Sarah Gelotte

Contemporary management of infection in acute inflammatory diseases is focused on the infectious agent—and it might be missing something, says hospitalist Kirsten Kangelaris, MD, MAS, an assistant clinical professor at the University of California at San Francisco.

Since receiving one of SHM’s first Junior Faculty Development Awards in April, Dr. Kangelaris has been researching the missing link: the genetic and biological risk factors in non-critically-ill patients with acute lung injury. So far, the $50,000 grant has helped her to uncover a chemokine receptor gene variant that appears almost exclusively in African-Americans. She hopes to use this information to improve risk-prediction algorithms, treatments, and prevention strategies.

Dr. Kangelaris spoke with the TH eWire about her new role as a hospitalist-researcher.

Question: How did you get involved in researching clinical and biological genetic risk-prediction algorithms?

Answer: In my clinical work … I was struck by how two similarly appearing patients, admitted with complications of infections like sepsis and pneumonia, could have very different outcomes in spite of excellent care in the hospital. I was learning firsthand from my patients that we still have a lot to learn about how individual host response to infection affects outcomes.

Q: What kind of training did you receive that prepared you for your research?

A: I did a two-year masters in clinical research at UCSF, which gave me skills in epidemiology and biostatistics. I had advanced training in multivariable analysis and advanced training in clinical epidemiology and epidemiological methods. I also had training in health disparities.

Q: What do you recommend for hospitalists who are interested in research?

A: A research fellowship gave me the tools and the time to embark on a research career in translational hospital medicine. I think it is difficult to begin a traditional research career without this kind of training. The field of hospital medicine has so much potential to improve human health; it is a fertile ground for research interests ranging from translational work to quality improvement and patient safety.

Contemporary management of infection in acute inflammatory diseases is focused on the infectious agent—and it might be missing something, says hospitalist Kirsten Kangelaris, MD, MAS, an assistant clinical professor at the University of California at San Francisco.

Since receiving one of SHM’s first Junior Faculty Development Awards in April, Dr. Kangelaris has been researching the missing link: the genetic and biological risk factors in non-critically-ill patients with acute lung injury. So far, the $50,000 grant has helped her to uncover a chemokine receptor gene variant that appears almost exclusively in African-Americans. She hopes to use this information to improve risk-prediction algorithms, treatments, and prevention strategies.

Dr. Kangelaris spoke with the TH eWire about her new role as a hospitalist-researcher.

Question: How did you get involved in researching clinical and biological genetic risk-prediction algorithms?

Answer: In my clinical work … I was struck by how two similarly appearing patients, admitted with complications of infections like sepsis and pneumonia, could have very different outcomes in spite of excellent care in the hospital. I was learning firsthand from my patients that we still have a lot to learn about how individual host response to infection affects outcomes.

Q: What kind of training did you receive that prepared you for your research?

A: I did a two-year masters in clinical research at UCSF, which gave me skills in epidemiology and biostatistics. I had advanced training in multivariable analysis and advanced training in clinical epidemiology and epidemiological methods. I also had training in health disparities.

Q: What do you recommend for hospitalists who are interested in research?

A: A research fellowship gave me the tools and the time to embark on a research career in translational hospital medicine. I think it is difficult to begin a traditional research career without this kind of training. The field of hospital medicine has so much potential to improve human health; it is a fertile ground for research interests ranging from translational work to quality improvement and patient safety.

Contemporary management of infection in acute inflammatory diseases is focused on the infectious agent—and it might be missing something, says hospitalist Kirsten Kangelaris, MD, MAS, an assistant clinical professor at the University of California at San Francisco.

Since receiving one of SHM’s first Junior Faculty Development Awards in April, Dr. Kangelaris has been researching the missing link: the genetic and biological risk factors in non-critically-ill patients with acute lung injury. So far, the $50,000 grant has helped her to uncover a chemokine receptor gene variant that appears almost exclusively in African-Americans. She hopes to use this information to improve risk-prediction algorithms, treatments, and prevention strategies.

Dr. Kangelaris spoke with the TH eWire about her new role as a hospitalist-researcher.

Question: How did you get involved in researching clinical and biological genetic risk-prediction algorithms?

Answer: In my clinical work … I was struck by how two similarly appearing patients, admitted with complications of infections like sepsis and pneumonia, could have very different outcomes in spite of excellent care in the hospital. I was learning firsthand from my patients that we still have a lot to learn about how individual host response to infection affects outcomes.

Q: What kind of training did you receive that prepared you for your research?

A: I did a two-year masters in clinical research at UCSF, which gave me skills in epidemiology and biostatistics. I had advanced training in multivariable analysis and advanced training in clinical epidemiology and epidemiological methods. I also had training in health disparities.

Q: What do you recommend for hospitalists who are interested in research?

A: A research fellowship gave me the tools and the time to embark on a research career in translational hospital medicine. I think it is difficult to begin a traditional research career without this kind of training. The field of hospital medicine has so much potential to improve human health; it is a fertile ground for research interests ranging from translational work to quality improvement and patient safety.

