VA Office of Research and Development, Health Services Research and Development Service 1

VA Appoints New 

Chief of Research

Joel Kupersmith, MD, has been appointed VA’s new

Chief Research and Development Officer (CRADO)

effective May 31, 2005. Dr. Kupersmith will oversee

the Office of Research and Development’s (ORD)

four research and development services: biomedical

laboratory, clinical science, rehabilitation, and health

services. He also will set VA research priorities and

manage all aspects of the national research program

with a budget of over $400 million, supporting the

veteran-focused research of more than 3,000 investigators at over 115

VA facilities across the country.

A Navy veteran, Dr. Kupersmith is a graduate of New York Medical

College, where he completed his clinical training in internal medicine.

Subsequently, he completed cardiology training at Beth Israel Medical

Center/Harvard Medical School. Most recently, Dr. Kupersmith was

Dean of the School of Medicine and Graduate School of Biomedical

Sciences, Vice President for Clinical Affairs at Texas Tech University,

and CEO of the Faculty Practice. 

Dr. Kupersmith is a Scholar-in-Residence at both the Institute of

Medicine and the Association of American Medical Colleges. In 

these roles he has completed projects and published papers on a

number of health and research policy topics including how to fund,

oversee, and promote effectiveness research; how Academic Medical

Centers should be accountable; quality of care in teaching hospitals;

regional IRBs; medical manpower; and other issues.

In addition to 150 publications, he has authored two books on

electrophysiology and the management of heart disease, respectively.

His research interests include the causes and treatment of heart

rhythm abnormalities, as well as the cost-effectiveness of heart disease

treatments and outcomes following heart attacks. Most recently his

work has focused on health policy issues. 

Dr. Kupersmith brings a breadth of talent, expertise, and enthusiasm 

to his new position as CRADO. On behalf of HSR&D, we welcome

him and look forward to working together toward the continuous

improvement of our research organization. 

In This Issue

VA Appoints New 

Chief of Research Page 1

Cyber Seminar Anyone? Page 2

New Online Journal for 

Implementation Science Page 2

HSR&D Investigator Receives

Presidential Award Page 3

HSR&D Investigators Receive 

AcademyHealth Awards Page 3

HSR&D Announces FY 06 

Research Priorities Page 4

Recap of HSR&D 

National Meeting 2005 Page 5

Research Highlights Page 5

New Career 

Development Awardees Page 6

New Merit Review 

Entry Program Awardees Page 7

Newly Funded 

Research Projects Page 7

T ranslating

R esearch

into Practice

Continued on page 2

Vol. 3, No. 2 June 2005
2 VA Office of Research and Development, Health Services Research and Development Service

HSR&D Research Briefs JUNE 

All of us in HSR&D also extend our sincere thanks to

Stephan Fihn, MD, MPH, who has provided wonderful

leadership as Acting Chief Research and Development

Officer over the past 11 months. On June 1st, Dr. Fihn

was presented with the VHA Exemplary Service Award

by Under Secretary for Health Jonathan Perlin, MD,

PhD, in recognition of his achievements and contribution to VA research and veterans health care during

his tenure as Acting CRADO. Dr. Fihn has returned to

Seattle, where he will continue to serve as Director 

of HSR&D’s Northwest Center for Outcomes Research

in Older Adults, and Research Coordinator for the

Ischemic Heart Disease QUERI (Quality Enhancement

Research Initiative) group. 

Shirley Meehan, PhD, MBA

Acting Director, HSR&D

Cyber Seminar Anyone?

HSR&D’s new cyber seminar program is making a

big splash with investigators. HSR&D Resource

Centers – Health Economics Resource Center

(HERC), Measurement Excellence and Training

Resource Information Center (METRIC), VA Information Resource Center (VIReC), and the Center for

Information Dissemination and Education Resources

(CIDER) have been busy developing initial seminar

topics and content. Cyber seminars employ state-ofthe art web-based conferencing technology that

enables dynamic interaction among presenters and

seminar participants from one’s desktop. This allows

participants to benefit from interactive demonstrations and discussions in real time. In addition,

archived versions of seminars are available on the

web for viewing on demand.

