AHRQ Grantee Profiles

These profiles highlight AHRQ research training grantees whose work has led to significant changes in health care policy and notably influenced research and practice. AHRQ supports a range of research training and career development grant programs that help emerging health services researchers better understand, improve, and share knowledge about how health care is delivered in the United States.

	Understanding Where, Why, and How Diagnostic Errors Occur Eric J. Thomas, M.D., M.P.H University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston "AHRQ has probably been the most important influence on my research career. It has been central in generating new knowledge about the scope of errors and how to prevent them and make care safer." More >>
	Improving Quality and Outcomes in Home Health Care Penny Feldman, Ph.D. Visiting Nurse Service of New York "The impact of AHRQ funding on health services research cannot be overstated! Support from AHRQ has been essential in promoting high quality care for home health care patients." More >>
	Developing Tailored Infection-Control Practices and More Accurate HAI Outcome Measures Anthony Harris, M.D., M.P.H. University of Maryland, Baltimore "AHRQ has funded work that would never have been funded by other agencies. We think it’s important work that has moved the field ahead and that would not have been possible without AHRQ filling that void." More >>
	Making Pediatric Care Safer and Higher Quality Michael Rinke, M.D., Ph.D. Children’s Hospital at Montefiore "AHRQ funding has enabled me to contribute knowledge to the field of pediatric medicine, helping to improve patient safety for children." More >>
	Streamlining Health IT Systems to Reduce Medical Errors Raj Ratwani, Ph.D. MedStar Institute for Innovation "With AHRQ funding, we have been able to develop machine learning algorithms to identify health IT-related usability and safety issues from patient safety event reports." More >>
	Making Healthcare Safer for Older, Vulnerable Patients Jerry H. Gurwitz, M.D. University of Massachusetts Medical School "I can’t put into words what AHRQ funding has meant to me and to others I’ve worked with doing this type of health services research...." More >>
	Engaging Patients in Their Care Decisions To Promote Better Health and Well-Being Alex H. Krist, M.D., M.P.H. Virginia Commonwealth University "AHRQ plays a very important role in primary care research by getting at the core principles of primary care and how we can make it better...." More >>
	Using a Systems Approach to Making Care Safer Leora Horwitz, M.D. Associate Professor of Population Health and Medicine and Director for Healthcare Innovation and Delivery Science New York University (NYU) Langone Health "Healthcare is delivered through a complex set of interwoven systems, and there are many factors that can affect a patient’s outcome...." More >>
	Using a Human Factors and Systems Engineering Framework to Build Safer Patient Care Processes Pascale Carayon, Ph.D. University of Wisconsin-Madison "I’m grateful that AHRQ was a leader in recognizing the value of human factors and systems engineering as a method to understand and reduce patient safety risks...." More >>
	Protecting Pediatric Patients from Healthcare-Associated Infections in the Hospital and at Home Aaron M. Milstone, M.D., M.H.S. Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Associate Hospital Epidemiologist, The Johns Hopkins Hospital "The insights my team and I are gaining from our AHRQ-funded research is helping us identify how infections develop among infants and children who are already very sick..." More >>
	Decreasing Inappropriate Antibiotic Prescribing to Improve Patient Safety and Care Jeffrey A. Linder, M.D., M.P.H. Michael A. Gertz Professor of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital Chief of the Division of General Internal Medicine and Geriatrics, Northwestern University "Thanks to funding from AHRQ, we’re able to better understand clinician prescribing and develop interventions that improve antibiotic use." More >>
	Simulating the Health Care Environment to Improve Patient and Caregiver Safety Anjali Joseph, Ph.D., EDAC Professor, Spartanburg Regional Health System Endowed Chair in Architecture + Health Design Director of the Center for Health Facilities Design and Testing, Clemson University "Thanks to funding from AHRQ, my team is developing the research base and tools that are needed to design and build health care facilities that support safer patient care." More >>
	Using Simulation To Improve Patient Care Matthew B. Weinger, M.D., M.S., Professor of Anesthesiology, Biomedical Informatics, and Medical Education, Vanderbilt University Medical Center "AHRQ's investment in health care simulation has helped our team to advance the science and application of human factors to improve our understanding of, and ability to improve, the care of patients during care transitions and life-threatening events." More >>
	Improving Treatment and Care Processes for Patients with Sickle Cell Disease Paula Tanabe, Ph.D., R.N. Duke University School of Nursing “Helping providers and emergency departments understand the unique clinical needs of patients with sickle cell disease is my passion.” More >>
	Creating Standards for Communication and Resolution When Things Go Wrong Thomas H. Gallagher, M.D. University of Washington “Providers needed a better understanding of how to communicate with patients when something goes wrong and ensure appropriate resolution.” More >>
	Identifying Underlying Barriers to Infection Prevention on the Front Lines of Patient Care Elaine L. Larson, Ph.D., R.N. Professor of Nursing Research and Epidemiology at Columbia School of Nursing “AHRQ’s support of my work helps clinicians understand the benefit of systematic feedback and the need to follow HAI prevention practices in a supportive environment.” More >>
