AcademyHealth Announces Five Scholars to Enhance Use of Systems Science in Health Research

Washington, D.C. (June 6, 2017)— Today AcademyHealth announced five new Systems Science Scholars who will bring critical research expertise to bear on systems-level challenges affecting the nation’s health system.

“Systems science has great potential to inform public health and health services research,” said Kate Papa, senior director of AcademyHealth’s public and population health program. “Systems science methodologies are well suited to address a range of complex health issues, and this program fosters collaboration between systems science experts and other researchers working to improve the nation’s health care system.”

The Systems Science Scholarship is designed to stimulate systems-level approaches to complex social, behavioral, and environmental influences that contribute to ill health in the U.S. and ultimately support innovative solutions to overcoming them. While the field of health services and policy research has contributed a vast evidence base to the nation’s evolving health system, it has not used systems science to its full potential. Through the systems science scholars, this program exposes those underutilized methodologies.

With support from The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and a selection committee composed of leaders in both systems science and population health, five scholars were selected from a competitive and diverse pool of applicants.

The 2017 Systems Science Scholars are:

• Inas Khayal, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy & Clinical Practice, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth; Adjunct Assistant Professor, Computer Science, Dartmouth College
• Naoru Koizumi, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Schar School of Policy and Government, George Mason University
• Yan Li, Ph.D., Research Scientist, Center for Health Innovation, The New York Academy of Medicine; Assistant Professor, Department of Population Health Science and Policy, The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
• Rajeev Rajaram, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Mathematical Sciences, Kent State University
• Nasser Sharareh, Ph.D. Candidate, Research Assistant, Systems Science and Industrial Engineering, Binghamton University

Scholars will receive travel stipends to attend AcademyHealth's Annual Research Meeting (ARM) and Public Health Systems Research Interest Group Meeting (PHSR IG) in June in New Orleans and will also have the opportunity to participate in networking events to introduce systems methods and foster collaboration around systems-level approaches to population-level questions.

About the ARM and PHSR IG

For more than 30 years, AcademyHealth's ARM has been the premier forum for health services research where more than 2,500 attendees gather to discuss health policy implications, sharpen research methods, and network with colleagues from around the world. AcademyHealth's PHSR IG, which includes membership of more than 3,500 public health practitioners, federal agency staff, students, and policymakers with an interest in exploring and enhancing the public health system, convenes for its annual meeting immediately preceding the ARM.

About AcademyHealth

AcademyHealth is a leading national organization serving the fields of health services and policy research and the professionals who produce and use this important work. Together with our members, we offer programs and services that support the development and use of rigorous, relevant and timely evidence to increase the quality, accessibility, and value of health care, to reduce disparities, and to improve health. A trusted broker of information, AcademyHealth brings stakeholders together to address the current and future needs of an evolving health system, inform health policy, and translate evidence into action. For additional publications and resources, visit the AcademyHealth website and follow us on Twitter @AcademyHealth and @PHSR_AH.