HERC staff and invited experts are presenting

sessions on current health economics research and

methodology. Beginning in early March 2005,

HERC offered a 15-week Health Economics Course

covering topics such as: cost measurement, VA and

non-VA cost and utilization data sources, methods of

economic evaluation, modeling and measurement of

health care outcomes, and patient utilities. This

course continues to meet for an hour and a half on

alternate Wednesdays.

VIReC staff offer one-hour seminars on topics that

include an overview of the VA databases for

research; the VA pharmacy databases and research

applications; VA-Medicare datasets for research; risk

adjustment; and the Health Data Repository. These

courses began in April, 2005 and will be held every

two months.

METRIC staff are working to create archived presentations on a number of topics such as modifying existing instruments, deciding how often to measure,

interpreting clinically significant differences, and the

science of self-report. These will be available in

early summer. 

CIDER staff work with HSR&D Resource Center

Directors and staff to create and produce the catalog

of cyber seminars. From January through September

2005, the Resource Centers have scheduled a total

of 30 live cyber seminar sessions. CIDER staff also

are working with QUERI, other HSR&D researchers,

and VA managers to develop new and exciting cyber

seminar topics and meetings. 

For more information about cyber seminars and to

view the online catalog of seminars, please visit

www.hsrd.research.va.gov/for_researchers/cyber_

seminars/or contact CIDER’s Education Specialist,

Laurel Long, at laurel.long@med.va.gov.

New Online Journal for

Implementation Science

In recent months, implementation researchers from

VA’s Quality Enhancement Research Initiative

(QUERI), and elsewhere, have increasingly

New Chief

Continued from page 1

VA HSR&D Research Briefs is a biannual publication of

the Office of Research and Development’s Health Services

Research and Development Service. Each issue will

provide summary information about recently completed

research projects and publications, as well as descriptions

of new initiatives, solicitations, newly funded studies and

other items of interest to a broad VA audience. For more

information or to provide us with your questions or

suggestions, please contact:

Geraldine McGlynn, Director

Center for Information Dissemination & Education Resources

Boston VA Healthcare System, 150 South Huntington Ave

Boston, MA 02130-4893

Phone: (857) 364-6073• FAX: (857) 364-4511

E-mail: geraldine.mcglynn@med.va.gov 

VA HSR&D Research Briefs is available on the Internet at

www.hsrd.research.va.gov or Intranet at

vaww.hsrd.research.va.gov
VA Office of Research and Development, Health Services Research and Development Service 3

2005 HSR&D Research Briefs

recognized the lack of dedicated conferences and

journals for the exchange of information about implementation research. A new online journal will fill

this gap. The new journal will focus on implementation research – the study of methods to promote

the uptake of evidence-based clinical practices and

research findings into routine practice. 

Tentatively titled “Implementation Science”, the

journal will complement existing journals serving

the healthcare quality improvement (QI) and implementation fields by focusing on core research

problems and issues. The journal will be published

as an online, open-access journal through BioMed

Central (www.biomedcentral.com), which will

allow for rapid publication and dissemination, as

well as full access by implementation researchers,

prac-titioners, and policy audiences worldwide.

The journal’s planning group includes representatives from VA, the Agency for Healthcare Research

and Quality, and other research institutions in the

United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Norway,

and the Netherlands.

To learn more about the journal and to provide input

into its development, visit www.hsrd.research.va.gov/

for_researchers/journal-about.cfm. For those interested in contributing as editors, please contact Dr.

Brian Mittman at brian.mittman@med.va.gov. 

HSR&D Investigator Receives

Presidential Award

Kevin Volpp, MD, PhD, received the Presidential Early

Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE)

on June 13, 2005. The PECASE program was established in 1996 to recognize outstanding scientists and

engineers who, early in their careers, show exceptional potential for leadership in the frontiers of scientific knowledge. It is the highest honor bestowed by

the U.S. government on scientists and engineers

beginning their careers. Eight federal departments

and agencies annually nominate scientists and

engineers whose work shows the greatest promise.

