Recognition November 2015

• Lozano assumes new leadership role

• Larson leads NAM panel on aging

• Green among leaders at AHA summit

• BCSC data, researchers guide IOM

Group Health names Dr. Lozano associate medical director for research

Paula Lozano, MD, MPH, a Group Health pediatrician and senior investigator at Group Health Research Institute (GHRI), became Group Health’s associate medical director for research and translation on November 1. This position was formerly held by Robert Reid, MD, PhD, who recently left Group Health for a post as lead scientist at Trillium Health Partners in Toronto.

In her new role, Dr. Lozano will work to ensure that collaborations between GHRI and the rest of Group Health are well aligned with the organization’s strategic goals.  She will serve as a bridge between GHRI and Group Health, facilitating research projects and working with the group practice, the health plan, and the enterprise as a whole. Dr. Lozano will also address research translation and implementation within the delivery system, working to integrate research findings from GHRI and elsewhere to help Group Health achieve improved clinical performance across the board.

Dr. Lozano previously served as assistant medical director of the Department of Preventive Care. She will continue her funded research at GHRI and her small pediatric practice.

Dr. Larson leads panel on aging at first NAM annual meeting

On October 19, Group Health Vice President for Research and GHRI Executive Director Eric B. Larson, MD, MPH, was in Washington, DC for the first annual meeting of the National Academy of Medicine (NAM), formerly known as the Institute of Medicine (IOM). The daylong meeting included a scientific symposium titled “Aging: Complexities, Opportunities, and Impacts on Society,” in which Dr. Larson moderated a panel discussion on aging, cognition, and frailty. View the archived webcast of the meeting.

AHA leadership summit features Dr. Green on improving blood pressure control

On October 22, GHRI Associate Investigator and Group Health Physician Beverly Green, MD, MPH, was part of a small invited American Heart Association leadership summit on improving blood pressure control and measurement. Held in San Francisco, the event brought together leaders in hypertension treatment, research, and technology to discuss and debate the role of health technology in helping people attain better blood pressure control. Dr. Green participated in a panel on using automated devices, home monitoring, kiosks, and Web technologies to improve assessment of blood pressure control and management.

Leadership, data from BCSC guide IOM effort to improve breast cancer screening

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) recently released a summary of its May 2015 workshop, “Assessing and Improving the Interpretation of Breast Images.” Chaired by GHRI Senior Investigator Diana Buist, PhD, MPH, the workshop addressed ways to improve the quality of mammography interpretation—that is, how well radiologists detect breast cancer in screening mammograms.

The workshop was a follow-up to the IOM’s 2005 report, “Improving Breast Imaging Quality Standards,” which highlighted the need to address variability in the quality of mammography interpretation. Workshop attendees reviewed new evidence that has emerged since 2005 on factors such as reader volume (the number of mammograms a radiologist reads), patient demographics, supplemental imaging, and interventions to improve interpretive quality. Much of the new evidence came from the Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium (BCSC), a national network of mammography registries (including Group Health) that is funded by the National Cancer Institute.

GHRI hosts the BCSC’s Statistical Coordinating Center, and Dr. Buist serves as the BCSC principal investigator for Group Health’s mammography registry. Several of Dr. Buist’s BCSC co-leaders helped her lead the workshop, including GHRI Senior Investigator Diana Miglioretti, PhD, who is also the dean’s professor in biostatistics at University of California, Davis.