Established in 1992, the Robert Wood Johnson Scholars in Health Policy Research Program has enabled outstanding new Ph.D.s in economics, political science, and sociology to advance their involvement in health policy research through two-year fellowships at three nationally prominent universities—the University of California at Berkeley/San Francisco, Harvard University, and the University of Michigan.  Based at HPI, the national program office oversees Program operations and provides technical assistance to the participating universities.  Alan B. Cohen is the National Program Director, Eileen M. Connor is the Deputy Director, Kathleen Araújo is the Program Manager, and Jennifer E. Drake is the Research Analyst.
                                                                                                                       
In 2007, the Program successfully recruited a diverse group of 13 highly talented individuals to its 14th cohort of Scholars, bringing the total number of past and present Program participants to 166 and the Foundation’s total investment in the Program to $67.3 million.  The Foundation also made a grant of $901,000 to the HPRP to support three additional Scholars, to be selected by the National Program Office and the National Advisory Committee.  The competition for the 15th cohort is now underway.  The 13th annual meeting—held at the Aspen Institute in Aspen, Colorado in June 2007—showcased the research of the Scholars in a broad array of areas within health policy.  Program alumni who were honored recently include:  Mark Sawyer (recipient of the American Political Science Association's 2007 Ralph J. Bunche Award); Elizabeth Bruch (co-recipient with Professor Robert Mare of the 2007 Robert Park Best Article Award from the American Sociological Association's Community and Urban Sociology Section); Julia Lynch (recipient of the 2007 Best Book Award in European Politics from the American Political Science Association); and Kelly Devers (recipient of AcademyHealth’s 2006 HSR Impact Award for outstanding research that has been successfully translated into health policy, management or clinical practice).   Further information about the Program may be found at http://www.healthpolicyscholars.org.

HPRP is participating in the evaluation of a major change initiative whose purpose is to address the under-representation of women in leadership and senior roles in academic medicine.  Under a $3.5 million grant from the Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation to the Women’s Studies Research Center at Brandeis University, the National Initiative on Gender, Culture and Leadership in Medicine is employing a Learning Action Network to link and engage five participating medical schools in a group process that will drive change within their institutions.  The Initiative also is examining the factors responsible for the lack of advancement for under-represented minority and generalist medical faculty.  Leading the Initiative is Linda Pololi, M.D., of Brandeis University.  The evaluation team is led by Ed Krupat, Ph.D., of Harvard Medical School.  Alan B. Cohen is a member of the evaluation team, with responsibility for designing a uniform reporting instrument to be used by participating institutions, and key informant interview guides to be used in site visits.  The multi-method evaluation also involves a survey of faculty and administrators at the participating sites.  The Initiative is a five-year effort that will end in 2011.

Funded by a $108,272 grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), the overarching aim of this study is to assist the Foundation in identifying what role(s) it might play in increasing the number of health and healthcare workers who are highly proficient in process improvement methods.  This eight-month project is scanning the quality improvement field to identify and assess currently available training opportunities and resources that may help healthcare workers to acquire process improvement skills.  Study results will inform the RWJF’s Human Capital team regarding programmatic opportunities and options to improve the knowledge base and skill sets of public and private health and healthcare workers, managers, and leaders through training in the theory and practice of process improvement.  HPRP researchers include:  Sally K. Holmes, principal investigator; Alan B. Cohen, co-principal investigator; and Jennifer E. Drake, project manager.  The study is scheduled to conclude in December 2007.

Under a $49,819 grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), this project will continue the work of a previous grant to advise the Foundation regarding the development of training opportunities and resources to aid healthcare workers in acquiring process improvement skills.  HPRP staff members will work with the RWJF’s Human Capital Team, providing technical assistance in developing an online training resource guide and convening expert and end-user panels to provide input to program development.  (Sally K. Holmes, Principal Investigator)

October 31, 2008