Past Research Projects

Project Description

Gas stoves are a major source of indoor nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), an air pollutant associated with asthma symptoms and exacerbations. This project was designed to reduce indoor air pollution and improve asthma control in disadvantaged communities across Northeast Ohio. The intervention included installation of electric induction ranges, electrical upgrades as needed, provision of induction-compatible cookware, and where appropriate, inspection and installation of ventilation hoods. The project aimed to enroll 1,200 households.

The project was a collaboration between The MetroHealth System and six community organizations and was funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Community Change Grant Program. The project was terminated by the Trump administration approximately 5 months after starting. Prior to the termination, the project recruited 85 individuals with poorly controlled asthma (Asthma Control Questionnaire [ACQ] score ≥1.5) from 72 households who were followed from baseline (1–4 weeks before stove replacement) to follow-up (2–3 months after installation).

Key Findings

Indoor NO₂ levels decreased significantly, from 21.0 parts per billion (ppb) to 6.3 ppb, indicating improved indoor air quality.

Asthma control improved substantially following installation of electric induction stoves. Mean ACQ scores improved from 2.6 at baseline to 1.5 at follow-up, representing a clinically meaningful improvement.

Emergency department visits or hospitalizations for asthma decreased from 11.8% of participants at baseline to 3.5% at follow-up.

Missed work or school due to asthma decreased from 16.5% to 3.5%.

Participants reported very high satisfaction with their new electric induction stoves.

Findings suggest that transitioning from gas to electric cooking may improve asthma outcomes among individuals with poorly controlled asthma, although larger controlled clinical trials are needed to confirm these results.

Manuscript available at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaip.2026.06.039

Principal Investigator(s)

Ashwini R. Sehgal, MD

Co-Investigator(s)

Ther W. Aung, PhD

Maeve G. MacMurdo, MBChB, MPH

Pam Schuellerman, BA

Project Contact

Ashwini R. Sehgal, MD
Email: axs81@case.edu
Date Submitted: July 29, 2026

Project Description

Addressing community health needs with a regional effort between Northeast Ohio Health Systems and CHW training programs, County Pathway HUBs, and other county and community partners. The overall goal of this collaborative effort is to recruit, train, and employee CHWs in urban and rural underserved communities, and increase diversity in the public health workforce.

Goal 1: Expand the public health workforce by training new and existing CHWs and health support workers with specialized training and financial support. We will recruit and train a minimum of 240 trainees over three years.

Goal 2 : Enhance, expand and adapt existing training programs and courses to promote health equity and increase the skills of existing CHWs/HSWs and trainees to respond to public health needs and emergencies with an emphasis on the 10 roles of a CHW from the CHW Core Consensus Project.

Goal 3: Increase employment readiness by partnering with the CHWCBC to provide field placements and apprenticeship programs that will allow CHWS to support the needs of the populations they represent and provide them with employment opportunities that offer competitive salaries and benefits.

Key Findings

290 participants, surpassing our original goal of 240, have successfully completed the program, each receiving comprehensive support that included tuition and stipend assistance, didactic training provided by our educational partners, and hands-on experience through on-site field placements. Building on this momentum, the program has also established a statewide apprenticeship program in partnership with the Greater Cleveland Partnership (GCP), expanding workforce development opportunities across Ohio.

In addition to core training, the program has delivered a robust and growing continuing education (CE) curriculum, consistently drawing between 35 and 90 participants per session. These offerings have been led by a distinguished group of clinical faculty and subject matter experts, covering a broad range of pressing public health topics. Dr. Christina Antenucci facilitated a 4-part series on Substance Use Disorder, while Dr. Eileen Seeholzer led both a 3-part series on Tobacco Cessation Support and a 2-part series on Resiliency. Dr. James Campbell contributed a 3-part series on Aging, and Dr. Shanail Berry presented a session on Healthy Eating as a Family. Rounding out the curriculum, Dr. Susan De Luca delivered a 2-part series on Suicide Prevention, and Dr. Vanessa Ho led a 2-part series on Firearm Injury Recovery. Together, these sessions reflect the program's commitment to building a well-rounded, clinically informed workforce equipped to address the most critical health challenges facing communities today.

