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Leadership
Michael J. Mugavero, MD, MHSc
Director
Professor of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases
University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB)In addition to serving as Director of the Center for Outcomes and Effectiveness Research and Education (COERE), Dr. Mugavero serves as Co-Director of the UAB Center for AIDS Research (CFAR) and as Associate Director of the Center for Clinical and Translational Science (CCTS). Dr. Mugavero is an NIH, CDC, HRSA, AHRQ, and Foundation-funded investigator who has developed a dynamic health services research program at UAB, centered on engagement in care that has made seminal contributions to HIV prevention and treatment science. Dr. Mugavero serves as PI for the AHRQ T32 UAB Health Services Research Training Program and was a recipient of the 2020 John M. Eisenberg Excellence in Mentorship Award. He has published over 275 articles in peer-reviewed literature and has served as primary mentor for over 20 pre-doctoral students and 10 post-doctoral fellows and/or junior faculty, including current and past T32, TL1, KL2, K12, K23, R34, and R01 awardees from the UAB Schools of Medicine, Nursing, Public Health, and Social Work. Dr. Mugavero was recently named the Jeanne M. Marrazzo, MD, MPH, Endowed Professor in Innovation and Advancement through Mentorship.
Emily B. Levitan, ScD
Co-Director
Professor of Public Health, Department of Epidemiology
University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB)
Dr. Levitan is a Professor in the Department of Epidemiology in the UAB School of Public Health. Her goal is to improve public health through population research using traditional epidemiologic studies and administrative data with an emphasis on cardiovascular disease. Her research focuses on primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease, particularly heart failure. She is co-PI of the REGARDS-MI study which has followed a population of more than 30,000 Black and White US adults for coronary heart disease and heart failure. She has conducted research on outcomes for people living with heart disease using Medicare and other administrative data sources. In addition, she has served as a methodologic collaborator for studies in a wide range of disease areas as a member of the methods and analytics core facilities of the UAB Center for Clinical and Translational Science and the UAB Center for AIDS Research. Dr. Levitan is dedicated to teaching and mentoring. Within COERE, she leads the training activities, including the signature Friday Fellows seminar series, and is co-director of the AHRQ T32 pre-and post-doctoral training grant in health services and outcomes research. She is also a Steering Committee member of the Comprehensive Cardiovascular Center and holds appointments in the Comprehensive Center for Healthy Aging, the Nutrition Obesity Research Center, the Diabetes Research and Training Center, and the Minority Health and Health Disparities Research Center.Allyson Hall, PhD
Co-Director
Professor, Department of Health Services Administration
University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB)Allyson Hall, PhD is a professor in the Department of Health Services Administration at the University of Alabama at Birmingham where she serves as director of graduate programs in health care quality and safety. Dr. Hall’s research focuses on improving access to high quality health care among vulnerable populations including low-income individuals, and people living with a disability or a chronic health condition. She has a long-standing interest in Medicaid. For over 10 years she has investigated reforms and changes to Florida’s Medicaid program. Current research activities also focus on reducing care fragmentation and the use of health care technology to improve quality of care. Dr. Hall serves on the board of the Commission of Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education (CAHME) and is an Associate Editor for the Journal for Healthcare Quality. She has a PhD in Health Policy from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and a MHA in health care administration from the University of Florida.
Madeline J. Gibson, MPH
Deputy Director
Program Director II, Division of Infectious Diseases
University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB)Madeline is the Deputy Director of the COERE, overseeing all administrative and scientific functions of the Center. She has extensive experience with NIH proposal development, research administration, intramural pilot program management, and the conduct of randomized controlled trials. Her Master of Public Health is in epidemiology..
Geri Davis
Program Coordinator II
Division of Infectious Diseases
University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB)
Geri Davis brings over 20 years of experience in executive management to the COERE. In previous roles, Mrs. Davis worked directly with community and programmatic stakeholders to advance organizational goals. She also has experience in event and project coordination both in the private sector and then at UAB in the divisions of Infectious Diseases and Pulmonary.Naomi Duffort, MSW
Program Manager II
Division of Infectious Diseases
University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB)Naomi is a Program Manager for the COERE’s GRIT, DRIVEN, and CARES at UAB. She worked previously in social services policy and program management at the State of Maryland and in research study coordination at Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing. Naomi is a transplant from Baltimore, Maryland. Naomi holds a Master of Social Work from the University of Maryland, Baltimore.
Reid M. Eagleson, MS MEng, LSSGB
Program Manager II
Division of Infectious Diseases
University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB)
Reid Eagleson is a Program Manager for the Learning Health System, facilitating the integration of clinical care, health operations, and research across the academic medical center. He has previously worked at UAB Hospital’s Center for Nursing Excellence on several projects dedicated to improving nursing quality indicators, as well as at the Heart Failure Transitional Care Services for adults (HRTSA) Clinic, where he served as the business operations officer. In addition, he has received both his Master of Engineering with a concentration in construction engineer management and a Master of Science in healthcare quality and safety from The University of Alabama at Birmingham. He is currently pursuing a PhD in health services administration.Amber Ganoe
Program Manager
Division of Infectious Diseases
University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB)Amber is a Birmingham transplant originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She started her UAB career in January 2019 in the School of Health Professions. In 2021, Amber moved to a Program Administrator role in the Division of Infectious Diseases. There, she worked with Dr. Mugavero as his administrative support. With the growth of the COERE, she transformed her role into a Program Manager of all things COERE. Amber will complete her Master of Public Administration in the Fall of 2023.