According to Evan Fieldston, MD, MBA, MSHP, the mismatches between a hospital staff’s workload and its workforce might predict periods of lower-quality care of patients. With a five-year research project in place, Dr. Fieldston is examining the impact of these mismatches on patient care at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), where he serves as an assistant professor in pediatrics. He is examining administrative data on approximately 40,500 retrospective cases and conducting more specific prospective validation on approximately 500 cases.

Part of his project is supported by SHM’s Junior Faculty Development Award, a two-year $50,000 grant awarded for the first time in April.

Dr. Fieldston explained to the TH eWire how he’s using the research funds.

Question: What have you done to organize the project?

Answer: I’ve put together an outstanding mentoring and advisory team to guide me through the design of these projects … the analysis and interpretation. I have also secured local support at the hospital and in the department of pediatrics. Now I’m starting to frame out the specifics and the logistics of each of the projects, and I’m preparing the applications for the institutional review board.

Q: How are you spending the grant?

A: The research grant is going to be spent primarily for two research assistants to work on data collection and validation. Frontline observations are important to patient care quality and patient flow work, so I am excited to have the funds to support that work. Other parts of funding are to support biostatistical programming and operations management expertise.

Q: How will you balance your time between research and hospital rounds?

A: Very fortunately, my faculty position here at the University of Pennsylvania and CHOP is primarily for research, so 75% of my time is dedicated to research purposes. As a hospitalist, I attend on the general pediatrics inpatient teaching service for about six to eight weeks a year. … On the weeks that I am on service, it’s a lot more challenging to do research work, but I still try to touch base with the various aspects of the project.

According to Evan Fieldston, MD, MBA, MSHP, the mismatches between a hospital staff’s workload and its workforce might predict periods of lower-quality care of patients. With a five-year research project in place, Dr. Fieldston is examining the impact of these mismatches on patient care at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), where he serves as an assistant professor in pediatrics. He is examining administrative data on approximately 40,500 retrospective cases and conducting more specific prospective validation on approximately 500 cases.

Part of his project is supported by SHM’s Junior Faculty Development Award, a two-year $50,000 grant awarded for the first time in April.

Dr. Fieldston explained to the TH eWire how he’s using the research funds.

Question: What have you done to organize the project?

Answer: I’ve put together an outstanding mentoring and advisory team to guide me through the design of these projects … the analysis and interpretation. I have also secured local support at the hospital and in the department of pediatrics. Now I’m starting to frame out the specifics and the logistics of each of the projects, and I’m preparing the applications for the institutional review board.

Q: How are you spending the grant?

A: The research grant is going to be spent primarily for two research assistants to work on data collection and validation. Frontline observations are important to patient care quality and patient flow work, so I am excited to have the funds to support that work. Other parts of funding are to support biostatistical programming and operations management expertise.

Q: How will you balance your time between research and hospital rounds?

A: Very fortunately, my faculty position here at the University of Pennsylvania and CHOP is primarily for research, so 75% of my time is dedicated to research purposes. As a hospitalist, I attend on the general pediatrics inpatient teaching service for about six to eight weeks a year. … On the weeks that I am on service, it’s a lot more challenging to do research work, but I still try to touch base with the various aspects of the project.

According to Evan Fieldston, MD, MBA, MSHP, the mismatches between a hospital staff’s workload and its workforce might predict periods of lower-quality care of patients. With a five-year research project in place, Dr. Fieldston is examining the impact of these mismatches on patient care at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), where he serves as an assistant professor in pediatrics. He is examining administrative data on approximately 40,500 retrospective cases and conducting more specific prospective validation on approximately 500 cases.

Part of his project is supported by SHM’s Junior Faculty Development Award, a two-year $50,000 grant awarded for the first time in April.

Dr. Fieldston explained to the TH eWire how he’s using the research funds.

Question: What have you done to organize the project?

Answer: I’ve put together an outstanding mentoring and advisory team to guide me through the design of these projects … the analysis and interpretation. I have also secured local support at the hospital and in the department of pediatrics. Now I’m starting to frame out the specifics and the logistics of each of the projects, and I’m preparing the applications for the institutional review board.

Q: How are you spending the grant?

A: The research grant is going to be spent primarily for two research assistants to work on data collection and validation. Frontline observations are important to patient care quality and patient flow work, so I am excited to have the funds to support that work. Other parts of funding are to support biostatistical programming and operations management expertise.

Q: How will you balance your time between research and hospital rounds?

A: Very fortunately, my faculty position here at the University of Pennsylvania and CHOP is primarily for research, so 75% of my time is dedicated to research purposes. As a hospitalist, I attend on the general pediatrics inpatient teaching service for about six to eight weeks a year. … On the weeks that I am on service, it’s a lot more challenging to do research work, but I still try to touch base with the various aspects of the project.