A May 2024 alumni survey of 13 graduates from the Kent State University College of Public Health Community Health Worker (CHW) HRSA cohort revealed strong program outcomes across credentialing, employment, competency, and satisfaction. The vast majority of respondents (92%) enrolled as guest students rather than existing KSU degree-seekers, reflecting the program's success in reaching working adults and community members new to higher education. Regarding credentialing, 62% had already applied to the Ohio Board of Nursing for the Certified Community Health Worker credential, with an additional 23% reporting their application was in process — indicating that 85% of respondents were on a credentialing pathway. Alumni reported high levels of readiness across core CHW competencies, with particularly strong confidence in service coordination (67%), interprofessional practice (62%), organizational skills (62%), promotion of healthy lifestyles (62%), and public health practice (62%). Program satisfaction was equally strong, with 77–85% of respondents reporting high satisfaction across all measured dimensions, including internship experience, instruction quality, support for certification, job readiness, and job placement assistance. Notably, 69% of respondents were hired directly at their internship site upon completing the CHW II experience, and 100% of those who sought employment found it within three months, with placements across a range of community-based organizations in Youngstown, Akron, Canton, and surrounding Ohio communities serving populations including children and adolescents, older adults, geographically isolated residents, and racial and ethnic minority communities. Post-program, 50% of alumni remained employed within their current organization, while 17% each became newly employed as a CHW, transitioned to a non-CHW role, or continued in a CHW/HSW position. With 54% of alumni expressing interest in continuing education (CE) to maintain their Ohio certification and a strong preference for hybrid delivery formats (46%), the survey underscores both the program's demonstrated workforce impact and the ongoing demand for structured, accessible professional development opportunities.

Principal Investigator(s)

Aleece Caron, PhD, Katie Davis Bellamy, MSN, RN

Co-Investigator(s)

Ifeolorundbode A. Adebambo, MD
Sonia Alemagno, PhD
Christina Antenucci, MD
James W. Campbell, MD, MS, AGSF
Joseph K. Daprano, MD
Rita Horwitz, RN
Kate Nagel, DrPH, MPH
Alan K. Nevel, MBA
Adam T. Perzynski, PhD
Marquita Rockamore
Mark Rodney, PA-C
Eileen L. Seeholzer, MD, MS
Joan Thoman, PhD
Marie Velez, MPA

Project Contact

Name: Aleece Caron, PD
Email: acaron@metrohealth.org

Date Submitted: 7/24/26

Project Description

Using Latent Variables and Directly Observed Treatment to Improve the Diagnosis and Management of Depression among Hemodialysis Patients

Many hemodialysis patients have depression that is difficult to diagnose and treat. The goal of this project is to develop a screening instrument to improve diagnosis and to test the value of weekly directly observed antidepressant medication in treating depression.

Key Findings

In evaluating psychological distress in hemodialysis patients, structural equation modeling demonstrated minimal overlap between core depressive symptoms and dialysis-related burden, confirming that the standard PHQ-9 is a robust screening tool for this population.

Furthermore, factor analyses revealed that while depression, anxiety, and somatic distress are highly correlated , a bifactor model provided the superior fit. This structure demonstrated that symptoms are unified under a primary "general distress" (internalizing) continuum, while each domain simultaneously retains distinct, unique variance not captured by general distress alone, with subgroup analyses revealing lower self-reported distress among older, male, and Black patients.

Publications

Gunzler DD, Dolata J, Figueroa M, Kauffman K, Pencak J, Sajatovic M, Sehgal AR. Using latent variables to improve the management of depression among hemodialysis patients. Ren Fail. 2024 Dec;46(2):2350767. doi: 10.1080/0886022X.2024.2350767. Epub 2024 Aug 1. PMID: 39091090; PMCID: PMC11299459.

Krishna A, O'Donnell K, Dolata J, Figueroa M, Sajatovic M, Sehgal AR, Gunzler DD. Evaluating the inter-relationships among depression, anxiety and somatic symptoms in haemodialysis patients: a cross-sectional structural equation modelling study. BMJ Open. 2026 Jun 28;16(6):e113939. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2025-113939. PMID: 42366010; PMCID: PMC13311719.

