Research

Overview

General Internal Medicine
How do we help patients understand their medical problems and how to care for themselves? How can we help people with cardiovascular disease live longer, healthier, more active lives? How can we use health information technology to make medical care safer? How can we overcome the barriers to care that many patients face, such as poverty, low literacy, and language barriers? These are just a few of the questions that researchers in General Internal Medicine are working to answer.

Geriatrics
How can we ensure the safety of patients being discharged from the hospital to their home with a complex array of new medications and follow-up appointments? How can we improve the training and effectiveness of paid caregivers? How can we improve communication with patients about their preferences for treatment at the end of life? What can we do to help older individuals stay healthy and remain in their home? How do we better care for individuals with Alzheimer’s disease and for older people with cancer?

Faculty
Our researchers include physicians and social scientists from a variety of research fields, including health communication, health literacy, health services research, quality improvement, health promotion and behavior change, epidemiology, cognitive psychology, learning sciences, and informatics. Similarly, we have expertise in a wide range of clinical areas, including cardiovascular disease, geriatric medicine, diabetes, dementia and cognitive disorders, and health promotion and disease prevention. By bringing these different disciplines and expertise together, we create multidisciplinary teams that work to develop innovative solutions to today's health and health care challenges.

This section below shows our primary investigators in the Division and their areas of interest. In addition, many other clinical faculty members provide ideas and expertise to our research projects, and their contributions are vital to the success of our research program. We also would like to thank and acknowledge our research partners throughout the Feinberg School of Medicine, the larger Northwestern University community, the greater Chicago area, and around the country.

Ronald Ackermann, MD, MPH, FACP
Associate Professor
Director of NUCATS Community-Engaged Research Center
Research Interests: health promotion, chronic disease prevention, healthcare-community linkages, community engaged research, healthcare delivery system redesign, organization of healthcare, diabetes care and prevention

Adnan Arseven, MD
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Research Interests: aging, geriatrics, and eldercare, acute care of delirium and dementia, care transitioning, gait disorders, medical education

David W. Baker, MD, MPH
Michael A Gertz Professor in Medicine
Chief, Division of General Internal Medicine
Director, REACH Practice-Based Research Network
Research Interests: health literacy, quality measurement and improvement, health information technology, reducing health care disparities, patient-centered medical home

Kenzie A. Cameron, PhD, MPH
Research Associate Professor
Research Interests: persuasive message design, health disparities, multimedia interventions, behavior change, colorectal cancer

Marla L. Clayman, PhD, MPH
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Member, Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center
Research Interests: healthcare decision making, shared decision making, patient provider communication, patient education, cancer communication

Daniel Evans, MD
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Research Interests: inpatient and outpatient general medicine, medical education, clinical reasoning skills, transitions of care, patient handoffs, teaching skills, feedback

Joe Feinglass, PhD
Research Professor of Medicine
Research Interests: health policy, quality improvement, patient outcomes, patient safety, social epidemiology

Mita Sanghavi Goel, MD, MPH
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Research Interests: healthcare disparities, cancer screening and prevention, health communication, health information technology

Muriel Jean-Jacques, MD, MAPP
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Research Interests: quality improvement, health care disparities, health information technology

Namratha Kandula, MD, MPH
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Research Interests: social and cultural context of health, health communication, heart disease, diabetes, health promotion in minority communities

Diana Kerwin, MD
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Research Interests: alzheimer's disease, cognitive disorders, dementia, geriatrics, memory disorders, memory disorders of dging

Abel N. Kho, MD
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Associate Director of the Northwestern Biomedical Informatics Center
Affiliated Scientist, Regenstrief Institute, Inc
Research Interests: medical informatics, public health informatics, infection control

David M. Liebovitz, MD
Assistant Professor of Medicine, FSM
Chief Medical Information Officer, NMFF
Medical Director Clinical Information Systems, NMH
Research Interests: medical informatics, patient safety, healthcare quality

Lee Lindquist, MD, MPH, MBA
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Research Interests: aging, dementia, geriatrics, health literacy, internal medicine, general medicine, long-term care, older adult healthcare, patient communications, patient safety, pharmacology

Mary McGrae McDermott, MD
Professor of Medicine
Director of K12 Vascular Medicine Training Program
Contributing editor JAMA
Research Interests: peripheral arterial disease, functional performance, mobility

June M. McKoy, MD, MPH, JD, MBA
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Assistant Professor of Preventive Medicine
Director of Geriatric Oncology, Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center
Research Interests: aging, bone health, elder law/health law, geriatric oncology, geriatrics, osteoporosis, patient safety, pharmacology, preventive medicine, public policy, underserved medicine

Stephen D. Persell, MD, MPH
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Assistant Professor Institute for Healthcare Studies
Research Interests: quality measurement in healthcare, quality improvement, computerized clinical decision support, ambulatory care redesign, cardiovascular disease prevention, hypertension

Bernice Ruo, MD, MAS
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Research Interests: patient-reported outcomes, symptoms, functional status, health-related quality of life, depression, cardiovascular disease

Joyce W. Tang, MD
Instructor
Research Interests: prevention of overweight and obesity, brief behavioral counseling

Diane B. Wayne, MD
Associate Professor of Medicine
Director, Internal Medicine Residency Program
Vice-Chair, Education
Research Interests: simulation, assessment of clinical skills, standard setting, linking education to improved quality of care

Elizabeth A. H. Wilson, PhD
Research Assistant Professor
Research Interests: optimal learning strategies for patient education, health literacy, cognitive aging

Michael Wolf, PhD, MPH
Associate Professor, Medicine and Learning Sciences
Associate Division Chief - Research
Research Interests: health literacy, adult learning, health promotion, medication safety, cognitive epidemiology, chronic disease management, health disparities

GIM Research Partners - Northwestern University

GIM Research Partners - Chicago

The Alliance of Chicago Community Health Centers
Erie Family Health Center
Near North Health Services Corporation
Heartland Alliance

GIM Research Partners - National

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; Division of General Internal Medicine
Mount Sinai Medical School; Division of General Internal Medicine

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