AcademyHealth Announces 2016 Annual Research Meeting Award Recipients

AcademyHealth Announces 2016 Annual Research Meeting Award Recipients

Washington D.C. (June 14, 2016)—AcademyHealth announced today the winners of its 2016 Annual Research Meeting (ARM) awards. Each award recognizes individuals who have made significant contributions to the fields of health services research and health policy. AcademyHealth will honor and recognize the recipients of these prestigious awards at the 2016 ARM, June 26-28 in Boston.

The following individuals will be recognized at this year’s conference:

DISTINGUISHED INVESTIGATOR AWARD
Mary D. Naylor, Ph.D.

Dr. Nayloris the Marian S. Ware Professor in Gerontology and Director of the NewCourtland Center for Transitions and Health at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing. She is the architect of the Transitional Care Model, an evidence-based care management approach designed to improve the quality of care, decrease unnecessary hospitalizations and reduce health care costs for vulnerable community-based older adults. Dr. Naylor was elected to the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) in 2005. She also is a member of the RAND's Health Board of Advisors and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQs) National Advisory Council. Dr. Naylor completed her six-year term on the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) in 2016.

The Distinguished Investigator Award recognizes investigators who have made significant and lasting contributions to the field of health services research through scholarship, teaching, advancement of science and methods, and leadership.

ALICE S. HERSH NEW INVESTIGATOR AWARD
Katy Backes Kozhimannil, Ph.D., M.P.A.

Katy B. Kozhimannil, Ph.D., M.P.A. is an associate professor in the Division of Health Policy and Management at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health and director of research at the University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center. Dr. Kozhimannil’s work focuses on applying the tools of health policy and health services research to the field of women’s health, with a focus on maternal and child health. She conducts research to inform the development, implementation, and evaluation of health policy that impacts health care delivery, quality, and outcomes during the perinatal period. Dr. Kozhimannil earned her master’s degree in public policy at Princeton University and holds a Ph.D. in health policy from Harvard University. She completed postdoctoral training at Harvard Medical School.

The Alice S. Hersh New Investigator Award recognizes scholars early in their careers as health services researchers who show exceptional promise for future contributions to the field.

ARTICLE-OF-THE-YEAR AWARD
Kevin Volpp, M.D., Ph.D., and David Asch, M.D., M.B.A.

Kevin Volpp, M.D., Ph.D. is the founding director of the Leonard Davis Institute Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics, one of two NIH- funded Centers on Behavioral Economics and Health in the United States. He is also a professor of medicine and vice chairman for health policy of the Department of Medical Ethics and Policy at the Perelman School of Medicine and a professor of health care management at the Wharton School. Dr. Volpp’s research focuses on the impact of financial and organizational incentives on health behavior and health outcomes. Dr. Volpp completed his medical training at the University of Pennsylvania and Brigham and Women’s hospital and his training in economics at the Wharton School. He is a board-certified general internist and practicing physician at the Philadelphia VA Medical Center and an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine.

David A. Asch, M.D., M.B.A., is executive director of the Penn Medicine Center for Health Care Innovation. He is professor of medicine and professor of medical ethics and health policy at the Perelman School of Medicine and professor of health care management and professor of operations, information, and decisions at the Wharton School. Dr. Asch’s research aims to understand and improve how physicians and patients make medical choices in clinical, financial, and ethically charged settings, including the adoption of new pharmaceuticals or medical technologies, the purchase of insurance, and personal health behaviors. His research combines elements of economic analysis with psychological theory and marketing in the field now called behavioral economics. Dr. Asch received his bachelor’s degree from Harvard University, his MD from Weill-Cornell Medical College, and his MBA in Health Care Management and Decision Sciences from the Wharton School. He was a resident in Internal Medicine and a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholar at the University of Pennsylvania.

Read the article, "Effect of Financial Incentives to Physicians, Patients, or Both on Lipid Levels: A Randomized Clinical Trial," online.

The Article-of-the-Year Award recognizes the best scientific work that the fields of health services research and health policy have produced and published during the previous calendar year. The award-winning article provides new insights into the delivery of health care and advances the knowledge of the field.

OUTSTANDING DISSERTATION AWARD
Craig D. Holden, Ph.D., M.P.H.

Craig D. Holden, Ph.D., is a Senior Analyst at the Altarum Institute. His doctoral dissertation was inspired by the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) new emphasis on disease prevention and public health, which removes cost sharing from many preventive services. Dr. Holden’s dissertation paper used nationally representative data sets, the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) and the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG), to analyze access to different types of U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF)-recommended preventive services and his findings have policy implications for the ACA and its implementation as well as for reducing disparities among disadvantaged subpopulations. Dr. Holden has experience in health services research in the areas of program evaluation, survey design, instrument development, data analysis, health policy, and project management and previously held an appointment at the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago (NORC). He holds an M.B.A. from the University of Houston and an M.P.H. from The George Washington University Milken Institute of Public Health. He received his Ph.D. at the University of Maryland School of Public Health, where he completed his dissertation under the direction of Dr. Rada Dagher, an assistant professor of health services administration.

OUTSTANDING DISSERTATION AWARD—HONORABLE MENTION
Aaron L. Schwartz, Ph.D.

Aaron Schwartz, Ph.D. is a health economist completing M.D.-Ph.D. training at Harvard Medical School. His research has explored Medicare and Medicaid policies, health care quality measurement, and the use of low-value health care services. A graduate of Swarthmore College, Schwartz received his PhD in Health Policy with a concentration in economics from the Harvard University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, where his dissertation was supervised by Joseph P. Newhouse, Michael E. Chernew, and J. Michael McWilliams. His research has been published in Health Affairs, JAMA Internal Medicine, and The New England Journal of Medicine, and has been featured in the Washington Post, Forbes, NPR, The New York Times and The New Yorker.

The Outstanding Dissertation Award honors an outstanding scientific contribution from a doctoral thesis in health services research or health policy.

About the Annual Research Meeting
For over 30 years, AcademyHealth's Annual Research Meeting has been the premier forum for health services research, where more than 2,500 attendees gather to discuss the health policy and health system implications of research findings, sharpen research methods, and network with colleagues from around the world. The 2016 Annual Research Meeting is being held June 26-28 in Boston. For more information or to register, visit www.academyhealth.org/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. Learn more at www.academyhealth.org and follow us on Twitter @AcademyHealth.