Kauffman KM, Dolata J, Figueroa M, Gunzler D, Huml A, Pencak J, Sajatovic M, Sehgal AR. Directly Observed Weekly Fluoxetine for Major Depressive Disorder Among Hemodialysis Patients: A Single-Arm Feasibility Trial. Kidney Med. 2022 Jan 17;4(3):100413. doi: 10.1016/j.xkme.2022.100413. PMID: 35386606; PMCID: PMC8978139.

Kauffman KM, Dolata J, Figueroa M, Gunzler D, Huml A, Pencak J, Sehgal AR, Sajatovic M. Higher dose weekly fluoxetine in hemodialysis patients: A case series report. Int J Psychiatry Med. 2021 Jan;56(1):3-13. doi: 10.1177/0091217420913399. Epub 2020 Mar 26. PMID: 32216496; PMCID: PMC7529646.

Gunzler D, Sehgal AR, Kauffman K, Davey CH, Dolata J, Figueroa M, Huml A, Pencak J, Sajatovic M. Identify depressive phenotypes by applying RDOC domains to the PHQ-9. Psychiatry Res. 2020 Apr;286:112872. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2020.112872. Epub 2020 Feb 19. PMID: 32151848; PMCID: PMC7434666.

Principal Investigators

Ashwini Sehgal, MD
Douglas Gunzler, PhD

Project Coordinator

Jacqueline Dolata, MBA

Co-Investigators

Jeffrey Albert, PhD
Martha Sajatovic, MD

Project Contact

Ashwini Sehgal, MD
axs81@case.edu

Project Description

Using trauma registry data from 5 Spinal Cord Injury Model Systems (SCIMS) and the corresponding SCI National Database to develop a probabilistic matching algorithm.

Key Findings

The probabilistic algorithm identified 65 of the 91 true-match records (sensitivity, 71.4%) with a positive predictive value (PPV) of 80.2%. The algorithm was validated over 282 SCIMS-trauma pairs across 127 clusters and had a sensitivity of 73.7% and PPV of 81.1%. Post hoc analysis shows the addition of injury date and zip code improved the specificity from 57.9% to 94.7%. The value in matching patient data from different data sources is that these datasets provide population health researchers the ability to better understand the determinants of health outcomes. Insights gained from these datasets can drive interventions to reduce health disparities.

Key Findings

Cardi-OH’s ECHO Clinics and evidence-based library has built primary care capacity to manage cardiovascular conditions for Medicaid enrollees.

The Cardi-OH ECHO QI Series has further demonstrated successful improvement in cardiovascular outcomes and quality improvement coaching skills.

Cardi-OH has successfully reached and engaged thousands of primary care team members using multiple dissemination modalities.

See more at: Publications & Presentations | Cardi-OH | Improving Cardiovascular and Diabetes Outcomes for Ohio Medicaid

Principal Investigators

Michael W. Konstan MD
Shari Bolen, MD, MPH

Site PIs at Ohio’s 6 other medical schools (www.cardi-OH.org)

Co-Investigators

Over 50 experts from across Ohio (www.cardi-OH.org)
Other collaborators on this project exist within the other 6 medical schools across Ohio, Ohio Colleges of Medicine Government Resource Center and Ohio Department of Medicaid.

Project Contact

Ann Nevar, MPH
info@cardio.org

Project Description

Persistent chest wall pain and shoulder mobility limitations are common complications following breast cancer surgery and can significantly affect survivors' physical function and quality of life. This randomized controlled trial evaluated the effectiveness of myofascial massage in improving pain, mobility, tissue characteristics, shoulder function, and quality of life among women experiencing moderate to severe pain or mobility limitations 3 - 24 months after breast cancer surgery.