	Studying HAI Prevention Efforts to Inform Better Clinical Care and Policy Grace M. Lee, M. D., M.P.H. Associate Chief Medical Officer for Practice Innovation at Stanford Children’s Health “Throughout my career, AHRQ funding has helped me pursue multiple avenues of research to improve patient outcomes and inform better decisions.” More >>
	Improving Patient Safety through Research and Implementation Gregory Maynard, M.D. Hospitalist and Chief Quality Officer at the University of California Davis Medical Center “Improving the quality, safety, and efficiency of patient care is a passion that I gladly share with AHRQ. Our commitment to rigorous, innovative research is the only way to provide the best possible patient-safety resources to healthcare teams across the country.” More >>
	Gaining Clinician Support for Health IT to Improve Patient Safety Tejal Gandhi, M.D., M.P.H. Chief Clinical and Safety Officer, Institute for Healthcare Improvement Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School “AHRQ funding helped us understand not only how health IT could reduce medication errors, but also the steps we needed to take to get clinicians’ support.” More >>
	Customizing Health IT to Support Physician Workflow and Reduce Burden Thomas H. Payne, M.D. Attending Physician, University of Washington Medical Center and Harborview Medical Center “Documentation is one of the most time-consuming parts of a doctor's day, particularly in primary care. It's an area ripe for improvement." More >>
	Combatting Recurrent C diff and Other HAIs Through Research, Best Practices, and Clinical Innovation Nasia Safdar, M.D., Ph.D. Vice Chair for Research, Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, University of Wisconsin-Madison “The research that we’re doing, thanks to AHRQ’s support, is making it easier for clinicians to apply best practices and improve care for patients who suffer from dangerous infections.” More >>
	Advancing Academic and Practical Knowledge To Prevent Infections From Hospital to Home Susan Huang, M.D., M.P.H. Medical Director of Epidemiology and Infection Prevention Professor, Infectious Diseases, School of Medicine, University of California, Irvine Medical Center "Understanding how to prevent infections in all settings of care is critical to keeping patients safe." More >>
	Advancing the Use of Health Information Technology to Reduce Medication Errors and Improve Patient Safety David W. Bates, M.D., M.Sc. Senior Vice President and Chief Innovation Officer Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School More >>
	Improving Working Conditions Reduces Physician Burnout Mark Linzer, M.D. Director of the Division of General Internal Medicine Director of the Office of Professional Work Life at Hennepin County Medical Center Professor of Medicine at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis "I am truly indebted to AHRQ for the support that allowed us to identify the connections between work conditions, clinician reactions (including satisfaction and burnout), and patient outcomes..." More >>
	Improving the Safety and Quality of Medications and Diagnosis Gordon D. Schiff, M.D. Associate Director of Brigham and Women’s Center for Patient Safety Research and Practice and Associate Professor Harvard Medical School "We can reduce medication errors by including a key piece of information..." More >>
	Reducing Avoidable Return Trips to the Hospital Brian Jack, M.D. Professor and Chair, Department of Family Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine "I am truly grateful to AHRQ for our collaboration that led to RED, the toolkit, and dissemination of these ideas..." More >>
	Laying the Groundwork to Improve Diagnosis in Health Care Mark L. Graber, M.D., Senior Fellow RTI International "The Agency’s continued support helped to sustain an annual conference series..." More >>
	Leading the Way on Research To Combat Preventable Medical Errors Lucian Leape, M.D. Adjunct Professor of Health Policy "AHRQ funding allowed me to conduct research on adverse events related to use of medications..." More >>
	Making Health Care Safer for Patients Peter Pronovost, M.D., Ph.D. Director of the Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality Senior Vice President for Patient Safety and Quality Practicing Critical Care Physician "If you want a [return] on our basic and clinical investments at NIH, you need AHRQ...'" More >>
	Improving Health Outcomes Karen B. DeSalvo, M.D., M.P.H., M.Sc. Acting Assistant Secretary for Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services "The AHRQ award allowed me to develop the expertise I needed to serve the New Orleans community...'" More >>
	Improving Diagnostic Safety Hardeep Singh, M.D., M.P.H. Associate Professor of Health Services Research, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas "Many senior researchers used to caution me saying, 'Are you sure you want to study this?..'" More >>
	Project ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes) Sanjeev Arora, M.D. Director of Project ECHO, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center "AHRQ funding allowed us to create technology-supported networks of continual learning..." More >>
	Effects of Sleep Loss and Night Work on Patient Safety Christopher P. Landrigan, M.D., M.P.H. Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine Boston Children's Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School "The primary focus of my research is patient safety..." More >>
	Health Plan Choice: Implications for Consumers and Purchasers M. Kate Bundorf, Ph.D., M.B.A., M.P.H. Associate Professor of Health Research and Policy, Stanford University School of Medicine "I'm very interested in how people make decisions…" More >>
	Does Parental Health Insurance Loss Affect Children's Access to Care? Jennifer E. DeVoe, M.D., D.Phil. Professor of Family Medicine, Oregon Health & Sciences University "As a family physician, I’ve seen many patients…" More >>
	Insuring Uninsured Children Glenn Flores, M.D. Distinguished Chair for Health Policy Research, Medica Research Institute "By having the support of AHRQ, I was able to do my research but also mentor future generations of investigators…" More >>