Participating agencies, such as the Department of

Veterans Affairs, Department of Defense, and National

Science Foundation, award these scientists and engineers with up to five years of funding to further their

research in support of critical government missions.

Dr. Volpp is part of HSR&D’s Center for Health Equity

Research and Promotion (CHERP) located in

Philadelphia/Pittsburgh. Dr. Volpp’s particular

research interests include health economics and

financial incentives, delivery of health care, as well 

as racial disparities in health outcomes. A few of Dr.

Volpp’s current HSR&D studies focus on estimating

racial disparities in 30-day mortality among patients

treated in VA hospitals compared with disparities

among similar patients treated in non-VA hospitals,

and determining whether modest financial incentives

increase the rate of smoking cessation program

enrollment, completion, and quit rates among

veterans who smoke.

HSR&D Investigators

Receive AcademyHealth

Awards

Three VA HSR&D investigators were honored at this

year’s AcademyHealth Annual Meeting held June 26-

28 in Boston. AcademyHealth is the largest professional society of health services researchers, so it is a

great honor to these investigators and to VA in general

to be so well represented. Award winners are: 

Katrina Armstrong, MD, an investigator with

HSR&D’s Center for Health Equity Research and

Promotion (CHERP), who will receive the Alice S.

Hersh New Investigator Award that recognizes

scholars early in their careers as health services

researchers who show exceptional promise for future

contributions. Dr. Armstrong’s research focuses on

health equity and medical decision-making.

Rachel Werner, MD, PhD, another CHERP

investigator, will receive the Dissertation Award

that honors an outstanding scientific contribution

from a doctoral thesis in health services research.

Dr. Werner’s dissertation examines whether

publicly reporting information about health care

providers’ quality improves patient care, or

whether quality report cards might cause some

providers to avoid patients they perceive to be at

high risk for poor outcomes.

Mark Meterko, PhD, from HSR&D’s Center for

Organization, Leadership, and Management

Research (COLMR), will receive the award for Best

Abstract. Dr. Meterko’s abstract, titled “Civility

Among Healthcare Employees: The Impact on

Patients,” discusses a study that measured workplace

civility among a large group of healthcare staff, and

explored its relationship to patient satisfaction.
4 VA Office of Research and Development, Health Services Research and Development Service

HSR&D Research Briefs JUNE 

Results suggest that general civility and cooperation

among employees may have a strong, positive “spillover effect” on patients in a health-care setting.

In addition to these awards, almost 40 VA investigators were presenters or chaired sessions at the meeting.

HSR&D Announces FY 06

Research Priorities

HSR&D recently released a new solicitation

identifying the priorities for investigator-initiated

research through fiscal year 2006 (see solicitation on

web at www.va.gov/resdev/funding/solicitations/

docs/HSRD_Priorities_2006.pdf. VA health services

research focuses on understanding how to organize,

deliver, and finance health care to meet the complex

and evolving needs of veterans. It emphasizes

research that has practical applications for patients,

health care providers, managers, and policy makers.

The newly emphasized priority areas specifically

address issues of importance to veterans and were

developed by HSR&D portfolio managers in

consultation with field based science advisors and

senior VA leaders. Proposals submitted in response to

the veteran-focused areas in the new solicitation that

receive fundable merit review scores will be given

priority funding consideration. Priority areas include:

Equity

Patients, providers, health care facilities, and health

care systems may all contribute to ethnic minority

health care disparities. Studies aimed at these and

other sources to develop and evaluate interventions

to reduce disparities and promote equitable health

care services for all veterans are the focus of this

area. For questions regarding this topic area,

contact Rachel Evans, MPA, at rachel.evans@va.gov

or (202) 254-0133. 

Implementation

The development of conceptual, methodological,

and technical groundwork to help build a solid

foundation for implementing evidence-based clinical

practice within VA is the goal of this priority area.

Projects will identify tools, processes, data, methodologies, and other resources needed to enhance 

the health of veterans and influence practice and

access to care. For questions regarding this topic

area, contact Caryn Cohen, MS, at

caryn.cohen@va.gov or (202) 254-0218. 