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Associate Directors
Greer A. Burkholder, MD, MSPH
Associate Director
Associate Professor, Division of Infectious Diseases
University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB)Greer A. Burkholder, MD, MSPH is an Associate Professor of Medicine in the UAB Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases. Her research is focused on prevention and management of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and its risk factors among people with HIV (PWH). She is PI of an NHLBI K23 award focused on conducting novel studies on antihypertensive medication adherence among PLWH. She serves as the UAB site lead for myocardial infarction and stroke adjudication studies within the Centers for AIDS Research (CFAR) Network of Integrated Clinical Systems (CNICS) and as Co-Chair of the CVD Workgroup for the North American AIDS Cohort Collaboration on Research and Design (NA-ACCORD). She is UAB site PI for the Antiretroviral Cohort Collaboration (ART-CC) and for Practice Transformation in the Southeast AIDS Education and Training Center (SE AETC). Dr. Burkholder has been the Database and Informatics Component Leader for the UAB CFAR Clinical Core since 2012. In this role, she provides scientific oversight for the UAB HIV Cohort database and oversees the production of datasets for investigators within the UAB CFAR, as well as for multiple national (CNICS, WIHS) and international (ART-CC, NA-ACCORD) multisite HIV research collaborations. She is co-leader of the data transformation team for the COVID Core.
Crystal Chapman Lambert PhD, CRNP, NP-C, FNP-BC, ACRN
Associate Director
Assistant Professor, School of Nursing
University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB)
Dr. Chapman Lambert is an Associate Professor in the Department of Family, Community & Health Systems at the UAB School of Nursing. She is a certified family nurse practitioner who is recognized as a specialist in HIV management. Her research focuses on integrating, implementing, and evaluating behavioral interventions with the goal of reducing disparities and improving clinical outcomes among marginalized populations, with a current focus on African American (AA) women living with HIV (WLWH). She has conducted several studies to understand and address multi-level factors as they related to health outcome such as HIV medication and medical visit adherence among gender and racial minorities. She is the PI of a NIH NCCIH K23 to culturally tailor a mindfulness intervention for AA WLWH aimed to reduce stress and improve health and clinic outcomes. In addition, she serves on the board of directors for the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care (ANAC) and she is President-elect for the HIV/AIDS Nurses Certification Board (HANCB).Ronnie "Matt" Gravett, MD
Associate Director
Assistant Professor, Division of Infectious Diseases
University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB)Ronnie "Matt" Gravett, MD, MSPH is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Heersink School of Medicine. He focuses his research on HIV prevention and the intersection of HIV and STIs among sexual minority persons in the Deep South. Dr. Gravett. At UAB, he completed his clinical fellowship in Infectious Diseases as well as the AHRQ NRSA T32 Postdoctoral fellowship in Health Services, Outcomes, and Effectiveness Research in 2020. His research and educational work focus on improving sexual health outcomes in the Deep South, with a particular focus on HIV prevention among sexual and gender minority persons. His K23 research focuses on PrEP promotional messaging among gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men in the Deep South. In addition, he also works to understand participatory methods utilizing crowdsourcing to engage the community through designathons and open calls. He also works in clinical trials exploring new PrEP modalities as well as early-phase HIV vaccine trials. He is an Associate Director for the Center for Outcomes Education and Research Education (COERE), where he leads Gathering to Enrich and Advance Research (GEARs). As a clinician and educator, he leads the 1917 PrEP Clinic at UAB, sees patients living with HIV at 1917 Clinic, and leads the HIV curriculum for the Southeast STD/HIV Prevention Training Center. Recognizing affirmation as a remedy for stigma, he fervently believes and advocates for affirming and inclusive sexual health care for LGBTQ+ persons.
Larry R Hearld, PhD
Associate Director
Associate Professor, Department of Health Services
Director, PhD Program, Administration-Health Services
University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB)Larry R. Hearld, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor in the Department of Health Services Administration at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Director of the Ph.D. Program in Administration-Health Services. He is currently the co-editor of Health Care Management Review and serves on the editorial board of Medical Care Research and Review. His research focuses on the antecedents and consequences of organizational change in health care, with special emphasis on dissemination and implementation science in health care. He has been a PI and co-I on NIH-, AHRQ-, PCORI-, and foundation-funded studies that examine the dissemination and implementation of quality improvement processes and innovative care delivery models within hospitals, primary care organizations, and local communities. This research utilizes a range of methodological approaches, including effectiveness-implementation hybrid designs, mixed methods, and quasi-experimental designs. He currently teaches courses in research methods, organizational behavior, and dissemination and implementation science.
