care, but also strong community partners —and these socially responsible hospitals are showing the way.”

In the fifth annual rankings, the 2024-25 Lown Index evaluates hospitals on over 50 measures including novel metrics such as community benefit, racial inclusivity, and avoidance of overuse. Data sources include Medicare fee-for-service and Medicare Advantage claims, CMS patient safety data and hospital cost reports, and IRS 990 forms, among others. Full methodology can be found on the Lown Index website.

Original Post

DoM STARDoM June Awardees!!

Join us in congratulating this month's STARDoM awardees, Ginny Leung and Marshal Bizure!

Ginny Leung, MA

"Ginny is one amazing person. She is super supportive of all of the AD’s and the work that they do. She is timely in her responses and pulling data to help support each section. Her personality and kind demeanor makes her easy to work with and such a well rounded person. I really enjoy working with her and I know that others do as well."

Job Title: Senior Business Analyst

How many years have you been at BUSM/BMC? 6

Describe your role within the Department of Medicine:
Along with distributing recurring reports such as clinician dashboards, I mostly help with building report templates as well as ad hoc projects.

What do you like best about your job?
Flexibility to explore other projects in DoM—there’s always something to do!

Favorite thing to do outside of work?
Trying out new restaurants

Little known fact: I never had an iPhone—I am team android all the way!

Marshall Bizure, MBA, MPA, MSA

"he has gone above and beyond to make himself available, including moving a vacation week (very much not expected) to be available to support a new grant application and the close of our existing contract's budget year. His efforts are greatly appreciated!"

Job Title: Manager Grants and Finance

How many years have you been at BUSM/BMC? 2 Years, 10 months

Describe your role within the Department of Medicine:
Supporting PI’s with Post Grants Management, salary allocations, distributions, reporting and compliance

What do you like best about your job?
Freeing my PIs of financial management stress, compliance and reporting. Ensuring they have more assurance about the financial health of their grants portfolio so that they care for our patients without worrying about the compliance of their grants.

Favorite thing to do outside of work?
5 mile jog every day before start. Mentoring college students and edit their application essays

Little known fact: I owned my first pair of shoes at age 9. I’m obsessed about shoes.

NIH Featured Story: Gene F. Kwan, MD, MPH

Better heart health through education: Q&A with Gene F. Kwan, MD, MPH

March/April 2024 | Volume 23 Number 2

Dr. Gene F. Kwan, a cardiologist and global health researcher, is an assistant professor at Boston University’s Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine. Since 2008 he’s worked in rural Rwanda and Haiti collaborating with each country’s ministry of health as well as with the organizations Partners In Health and Zanmi Lasante. He’s worked on projects in Malawi, Liberia, and India. He’s presented research and featured as a speaker at several American Heart Association conferences. He serves as a non-communicable diseases advisor for Partners In Health and is co-author of “The Partners In Health Guide to Chronic Care Integration for Endemic Non-Communicable Diseases.”

Why did you choose medicine and public health?

Being a doctor started with wanting to help people on an individual level—my mother was a nurse and I saw how important it was for her to make that contribution to other people's lives. I didn't really think about public health until I was in medical school and had experiences in other countries. Then I was able to see firsthand how medical care was delivered and, more specifically, how medical training was executed. It made me feel very fortunate for the education I had. I saw there weren’t the same opportunities for people in other parts of the world—or other parts of the country—just by virtue of the randomness of where people are born. There's inequity there. Through my work and research, I want to improve access to care not only by helping patients but also by helping providers.

What’s special about Partners In Health?

A lot of it is said in the first word of the name—"partners.” They very much collaborate with other organizations, other people, and even policymakers to help them and to understand what barriers and challenges they're facing. Partners In Health also has a tremendous interest in research and scientific discovery. Through its collaborations, it has tried to build the research skills of the clinicians and the health administrators. Partners In Health has even addressed social barriers that impact health, for example, by teaching people how to become carpenters or help with agricultural and improve farm yields. The organization focuses on rural areas of the countries in which it works. Such areas lend themselves to innovative ideas about improving access to care for patients who are most in need.

Did you work with Paul Farmer?

One of the last things he told me was “Don't forget Haiti.” Haiti is a very challenging place, particularly now, and it's easy to get disheartened about lack of progress or false starts or the barriers. But there are patients there who need help. There are providers and other partners there who are going above and beyond every day to make sure that patients get the care they need. We need to continue to collaborate in places where it’s difficult.

Tell us about your NIH-funded projects.

Oftentimes, as we've seen in Haiti as well as in Rwanda, there are a lot of patients admitted to the hospital with heart failure because the quality of care they initially received was limited. Some of that is due to the training and education of the clinicians… but in other cases, it’s because patients themselves face barriers.

My study funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), Identifying facilitators and barriers to heart failure care in Haiti to adapt a community-based intervention, aimed to understand the barriers patients face. Many patients were not returning to the clinic after a first diagnosis with heart failure, so we wanted to understand why and how we might change that. Patients take two days off from work, walk to a far-away clinic, wait in a really crowded waiting room, and then they get to see a clinician for 10 minutes. That whole experience can be disheartening! Partners In Health designed robust community health worker interventions and networks to improve care for patients. We've also been able to deliver education to patients, so they understand heart failure and how this chronic condition requires continuous medication to keep the symptoms controlled.