Mental Health

This priority area will focus on improving the

continuum of care for substance use disorders,

improving earlier identification and treatment of

post-traumatic stress disorders, and implementing

recovery-oriented treatment approaches, particularly evidence-based programs and peer support

services. For questions regarding this topic area,

contact Martha Bryan, EdD, at martha.bryan@

va.gov or (202) 245-0251. 

Long-Term Care

The population of veterans 85 years old and older

(those most in need of nursing home care) is expected

to increase to more than 1 million by 2012 and to

remain at that level into the next decade. This area

will focus on the assessment and improvement of

the long-term care that VA provides or oversees,

such as the ability to respond to changes in patients’

health and functioning, locus of care, and mix of

services. For questions about this topic, contact

Pauline Sieverding, PhD, at pauline.sieverding@

va.gov or (202) 254-0249.

Women’s Health

Assessment of the needs of women veterans and

evaluation of models of care to meet those needs

have been identified as key health services research

priorities. Chronic illness, including physical, reproductive, and mental health conditions, as well as the

degree of comorbid disease burden among women

veterans are priority research areas. For questions

about this topic, contact Linda Lipson, MA, at

linda.lipson@va.gov or (202) 254-0231.

Research Methodology

Projects in this area will work toward advancing the

process of quality improvement by developing and

testing innovative methodological approaches for

identifying sources of variation in the adoption of

change. Approaches will capture formative information on structure and process factors that enable

change and build this information into quantitative

analysis. For questions about this topic area, contact

Christine Elnitsky, PhD, at christine.elnitsky@va.gov

or (202) 254-0199.

For more information about this and other HSR&D

and ORD solicitations, visit the HSR&D web site at:

www.hsrd.research.va.gov/for_researchers/funding

/solicitations/.
VA Office of Research and Development, Health Services Research and Development Service 5

2005 HSR&D Research Briefs

Recap of HSR&D National 

Meeting 2005

“Improving Care for Veterans with Chronic Illnesses”

was the theme of this year’s VA HSR&D National

Meeting, held in Baltimore, MD in February. During

the course of HSR&D’s 23rd national meeting, more

than 500 researchers, clinicians, and policy makers

participated in plenary sessions, exhibits, workshops,

and a poster session – all focusing on how to provide

the best and most cost-effective health care for

veterans living with chronic illnesses.

Hosted by HSR&D’s Center for Quality of Care and

Utilization Studies (Houston, TX), the conference

addressed numerous health care issues surrounding

improving quality of care for chronic illnesses such

as: chronic care models; patient-centered care;

performance measurement systems; clinical

guidelines; physician-patient communication; and

implementing research findings into practice.

Researchers also addressed many chronic diseases

and conditions that affect veterans, including HIV,

post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), diabetes,

chronic viral hepatitis, and heart disease.

For highlights of the meeting, including the

presentation of the 2005 Under Secretary’s Award for

Outstanding Achievement in Health Services

Research to Rodney Hayward, MD, please visit the

HSR&D web site at www.hsrd.research.va.gov/

about/national_meeting/2005/.

2006 Meeting Planned

The next HSR&D National Meeting, hosted by the

Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion

(Philadelphia/Pittsburgh), is tentatively scheduled 

for February 2006, in Washington, DC. The theme

for the meeting is “Implementing Equity: Making

Research Work for Diverse Veteran Populations” 

and a call for abstracts will be released this summer.

Look for information on the web at www.hsrd.

research.va.gov/ about/national_meeting/.

Research Highlights

High-Risk Veterans Benefit from 

Cardioverter-Defibrillators

A recent article reports that veterans identified as

high risk (those with pre-existing clinical heart

failure and ischemic heart disease) who received

implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) had

significantly lower all-cause and cardiovascular

mortality at three years. Findings suggest that in this

population one death is prevented over a 3-year

period for every 4-5 patients receiving a defibrillator.

Sudden cardiac death is responsible for 50% of all

cardiovascular deaths. Until recently, the prevention

of sudden cardiac death in high-risk populations has

involved the use of anti-arrhythmic agents, with

mixed results. While randomized prevention trials

have shown that ICDs confer a survival benefit to

high-risk patients, it was unclear whether these

benefits were generalizable to the larger population,

outside the strictly controlled setting of a trial.