Bertha Hidalgo, PhD, MPH
Associate Director
Associate Professor, School of Public Health
University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB)Dr. Bertha Hidalgo is an Associate Professor in the Department of Epidemiology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the UAB School of Public Health. She holds degrees from Stanford University, the University of Southern California, and the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Her research focuses on health inequities related to COVID-19 and cardiometabolic diseases, with a particular focus on Latino populations, genomics, and dissemination science. She is passionate about science communication and leads a dissemination science project funded by Research Goes Red and Verily to increase awareness and education about CVD and increase participation in Research Goes Red. She is the principal investigator of an NHLBI-funded R01 to explore the epigenome of women with preeclampsia.
Dustin Long, PhD
Associate Director
Associate Professor, Department of Biostatistics
School of Public Health, University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB)Dustin M. Long is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biostatistics in the School of Public Health at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He received his PhD in Biostatistics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2012. At UAB, he has served as a biostatistician in the Center for AIDS Research (CFAR), collaborating with HIV and infectious disease researchers across campus. As an Associate Director of the Center of Outcomes and Effectiveness Research and Education (COERE), he provides biostatistical support to trainees, fellows, and outcomes researchers. He is currently working with doctoral students investigating missing clinic visits in HIV, collinearity in linear and logistic regression, and spatial modeling of HIV-related outcomes.
Shea Polancich, PhD, RN
Associate Director
Assistant Dean, Clinical Innovation for Quality Improvement
UAB Nursing Partnership, UAB School of Nursing and UAB HospitalShea Polancich has been practicing in quality and patient safety for two decades. She is currently an Associate Professor and Assistant Dean at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) School of Nursing with a primary practice at the UAB Medical Center, Birmingham, Alabama as a director specializing in nursing improvement, innovation, and analytics. Formerly, her roles included the Director for Quality and Patient Safety at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Director of Data Analysis and Measurement at Texas Health Resources, NIH/NINR research intern, and health policy fellow at George Mason University. She currently serves on a technical expert panel for the NQF, and is a column editor for the Journal for Healthcare Quality.
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Steering Committee
Irfan Asif, MD
Steering Committee Member
School of Medicine
University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB)Monica Aswani, DrPH
Steering Committee Member
School of Health Professions
University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB)Daniel Chu, MD
Steering Committee Member
School of Medicine
University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB)Patricia Drentea, MA, PhD
Steering Committee Member
College of Arts and Sciences
University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB)Russell Griffin, PhD
Steering Committee Member
School of Public Health
University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB)Anand Iyer, MD, MSPH
Steering Committee Member
School of Medicine
University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB)Elizabeth Jackson, MD
Steering Committee Member
School of Medicine
University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB)Kierstin Kennedy, MD, MSHA
Steering Committee Member
School of Medicine
University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB)Sarah Nafziger, MD
Steering Committee Member
School of Medicine
University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB)Patricia Patrician, PhD, RN, FAAN
Steering Committee Member
School of Nursing
University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB)Robert Weech-Maldonado, PhD
Steering Committee Member
School of Health Professions
University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB)James Willig, MD, MSPH
Steering Committee Member
School of Medicine
University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) -
Internal Advisory Committee
Tika Benveniste, PhD
Internal Advisory Committee Member
Associate Director for Basic Research, UAB Heersink School of Medicine
University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB)Suzanne Judd, PhD
Internal Advisory Committee Member
Professor, School of Public Health
University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB)Christy Lemak, PhD, FACHE
Internal Advisory Committee Member
Professor, School of Health Professions
University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB)James Rimmer, PhD
Internal Advisory Committee Member
Professor, School of Health Professions
University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB)Ken Saag, MD, MSc
Internal Advisory Committee Member
Professor, UAB Heersink School of Medicine
University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB)Alan Tita, MD
Internal Advisory Committee Member
Professor, UAB Heersink School of Medicine
University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB)David Vance, PhD, MGS, MS
Internal Advisory Committee Member
Professor, School of Nursing
University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) -
External Advisory Committee
Jeroan Allison, MD, MS
External Advisory Committee Chair
Chair and Professor, Population and Quantitative Health Sciences
University of MassachusettsRobert Dittus, MD, MPH
External Advisory Committee Member
Chief Innovation Officer & Senior Vice President, Vanderbilt Health Affiliated Network
Vanderbilt UniversityWhitney Rice, DrPH, MPH
External Advisory Committee Member
Assistant Professor, Behavioral, Social and Health Education Sciences
Emory UniversityBorsika Rabin, PharmD, PhD, MPH
External Advisory Committee Member
Associate Professor, School of Public Health, Co-Director UC San Diego Dissemination and Implementation Science Centers
University of California San DiegoElizabeth Shenkman, PhD
External Advisory Committee Member
Chair and Professor, Health Outcomes and Biomedical Informatics
University of Florida