A Big Welcome to Drs. AuYoung & Sarkisian to GIMHSR Faculty

Mona AuYoung - IMGHSR - Community Engagement & Research Program Co-Leader

GIM  welcomes Dr. Mona AuYoung as a new Community Engagement and Research Program (CERP) Co-Leader. Dr. AuYoung’s interests and scholarship include community health partnerships, health equity, and increasing diversity in translational health research.  She has fostered community partnered research within community clinics, worksites, Veteran groups, and community-based organizations.  Mona currently leads the Communications Working Group of the STOP COVID-19 CA project led GIM's Drs. Arleen Brown and Keith Norris.  Dr. AuYoung previously completed a postdoctoral AcademyHealth Delivery Systems Science fellowship and received her Ph.D. in health services and M.P.H. from UCLA. 
 

Catherine A. Sarkisian, MD

Dr. Catherine Sarkisian is a geriatrician, Professor in Residence and Staff Physician at the VAGLAHS/GRECC. She comes to us from the UCLA Division of Geriatrics where she has conducted academic-community-partnered research focused on improving quality of life for vulnerable seniors, and more recently, on health system interventions to reduce low-value care.  She serves as Director of the UCLA Value-Based Care Research Consortium, Director of the Community Liaison Core of UCLA RCMAR/CHIME, Co-Leader of the UCLA CTSI Special Populations Program, and Co-Director of Stakeholder Engagement for the NIH/NIA-funded U.S. Deprescribing Research Network (USDeN). She received her M.D. from UCSF and her MSHS while an RWJ Clinical Scholar at UCLA.

Keith Norris, MD, PhD

Congratulations to Dr. Keith Norris’ Election into National Academy of Medicine!

GIM's own Dr. Keith Norris has been elected into the 2021 NAM member class "for making substantive intellectual, scientific, and policy contributions to the areas of chronic kidney disease and health disparities in under-resourced minority communities; developing transformative methods for community-partnered research; and developing and implementing innovative programs that have successfully increased diversity in the biomedical/health workforce."

Election to the Academy is considered one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine and recognizes individuals who have demonstrated outstanding professional achievement and commitment to service. Founded in 1970 as the Institute of Medicine (IOM), the National Academy of Medicine's mission is to improve health for all by advancing science, accelerating health equity, and providing independent, authoritative, and trusted advice nationally and globally.

Congratulations to Dr. Norris on this enormous honor, you make us all proud!

Vital Signs Winter 2017 Cover

Addressing Back Pain in the Primary Care Setting

Low-back pain is the most common cause of job-related disability and a leading contributor to lost work time. But treatment often is ineffective, costly, and even dangerous. UCLA Health has established an initiative designed to ensure a standard, evidence-based approach to managing back pain in primary-care settings. The initiative is being spearheaded by O. Kenrik Duru, MD, MSHS, Associate Professor of Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.

UCLA Health Vital Signs, Winter 2017.  Read full article >