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Header - Big Data Scientist Training Enhancement Program (BD-STEP)

Coordinating Center

The BD-STEP fellowship is managed by a Coordinating Center based at the VA Boston Health Care and supported by VA Office of Research and Development. The Coordinating Center leads efforts for the fellowship, with the NCI partnership playing a significant role in supporting Coordinating Center activities. The primary functions of the Coordinating Center include overall program organizational and administrative functions, including establishment and management of program meetings, program national curriculum, fiscal management and related administrative activities.

Coordinating Center Staff

Coordinating Center Staff

Sites

The BD-STEP fellowship has four funded sites: the VA Boston Health Care System, the Durham VA Health Care System, the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center in Houston, Texas, and the VA Palo Alto Health Care System. Each site has at least one clinician and one researcher who serve as director. Interested fellowship applicants should contact the site directors to discuss potential projects. Below please find more information about each site.

Sites

Site Directors

Palo Alto

Todd Wagner, PhD

Todd Wagner, PhD. Co-Director, BD-STEP Fellowship. Director, VA Health Economics Resource Center (HERC). Associate Director, VA Center for Innovation to Implementation COIN (Ci2i). Associate Professor of Research, Department of Surgery, Stanford University.
https://profiles.stanford.edu/todd-wagner
https://www.herc.research.va.gov/include/page.asp?id=staff-details&PersonID=14

Research Interests/Key Contributions to Science:

  • How information asymmetries affect consumers, purchasers, and markets so that we can improve the value of care
  • Value and efficiency of health care
  • Improving access to care and ensuring care is appropriate.
Jennifer S. Lee, MD, PhD

Jennifer S. Lee, MD, PhD. Co-Director, BD-STEP Fellowship. Associate Professor of Medicine (Endocrinology, Gerontology, Metabolism) and by courtesy, of Health Research & Policy (Epidemiology). Associate Chief of Staff - Research (ACOS-R), VA Palo Alto. Chief Medical Officer, Palo Alto VA Cooperative Studies Program Coordinating Center. Staff Physician, Medical Services, VA Palo Alto.
https://profiles.stanford.edu/JenniferSLee

Research Interests/Key Contributions to Science:

  • Population health, individual precision health, healthcare system management and quality in clinical practice
  • Molecular/genetic epidemiology, health services, big data health applications, patient centered decision making
  • Novel scalable clinical/translational study designs and methods to enhance efficiency and effectiveness
  • Use of electronic health records (EHR) and other data sources
  • Endocrinology and Metabolism (cardiometabolic diseases and glycemic dysregulation, bone and body composition, cancers, thyroid)
  • Aging and hormonal/metabolic transitions and dynamics

Durham

Christina Williams, PhD

Christina Williams, PhD. Co-Director, BD-STEP Fellowship. Assistant Professor of Medicine, Duke University. Deputy Director, Cooperative Studies Program Epidemiology Center (CSPEC)- Durham.
https://medicine.duke.edu/faculty/christina-d-williams-phd

Research Interests/Key Contributions to Science:

  • Utilizing administrative data to monitor the quality of cancer care
  • Evaluating health disparities in cancer treatment and outcomes
  • Conducting comparative effectiveness and health services research
Michael Kelley, MD

Michael Kelley, MD. Co-Director, BD-STEP Fellowship. Professor of Medicine, Duke University. Director, VHA National Oncology Program.
https://medicine.duke.edu/faculty/michael-john-kelley-md https://www.cancer.va.gov/CANCER/contact.asp

Research Interests/Key Contributions to Science:

  • Utilizing precision medicine to improve cancer care
  • Molecular genetics, experimental therapeutics of targeted therapies, and outcomes research

Houston

Drew Helmer, MD, MS

Drew Helmer, MD, MS, Director, BD-STEP Fellowship. Professor, Department of Medicine, Section of Health Services Research, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX. Deputy Director, Center for Innovations in Quality, Effectiveness and Safety (iQuEST),  Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center. 

Drew A. Helmer, M.D., M.S. - Center for Innovations in Quality, Effectiveness and Safety

Research Interests/Key Contributions to Science:

  • Deployment and military exposure-related health concerns of Veterans
  • Quality and utilization of ambulatory care
  • Chronic Multisymptom Illness
Javad Razjouyan, PhD, M.Sc. Eng

Javad Razjouyan, PhD, M.Sc. Eng., Co-Director, BD-STEP Fellowship. Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, Section of Health Services Research, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX. Investigator, Implementation & Innovation Program, Center for Innovations in Quality, Effectiveness and Safety (iQuEST), Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center. 

Javad Razjouyan, Ph.D., M.Sc. Eng. - Center for Innovations in Quality, Effectiveness and Safety

Research Interests/Key Contributions to Science:

  • Data mining the EHR with advanced machine learning
  • Patient-Centered Outcomes Research
  • Frailty, cardiovascular disease and cognitive impairment
  • Sleep analysis
  • Wearable sensor analysis

Boston

Nhan Do, MD

Nhan Do, MD. Co-Director, BD-STEP Fellowship. Assistant Professor, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA. Director, Boston Cooperative Studies Program Informatics Center, VA Boston Healthcare System.
https://www.bumc.bu.edu/busm/profile/nhan-van-do/

Nathanael Fillmore, PhD

Nathanael Fillmore, PhD. Co-Director, BD-STEP Fellowship. Instructor in Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA. Associate Director for Machine Learning and Predictive Analytics, Boston Cooperative Studies Program Informatics Center, VA Boston Healthcare System.
https://connects.catalyst.harvard.edu/Profiles/display/Person/155111

Research Interests/Key Contributions to Science:

  • Using data science to build predictive models and characterize clinical outcomes, especially in cancer
  • Developing new machine learning methods for clinical applications
  • Improving data science infrastructure at the VA
Sarah Leatherman, PhD

Sarah Leatherman, PhD, Co-Director, BD-STEP Fellowship. Instructor, Metropolitan College and College of Arts and Sciences, Boston University, Boston, MA. Deputy Center Director, Boston Cooperative Studies Program Coordinating Center, VA Boston Health Care System.

Sarah Leatherman | Computer Science (bu.edu)













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