Findings from this study suggest that the dramatic

benefits found in prevention trials can be extended

to high-risk veterans in routine practice with

appropriate attention to patient selection.

Chan PS, Hayward RA. Mortality reduction by

implantable cardioverter-defibrillators in high-risk

patients with heart failure, ischemic heart disease,

and new-onset ventricular arrhythmia: an

effectiveness study. Journal of the American

College of Cardiology 2005 May 3;45(9):1474-81.

Collaborative Care Results in Better

Outcomes for Depression in Patients With

and Without Comorbid Anxiety and PTSD

In a study of 1,801 depressed older adults,

collaborative care was found to be more effective

than usual care for participants both with and

without comorbid anxiety disorder and PTSD. Those

without a comorbid anxiety disorder who received

collaborative care had early and lasting improvements in depression compared to those in usual

care, both in terms of overall symptom severity and

rates of improvement, while participants with

comorbid anxiety showed similar outcomes.

Participants with PTSD had a more delayed

treatment response, requiring 12 months of

intervention to show significant treatment effects

over PTSD patients receiving usual care. 

This article reports on data analysis from Project

IMPACT (Improving Mood-Promoting Access to

Collaborative Treatment), a randomized controlled

trial of collaborative care management of

depression. Patients in the intervention group

received depression care management from a nurse

or psychologist working collaboratively with their

primary care physician for up to 12 months.

Investigators suggest that proactive monitoring of

anxiety symptoms along with depression and

proactive engagement of PTSD patients who may be
6 VA Office of Research and Development, Health Services Research and Development Service

HSR&D Research Briefs JUNE 

LC, Holodniy M, Owens DK. Cost-effectiveness of

screening for HIV in the era of highly active

antiretroviral therapy. New England Journal of

Medicine 2005 Feb 10;352(6):570-85.

New Career 

Development Awardees

HSR&D Career Development Awards provide VA

clinician researchers with full salary support to

enable them to pursue health services research

training and experience, with minimal clinical

responsibilities, and under the guidance of an

experienced mentor. Congratulations to the most

recent awardees, listed below along with their

locations and areas of research interest to be pursued

through their award. For more information about this

program and for awardee biosketches, visit the

HSR&D web site at www.hsrd.research.va.gov/

for_researchers/professional_development/.

Research Career Development Awardees

David Arterburn, MD, MPH

Cincinnati VAMC

Understanding Preferences and Healthcare 

Costs in Patients with Obesity

Steven K. Dobscha, MD

Portland VAMC

Co-Occuring Psychiatric and Substance Abuse

Disorders in Primary Care

Drew A. Helmer, MD, MS

VA New Jersey Health Care System

Provider Effect on Outpatient Utilization in 

Veterans with Symptoms

B. Price Kerfoot, MD

VA Boston Health Care System

Optimizing VA Healthcare Delivery Through 

Web-based Interventions

Maria J. Silveira, MD, MPH

VA Ann Arbor Health Care System

Collaborative Palliative Care in Primary Medicine

Steven Weisbord, MD

VA Pittsburgh Health Care System

Preventing Radiocontrast-Induced Acute Renal Failure

HSR&D requires notification of publication or

presentation of research findings as soon as they

are accepted for publication/presentation.

Notification includes sending an electronic copy

of the manuscript as soon as it is accepted for

publication to both HSR&D (vhacohsrd@va.gov)

and the Office of Research and Development

(researchinfo@vard.org). 

Full details of notification can be found on the

web at www.va.gov/resdev/resources/

policies/by_service.cfm

NOTIFICATION OF PUBLICATIONS

avoidant in treatment are additional elements that

may improve the IMPACT treatment model.

Hegel MT, Unutzer J, Tang L, Arean PA, Katon W,

Noel PH, Williams JW Jr, Lin EH. Impact of

comorbid panic and posttraumatic stress disorder

on outcomes of collaborative care for late-life

depression in primary care. American Journal of

Geriatric Psychiatry 2005 Jan;13(1):48-58.