A total of 132 participants were recruited from a community-based cancer support organization and randomly assigned to receive either myofascial massage or a light-touch control intervention. Participants in both groups received two 30-minute treatment sessions per week for eight weeks targeting the affected breast, chest, and shoulder. Primary outcomes included changes in the Shoulder Pain and Disability Index (SPADI) and quality of life, while secondary outcomes assessed tissue pain sensitivity, tissue flexibility, shoulder range of motion, and hand grip strength.

The study examined both the short-term and long-term effects of myofascial massage to determine its potential role in improving recovery and functional outcomes after breast cancer surgery.

Key Findings

Participants in both the myofascial massage and light-touch control groups experienced significant improvements in pain and shoulder function after 8 weeks of treatment.

Myofascial massage resulted in a greater improvement in Shoulder Pain and Disability Index (SPADI) total scores than the light-touch control, with an average additional improvement of 8.9 points (95% CI, 1.8 - 15.9).

Both groups demonstrated similar improvements in shoulder range of motion, hand grip strength, and overall quality of life.

No significant changes were observed in tissue pain sensitivity or tissue flexibility in either group.

At the 12-month follow-up, there were no significant differences between the myofascial massage and light-touch groups for pain, mobility, or any secondary outcomes.

These findings suggest that myofascial massage provides modest short-term improvements in self-reported pain and mobility limitations following breast cancer surgery but does not confer sustained long-term benefits beyond one year.

Principal Investigator

Ashwini Sehgal, MD

Co-Investigator(s

N/A

Research Impact

The study manuscript has been accepted for publication in the International Journal of Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork (IJTMB).

Authors: Jacqueline Dolata, Lisa Ackim, Kimberly Adams, Jeffrey Albert, Joshua Beltran, Tosalyn Garrett, Jeanne Massingill, Jennifer Milolic, Elodie Nonguierma, Jess Powers, Darerian Schueller, Richard Wilson, and Ashwini Sehgal.

Project Description

Implementing a Peer Mentorship program for persons with traumatic Spinal Cord Injury in the acute hospital stay through community re-integration. It is expected that this project will reduce the anxiety and depression persons with SCI and their families experience initially and provide emotional support that can improve patient’s social psychological well-being .

Funding Agency

National Institute on Disability, Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research

Key Early Findings (if available)

None

Principal Investigator

Mary Joan Roach, PhD

Project Contact

Mary Joan Roach, PhD
mroach@metrohealth.org

Project Description

Overview: The goal of our work is to optimize job satisfaction and retention rates, strengthen the primary care workforce and reduce burnout, and recruit new providers to urban underserved primary care sites.

Goals and Objectives: This proposal has 4 specific aims emphasizing content and skills critical to current and future primary care team members that provide care for an underserved population. These aims are:

improving care of the underserved with training in social, political, economic, cultural, legal and ethical theories with a central focus on reducing health disparities;
improving knowledge and skills in practice transformation with specific emphasis on (a) quality improvement (QI) training and application of QI methods, (b) leadership training, including the development of a business case for practice transformation, c) improving data literacy of healthcare teams, and (d) patient centered care;
applying the training outlined above by mentoring practice teams, along with their identified primary care champion trainee, to identify, design, implement and evaluate a practice transformation project, and
enhancing teaching skills by providing mentoring of learners to teach the topics outlined above.

Key Early Findings (if available)

None

Principal Investigators

Aleece Caron, PhD

Co-Investigators

Christina Antenucci, MD
Nathan Beachy, MD
James Campbell, MD
Cynthia Lord, PA
Adam Perzynski, MD

Project Contact

Aleece Caron, PhD
acaron@metrohealth.org

Project Description

The REACH grant is funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. This project will help to advance work that was initiated in 2007, with significant progress made during the first REACH grant cycle (2014-2018) in the areas of healthy eating, active living, and clinical and community linkages.

The Cuyahoga County Board of Health leads this regional initiative as part of their regional health collaborative called Health Improvement Partnership (HIP)-Cuyahoga. HIP-Cuyahoga hopes to improve healthy food access, physical activity and active transportation opportunities, increase breastfeeding supports, and increase the use of community and health support programs among African Americans in Cuyahoga County. Better Health Partnership in conjunction with PHRI’s Center for Health Care Research and Policy and United Way 2-1-1 HelpLink (UW 2-1-1) lead a project at several clinics linking children with overweight/obesity and/or asthma as well as adults with uncontrolled blood pressure to community resources for self-management and social needs with the ultimate goal of improving health outcomes.

