This Month at LDI

News and Announcements
LDI Senior Fellows go to Washington. Two colleagues have gone to Washington, DC to make an impact on health care policy. LDI Senior Fellow Dan Polsky, PhD has taken a one-year leave from Penn to serve as a senior health economist advising the President's Council of Economic Advisors (CEA). He is one of eight senior staff economists advising the three-member council on specific sectors of the economy. He will advise the CEA on matters of federal health policy and legislation as the President may request. And Patrick Conway, MD, LDI Senior Fellow and RWJ Clinical Scholar, was named a 2007-2008 White House Fellow. Dr. Conway is one of 15 leaders selected to get first-hand experience working at the highest levels of government.

John M. Eisenberg awards received. Two LDI Senior Fellows have garnered prestigious awards named after the late John M. Eisenberg, former director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and a long-time member of the Penn faculty. We offer hearty congratulations to Mark Pauly, PhD, who received the John M. Eisenberg Excellence in Mentorship Award from AHRQ, an honor based on nominations from and support by his former students. And kudos to LDI Senior Fellow Flaura Winston, MD, PhD, who received the 2007 John M. Eisenberg Patient Safety and Quality Award Forum from the National Quality and the Joint Commission. Dr. Winston was honored for her lifelong professional commitment to combining public health, biomechanical engineering and psychologic methodologies to promote safety and prevent injury among children from motor vehicle crashes.

Caryn Lerman garners Smoking & Health award. Congratulations to LDI Senior Fellow Caryn Lerman, PhD, who has been awarded the Alton Ochsner Award from the American College of Chest Physicians. The annual award is given to physicians or scientists whose research or clinical contributions have affected the overall scientific knowledge and medical practice that link cigarette smoking to health. Dr. Lerman will receive this award at the CHEST meeting in Chicago in October.
http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/jul07/ochsner-award-smoking.html

New Masters Program in Health Policy Research launched. Penn's School of Medicine has developed a Masters of Science Program in Health Policy Research. It is a collaborative effort between LDI and the Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program and is closely affiliated with the Annenberg School for Communication, the School of Social Policy and Practice, and the School of Nursing. The new degree prepares graduates for health services research and health policy research careers in academic, government, community, and industry. It is directed by LDI Senior Fellow Katrina Armstrong, MD, MSCE.

Upcoming Seminars
Health Policy (This year's theme: Urban Health)
We kick off this year's health policy seminars with Jonathan E. Fielding, MD, MPH, Director and Health Officer, Los Angeles County Department of Health Services. Please join us on Friday, October 19, 2007, from 12:00-1:30 pm.
RSVP

Research
Please join us as our research seminar series begins with Michelle Mello, JD, PhD, C. Boyden Gray Associate Professor of Health Policy and Law, Harvard School of Public Health, who will discuss her work entitled, "The Accuracy of the Medical Malpractice System: What the Evidence Tells Us," on Friday, September 28, 2007, from 12:00-1:30 pm.
RSVP More info

The seminars continue with Andrew Bindman, MD, Professor of Medicine, Epidemiology & Biostatistics at the University of California San Francisco, who will discuss, "Moving Toward Evidence-Based Health Policy in California's Medicaid Program," on Friday, October 12, 2007, from 12:00-1:30 pm.
RSVP More info

Issue Briefs
Reducing Firearm Injury: Lessons from Brazil
by James Macinko, PhD & Maria de Fátima Marinho de Souza, MD, PhD

Beyond "Sicko"-Thoughts on Health System Reform
Commentaries by LDI Senior Fellows

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