Routine HIV Screening is Cost-Effective Even

in Low-Prevalence Populations

Investigators evaluating the cost-effectiveness of

voluntary HIV screening in health care settings

found that routine HIV screening would be costeffective even if the prevalence of undiagnosed HIV

infection were as low as .05%. Although the

prevalence of undiagnosed HIV is largely unknown,

it is likely to reach this threshold in many settings

such as urgent care clinics, emergency departments,

and some primary care clinics. Other estimates from

this study found that early identification and

treatment resulted in an increased life expectancy of

1.52 years. Moreover, when changes in risk behavior

associated with counseling and the reduction of

transmission related to decreased viral load during

highly active antiretroviral therapy were taken into

account, rates of HIV transmission decreased by

more than 20%.

As the largest single provider of HIV care in the

country, VA has a sufficiently high HIV prevalence

to warrant offering screening to all patients. Data

show that veterans often enter HIV care with

advanced disease requiring complex and expensive

treatment; they and the system could benefit from

earlier diagnoses.

Sanders GD, Bayoumi AM, Sundarum V, Bilir SP,

Neukermans CP, Rydzak CE, Douglass LR, Lazzeroni
VA Office of Research and Development, Health Services Research and Development Service 7

2005 HSR&D Research Briefs

New Merit Review Entry

Program Awardees

HSR&D Merit Review Entry Program awards are

intended to provide beginning doctoral-level nonclinicians interested in health services research with

an opportunity for a period of concentrated mentoring

and research activities. The awards provide three years

of research support designed to prepare awardees to

enter the more competitive VA HSR&D Merit Review

Program. Congratulations to the most recent awardees,

listed below along with their locations and areas of

research interest to be pursued through their award.

For more information on this program and for

awardee biosketches, visit the HSR&D web site at

www.hsrd.research.va.gov/for_researchers/

professional_development/.

Angela Fagerlin, PhD

VA Ann Arbor Health Care System

Testing a Decision Tool’s Impact on Veterans’

Prostate Cancer Decisions

Melissa M. Farmer Coste, PhD

VA Greater Los Angeles Health Care System

Developing an Implementation Research Framework

Through Tobacco Control

Valerie Hoffman, PhD, MPH

Iowa City VAMC

Improving Recognition and Management of Obesity

in Primary Care

P. Adam Kelly, PhD, MBA

Houston VAMC

Investigating the Origins of Patients’ Post-Medical

Interaction Perceptions

Keri Rodriguez, PhD

VA Pittsburgh Health Care System

Patient-Provider Communication and 

Decision-Making in Heart Failure

Newly Funded 

Research Projects

HSR&D continues to have a strong merit review

program. This strength is reflected in the number and

diversity of newly funded HSR&D research projects

listed below. (Only projects with funding start

dates that have been confirmed since the last

issue of Research Briefs are listed here. For all

other HSR&D funded projects, see the web study

section at www.hsrd.research.va.gov/research/).

GULF WAR VETERANS RESEARCH

Telemedicine Intervention for 

Veterans with Gulf War Illness

Donald Ciccone, PhD

VA New Jersey Health Care System

Funding Period: January 2005 – December 2008

INVESTIGATOR-INITIATED RESEARCH

A Brief Community Linkage Intervention 

for Dually Diagnosed Individuals

David A. Smelson, PsyD

VA New Jersey Health Care System

Funding Period: February 2005 – January 2008

Diabetes Telemedicine Consultation:

A Systems Improvement Intervention

David C. Aron, MD, MS

Cleveland VAMC

Funding Period: April 2005 – March 2009

Does the Minimum Data Set Reflect Practice

Patterns in VA Nursing Homes?

