Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute Names Two Leading Scientists to Direct Core Research ProgramsPatient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute Names Two Leading Scientists to Direct Core Research Programs
Washington, D.C. – The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) has named prominent academic scientists from Chicago and Portland, Ore., to lead two of the institute’s core research program areas. The appointments are the latest in PCORI’s effort to build a team that will oversee a portfolio of rigorous research designed to help patients and those who care for them make better-informed health and healthcare decisions.
Romana Hasnain-Wynia, PhD, was named PCORI’s Health Disparities Research Program leader and David Hickam, MD, MPH, was selected to direct the Comparative Assessment of Options Research Program.
“We are thrilled to welcome two such exceptionally talented and experienced researchers to our science team,” said PCORI Executive Director Joe Selby, MD, MPH. “They complement a growing roster of seasoned investigators committed to our mission of producing and promoting high-integrity, evidence-based information that provides answers to questions critical to patients and those who care for them.
Health Disparities and Comparative Assessment of Options are two of the five research program areas that correspond to PCORI’s five National Priorities for Research. The other three programs are Health Systems Research, Communication and Dissemination Research, and Research Infrastructure.
Dr. Hasnain-Wynia joins PCORI from Northwestern University, where she directed the Center for Healthcare Equity and was Associate Professor at the Feinberg School of Medicine. Prior to her work at Northwestern, Dr. Hasnain-Wynia served as vice president of research for the Health Research and Educational Trust, the research and education affiliate of the American Hospital Association.
Dr. Hasnain-Wynia has served as the principal investigator for a number of national studies examining quality of care for underserved populations. She also is a senior associate editor at the journal Health Services Research (HSR). She received her PhD in health policy from Brandeis University's Heller School for Social Policy and Management.
Dr. Hickam joins PCORI after serving as a general internist and educator of inpatient medicine at the Portland, Ore., VA Medical Center. He also directed the center’s medical informatics fellowship.
Dr. Hickam was a professor in the Oregon Health Sciences University Department of Medicine and has joint faculty appointments there in the Department of Medical Informatics & Clinical Epidemiology and the Department of Public Health & Preventive Medicine. His research has focused on information exchange between clinicians and patients, and practice variation in VA primary care settings. Dr. Hickam received his medical degree from the University of California, San Francisco, and his master’s degree in public health from the University of California, Berkeley.