Our Fogarty-funded study, Simulator-Based simplified Focused Cardiac Ultrasound (sFoCUS) Training in Haiti, used simulators to train for cardiac ultrasound. There are about 10-15 cardiologists in all of Haiti, a country of 10 million people, and a lot (if not all) of them are working in the capital. So our resident trainees in the rural areas just don't have access to the same kind of cardiology training. There are simulators (mannequins) that help trainees learn the skill of obtaining and interpreting cardiac ultrasound images. Our program implemented this simulator training in rural areas. Keep in mind we applied for this before COVID, so our work was very timely!

Why do you emphasize implementation science?

In global health, a lot of the science is taking evidence that works in other contexts and trying to implement it in a new context with its unique barriers, constraints, challenges, and awareness levels. Implementation science helps us understand how to overcome all of these. A particular context may help an intervention be successful, so we need to understand contextual factors that create success. If you're going to disseminate or scale up in other places, you need to understand what inputs would be needed to be able to get things to work. Without studying the implementation of these interventions, a successful intervention can fail in a new context. There's a whole other science to understanding how to get interventions to the 95% of the world where it's particularly challenging.

What is important for other global health researchers to know?

One of my main messages to mentees is “be a very good listener first and foremost.” We need to listen to what our collaborators on the ground are telling us and often they also know what the solutions are. A researcher’s role is to help implement possible solutions and then study whether they're successful or not. My number two lesson for mentees is “be invited back.” You're not going to have long-term collaborations if you're not invited back! A lot of that boils down to being a good partner as opposed to coming in with preconceived ideas of what may or may not work. So always listen… and be invited back.

Global health is hard by nature and research is also very hard—putting those two together is extremely challenging so it takes grit and determination and resilience. There'll be many setbacks along the way. If you keep in mind that people throughout the world aren't getting the care they need and you can make some contribution to that—if you keep that as your long-term goal—it will help you get through the setbacks.

Original Post

DoM Faculty Appointments and Promotions – May 2024

Congratulations to the following Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine faculty on their recent appointment or promotion.

Associate Professor

Christopher Heaphy, PhD, Medicine/Hematology & Medical Oncology, focuses on cancer biomarker discovery and validation with the aim to utilize novel tissue-based biomarkers to improve individualized prevention, detection and treatment strategies. In particular, he specializes in abnormal telomere biology as it relates to cancer initiation and tumor progression. His seminal study published in Science demonstrated the association between inactivating somatic mutations in two chromatin remodeling genes, ATRX and DAXX, and the activation of the Alternative Lengthening of Telomeres (ALT) phenotype, a telomerase-independent telomere maintenance mechanism. His laboratory also is working to elucidate the underlying mechanisms of cancer initiation and progression, as well as to understand how the interactions between the cancer and its tissue microenvironment may facilitate this process.

Zoe Weinstein, MD, MS, Medicine/GIM, specializes in two models of addiction care: Office Based Addiction Treatment (OBAT) and Addiction Consult Services. Her retrospective study of Boston Medical Center’s (BMC) OBAT program resulted in one of the largest and longest evaluations of treatment duration for patients on buprenorphine, which now has been cited 180 times. She currently is conducting a mixed methods prospective cohort study on the impact of COVID-19 on BMC’s OBAT population and has been invited to be first author on a manuscript, in development, on a NIDA clinical trials study on predictors of retention in addiction treatment. Dr. Weinstein helped establish and grow one of the leading Addiction Consult Services in the U.S., which serves as a national model, attracting trainees as well as attendings from around the country to learn from its work. From 2019-23 she served on the board of directors for the Association for Multidisciplinary Education and Research in Substance Use and Addiction, the leading national interdisciplinary organization in the field of addiction.

Clinical Associate Professor

Sohera Syeda, MD, Medicine/Pulmonology, Allergy, Sleep & Critical Care Medicine, specializes in COPD readmission prevention. Based at VA Boston Healthcare, she created the VA Boston COPD readmission reduction program. She is director of the pulmonary diseases module of the medical student PISCEs course, associate director of the pulmonary, sleep and critical care fellowship program and VA site director for the pulmonary and critical care medicine fellowship. In addition, Dr. Syeda is director of VA Boston’s Coordinated Care and Case Management Program for High-Risk Veterans with Heart Failure and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and director of VA Bedford’s Enclave Pulmonary Clinic.

2024 DoM Evans Days Abstract Submission is Open!

Nominate A Staff Member for a DoM Annual Staff Award – Deadline June 10, 2024!

Submissions are now open through June 10th for our two Annual DOM Staff Awards! See details and links to submit below.

The David "Aaron" Freed Compassion & Excellence Award

Nomination Criteria

Nominee should be a non-faculty member of the Department of Medicine for at least one year who demonstrates the following qualities:

• Dedication to the community
• Selflessness
• Dependability
• Compassion
• Goes above & beyond expectations (outside of their job description)

Please be prepared to provide specific examples of your nominee for each of these categories as well as their overall impact on the DOM Community.

The Maria Antoinette Evans Staff Diversity Award

Nomination Criteria

Nominee should be a non-faculty member of the Department of Medicine for at least a year who exemplifies the following qualities:

• Models inclusive behavior
• Commitment to educating peers in DEIA topics
• Mentoring
• Creates, initiates or support DEIA program development
• Goes above and beyond (outside of their job description)

Please be prepared to provide specific examples of your nominee for each of these categories as well as their overall impact on the DOM Community.

Submit a nomination here!

Deadline for submissions is June 10, 2024.