Key Findings

Since the program began, 161 adults with hypertension and 215 children with asthma and/or overweight/obesity have been given a referral to UW 2-1-1. The top three areas of need include: physical activity and recreation, food/meals, and self-management resources. Among the 178 patients reached by UW 2-1-1, 162 clients were given referrals to over 200 community agencies. Of the 162 clients given referrals, 134 (82.7%) clients have at least one need in progress or resolved.

Here are some stories of patients helped by the program:

One mom (Ms. R) was concerned because there was mold and pest issues after plumbing leaks in their rental. The plumbing was eventually fixed but the landlord didn’t correct the damage which was causing the mold and pest issues. UW 2-1-1 referred Ms. R to some resources on tenant rights/legal assistance, as well as resources on mold/pest information and inspection. She also wanted information on fresh food distributions. Ms. R. was very thankful for the resources.
When circumstances get tough, Mr. W has a go-to phone number that he got in a visit to MetroHealth’s J Glen Smith clinic. When he calls Katie at UW 2-1-1 she helps him find resources he needs in the community, including food pantries and fresh produce markets. Katie also calls him every couple of weeks to check in on him. “Katie has been such a jewel,” said Mr. W. “She’s always trying to find programs that can help me. And when you call her, she calls you back.”

See publication for more details: The Impact of a Bidirectional Clinic to Community... : Medical Care

Principal Investigators

Cuyahoga County Board of Health
Martha Halko, MS, RD, LD

Clinic to Community Linkages Project Leads
Shari Bolen MD, MPH
Jonathan Lever, MPH, NRP

Funded partners on this grant include:

The Cuyahoga County Board of Health,
A Vision of Change
Better Health Partnership
Bike Cleveland
Case Western Reserve University (the Center for Community Health Integration and the Prevention Research Center for Healthy Neighborhoods)
Cleveland State University School of Nursing
Fairhill Partners
Neighborhood Family Practice
United Way of Greater Cleveland

Contact for the Clinic to Community Linkage project

Jonathan Lever, MPH, NRP
jlever@metrohealth.org

Project Description

Every 10 minutes one person dies by suicide in the US, a result of a public health epidemic that has increased over the last 15 years and incurred over $70 billion in medical costs and lost productivity.

A common lamentation in the wake of suicide is, “If we had only known how bad things were.” A crucial scientific gap in suicide prevention stems from the majority of suicide research relying on individual psychopathology, largely overlooking meaningful constellations of risk in a broader context of social environmental life disruptions that commonly precede suicide.

Job loss, financial strain, divorce, legal problems, housing instability – these life disruptions can be semaphores of despair that are misinterpreted as coincidental rather than causal; thus overlooked as points for timely detection and intervention. I propose a paradigm shift in suicide research by prioritizing social determinants to develop public health research and prevention through broad, but strategic, partnerships with industries outside of mental health and health care, including the specific industries of family law, mortgage foreclosure, and unemployment services.

This proposal uses a two- pronged approach that ventures beyond traditional funding mechanisms by challenging what we typically consider to be “health” vs. “non-health”-related suicide prevention research and intervention.
First, by taking the tested methodology of psychological autopsy and reinventing it as a social autopsy, we will dive deeply both into the nature of life disruptions that often precede suicide and the contacts with non-medical services that a suicide decedent may have made prior to their death.

Second, by surveying and interviewing employees of industries that commonly deal with life disruptions (i.e., divorce, mortgage foreclosure, and job loss), we will explore their experiences with suicidal clients, such as occupational wisdom and intuition around warning signs among clients, training around suicide prevention, knowledge about suicide, and approaches they may have used when working with clients in distress.

Seeking unconventional upstream strategies to identify and reach people at risk for suicide is all the more urgent against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, which created historic job loss, relationship strain, and increased potential of mortgage foreclosures. As a researcher trained in public health sciences, I investigate the social production of health problems, exemplified in my focus of how social determinants contribute to poor mental health, suicidal ideation, and suicide attempt.