Patricia A. Parmelee, PhD

Atlanta VAMC

Funding Period: April 2005 – March 2008

Evaluating HIV/AIDS Care 

Access and Quality in the VA

Allen L. Gifford, MD

VA San Diego Health Care System

Funding Period: May 2005 – October 2006

Impact of Practice Structure on the 

Quality of Care for Women Veterans

Elizabeth Yano, PhD, MSPH

VA Greater Los Angeles Health Care System

Funding Period: April 2005 – March 2007

Impact of Quality Improvement 

Implementation on Nursing Home Outcomes

Dan R. Berlowitz, MD, MPH

VA New England Health Care System

Funding Period: January 2005 – June 2006

Impact of Resident Work Hours on 

Errors and Quality in VA Hospitals

Kevin Volpp, MD, PhD

Philadelphia VAMC

Funding Period: June 2005 – November 2007

Improving HIV Screening by Nurse 

Rapid Testing, Streamlined Counseling

Steven Asch, MD, MPH

VA Greater Los Angeles Health Care System

Funding Period: January 2005 – June 2007
8 VA Office of Research and Development, Health Services Research and Development Service

HSR&D Research Briefs JUNE 

Measuring Quality of Family Experience 

of Patients with Serious Illness

Karen Steinhauser, PhD

Durham VAMC

Funding Period: January 2005 – December 2009

Medicaid Enrollment, Utilization, and 

Outcomes for VA Patients

Ann M. Hendricks, PhD

VA Boston Health Care System

Funding Period: October 2004 – September 2007

Methylphenidate for Depressed 

Cancer Patients in Hospice

Linda K. Ganzini, MD

Portland VAMC

Funding Period: January 2005 – December 2008

New Statistical Methods for Analyzing 

Veterans’ Health Care Costs

Andrew Zhou, PhD

VA Puget Sound Health Care System

Funding Period: January 2005 – June 2007

Optimal Use and Cost-Effectiveness of 

ICDs in the VA Health Care System

Barrie M. Massie, MD

San Francisco VAMC

Funding Period: April 2005 – March 2010

Stroke Prevention in Atrial Fibrillation:

Impact of Mental Illness

Susan Frayne, MD, MPH

VA Palo Alto Health Care System

Funding Period: April 2005 – March 2009

Telemedicine and Anger Management Groups 

with PTSD Veterans in the Hawaiian Islands

Leslie Morland, PsyD

VA Pacific Islands Health Care System

Funding Period: April 2005 – March 2009

The Potential for VA+Choice to Affect Veterans’

Care and VA Expenditures

Ann M. Hendricks, PhD

VA Boston Health Care System

Funding Period: April 2005 – September 2006

Use of VA and Medicare Services by 

Older Veterans with New Disability

Albert Siu, MD, MSPH

Bronx VAMC

Funding Period: April 2005 – March 2008

MANAGEMENT CONSULTATION 

VHA Practice System Assessment Survey

Elizabeth Yano, PhD, MSPH

VA Greater Los Angeles Health Care System

Funding Period: January 2005 – September 2005

NURSING RESEARCH INITIATIVE

Sexual Violence and Women Veterans’

Gynecologic Health

Anne G. Sadler, RN, PhD

Iowa City VAMC

Funding Period: April 2005 – March 2008

IMPLEMENTATION RESEARCH

Supplements to Support Collaboration 

Between VA and Academic Experts

Supplements are designed to enhance collaboration of

scientific leaders in implementation research and the

broad array of related disciplines (at local universities

and other research organizations) with VA researchers.

Funding is intended to develop and enhance

relationships with non-VA researchers who have

expertise in the implementation of evidence-based

clinical practice and the study of implementation

processes. Listed below are investigators who have

received recent funding in this area:

John W. Finney, PhD

VA Palo Alto Health Care System

Funding Period: January 2005 – December 2006

Allen L. Gifford, MD

VA San Diego Health Care System

Funding Period: February 2005 – January 2007

Denise M. Hynes, PhD, MPH

Hines VAMC

Funding Period: October 2004 – September 2006

Jacqueline A. Pugh, MD

VA South Texas Health Care System

Funding Period: October 2004 – September 2006

Leonard Pogach, MD, MBA

VA New Jersey Health Care System

Funding Period: January 2005 – December 2007

Please take a moment to tell us what you think about

VA HSR&D Research Briefs by sending an email to us

at CIDER.boston@med.va.gov.

Your comments and suggestions will guide us in our

efforts to provide you with important HSR&D

information in future issues.