My perspective, coupled with extensive experience in survey data research and efforts in training medicolegal death investigators, uniquely qualify me to successfully implement these novel approaches to change suicide risk detection and prevention. True integration of social determinants into suicide prevention research requires rethinking the problem of suicide as solely a clinical mental health problem requiring clinical solutions, to suicide as a problem at a social and clinical nexus, thus necessitating both social and clinical solutions.

Key Findings

The results of this research provided evidence for a novel concept of “industries of disruption” for inclusion in the public health approach to suicide prevention.

Some selected findings showed that family law attorneys are highly exposed to suicide, with up to 40% indicating that at some point in their careers they had a client die from suicide; this exposure went up to 50% when including having the opposing counsel’s client die from suicide.

Qualitative findings from bankruptcy attorneys, people who work in the housing sector, and frontline staff in the self-storage industry illustrated a consonance in themes, i.e., that the clients they work with daily are facing intense social and psychological stress due to life disruptions.

This research provides the epidemiologic basis for crafting future intervention and implementation studies to expedite suicide prevention gatekeeper training to professionals in “industries of disruption”.

Principal Investigators

John Blosnich, MPH, PhD (PI: USC)

Co-Investigators

Susan De Luca, MSW, PhD

Project Contact

John Blosnich, MPH, PhD (PI: USC)
Email: blosnich@usc.edu

Project Description

Ohio has one of the highest rates of morbidity and mortality for people with high blood pressure, high cholesterol and for people who smoke. The Agency for Health Care Research and Policy has funded a Heart Healthy Ohio Initiative to expand a statewide Ohio cardiovascular health collaborative (Cardi-OH) to improve cardiovascular health and reduce cardiovascular disparities for all Ohioans. To do this, we will work with primary care teams, patients and families and other partners to develop a heart healthy intervention that primary care clinics in Ohio can use to improve care and reduce disparities for patients with high blood pressure, high cholesterol and who smoke.

Key Findings

BP control improved from 67.7% to 70.7% post-intervention. Greater improvements were observed among rural and uninsured patients (> 6%) compared to smaller gains among Medicaid enrollees, younger patients, and women (~ 2%). Smoking cessation measures were maintained or declined by ~ 2%, although only five sites actively addressed smoking cessation.

Clinics engaged in a statewide quality improvement consortium with the highest and lowest improvement in hypertension control rates identified similar structural facilitators and barriers but differed in how they responded.

Although common barriers included staff challenges, internal barriers, and competing priorities, blood pressure improvement can be fostered by quality improvement coaching, data monitoring, regular team meetings, use of shared resources, and a commitment to quality improvement.

Understanding practices' proactive or reactive approaches may be helpful in tailoring improvement strategies and the intensity of coaching.

See more details in the below publications:

Heart Healthy Ohio Initiative: A Statewide Cooperative to Improve Cardiovascular Risk - PMC

Factors Influencing Quality Improvement Success in Primary Care: A Comparative Case Study of High‐ and Low‐Performing Sites in Patient Hypertension Outcomes | Journal of the American Heart Association

Principal Investigators

Shari Bolen MD, MPH [MetroHealth/Case Western Reserve University (CWRU)]
Aleece Caron, PhD (MetroHealth/CWRU)
Saundra Regan, PhD (UC)
Randell Wexler MD, MPH (OSU)

Collaborating Organizations

Ohio State University (OSU)
University of Cincinnati (UC)
The Health Collaborative
The Healthcare Collaborative of Greater Columbus
Better Health Partnership
Ohio Academy of Family Physicians
Ohio Association of Community Health Centers

Stakeholders

American Heart Association
CVS Health, Minute Clinic
Health Action Council
IPRO
National Association of Community Health Workers - Ohio Ambassador -
Ohio Academy Of Nutrition and Dietetics
Ohio Association of Physician Assistants
Ohio Association of Health Plans
Ohio Chapter of the American College of Physicians
Ohio Department of Medicaid
Ohio Department of Health
Ohio Nurses Association
Ohio Pharmacists Association
Quality and Safety Education for Nurses Institute

Project Contact

Stephanie Kanuch, MEd skanuch@metrohealth.org
Catherine Sullivan, RD csullivan1@metrohealth.org

Project Description

The goal of our work is to optimize primary care faculty and trainee academic productivity, job satisfaction, and retention rates in a large, urban safety-net hospital with 14 community-based practice sites. Within that frame, we describe specific goals in our work toward patient centeredness, integrating systems of care, quality improvement, clinical teaching and mentoring, and the elimination of health disparities. This proposal has 5 specific aims to develop scholarship in primary care with emphasis on areas critical to the faculty and residents that provide care for an underserved population. These aims are:

Care of the underserved: a formal curriculum reviewing social, political, economic, cultural, legal and ethical theories related to disparities in general, with a central focus on health disparities;
Teaching: a formal curriculum to facilitate faculty who are already active in teaching to improve teaching skills and gain skills in program development and teaching evaluation;
Quality Improvement: a formal curriculum for faculty and residents to gain skills necessary to improve systems of care and function in multidisciplinary teams;
Core content expertise development and enhancement in three areas important to caring for vulnerable populations; and
Improve academic productivity for faculty through protected time and mentorship to allow faculty who are clinically active and community-based to pursue scholarship.

This collaborative program will be offered to faculty and trainees in family medicine, geriatrics, general internal medicine, general pediatrics, internal medicine/pediatrics, and obstetrics/gynecology. Faculty will have 10% protected time to participate for two years and residents will participate during years 2 and 3 of their training. Each participant will:

Complete all 5 cores listed above;
Complete individualized development plans in teaching skills;
Complete a Quality Improvement project;
Complete a Health Disparities Case Narrative; and
Complete a personalized philosophy of teaching plan.

Faculty will receive individualized mentoring, develop long- and short-term career goals with measurable outcomes, and work with the project team and their residency programs to establish a robust, formal mentoring program for their specialty.

Key Findings

The program fostered significant personal and professional growth, enhanced patient-centered care, and strengthened leadership skills.

Participants reported a shift toward a culture of continuous quality improvement, greater knowledge of health systems, and improved understanding of social determinants of health. These outcomes not only underscore the program’s potential to revitalize primary care but also highlight its role in addressing burnout and retention challenges.

Principal Investigators

Aleece Caron, PhD

Co-Investigators

Bode Adebambo, MD
Nathan Beachy, MD
James Campbell, MD
Doug Einstadter, MD
Adam Perzynski, PhD
Eileen Seeholzer, MD

Project Contact

Aleece Caron, PhD
acaron@metrohealth.org

Past Research Projects

Asthma control before and after changing gas stoves to electric stoves

Project Description

Key Findings

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Community Health Worker Capacity Building Collaborative (CHWCBC)

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Depression among Hemodialysis Patients

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Publications

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Project Coordinator

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Development and Validation of Probabilistic Matching Algorithm

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Key Findings

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Contact for this project

Development of the Pressure Relief Spine Board

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Key Findings

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Principal Investigators

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MEDTAPP Diabetes Quality Improvement Project

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Key Early Findings (if available)

Principal Investigators

Co-Investigators (alphabetical listing by last name):

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MEDTAPP Hypertension Quality Improvement Project

Project Description

Key Early Findings (if available)

Principal Investigators

Co-Investigators (alphabetical listing by last name)

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Ohio Cardiovascular and Diabetes Health Collaborative (Cardi-OH)

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Key Findings

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Pain and Immobility After Breast Cancer Surgery

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Key Findings

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Peer Mentorship for Persons with Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) from Acute through Community Integration

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Funding Agency

Key Early Findings (if available)

Principal Investigator

Project Contact

Primary Care Training and Enhancement

Project Description

Key Early Findings (if available)

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Co-Investigators

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Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH)

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Key Findings

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Contact for the Clinic to Community Linkage project

Shifting Suicide Prevention Paradigms: Looking Beyond Clinical Settings

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