Arian Khoshgowari MPH'19 co-authored a children's book called "The Masked Heroes,” with 100% of the proceeds to be donated to a non-profit that is helping children throughout the pandemic.
Alumni News & Notes
Learn about the recent accomplishments of your fellow Dartmouth Institute alumni—
Patrick Ho, MD, MPH'20Patrick Ho penned a reflection piece on patient advocacy in the August issue of Psychiatric Services. Ho serves as president of the New Hampshire branch of the American Psychiatric Association, having advanced into the role in 2019 as a fourth-year psychiatry and preventive medicine resident.
Reed Bratches, MALS'18, MPH’19Dartmouth Institute PhD candidate Reed Bratches recently received his first research award – the Thomas D. Sayles Research Grant from the Ethics Institute at Dartmouth. Reed is leading a national survey to understand how informal caregivers use technology to interact with clinical information. The results will help determine the best ways of supporting caregivers and their loved ones. Learn more about Reed's work.
Stoddard Davenport MPH'19
New research by Stoddard Davenport, a healthcare management consultant at Milliman, looks at how out-of-pocket costs for patients requiring hospitalization for COVID-19 could vary depending on a number of different factors, including healthcare payer, state, age, length-of-stay, and complications.
Holly Gaspar MPH'19
Holly Gaspar recently had her MPH practicum work accepted for a workshop presentation at the New Hampshire Children's Trust Annual Strengthening Families Summit. Her project focuses on collaborations with healthcare settings and community resources to enhance support and access for children and families impacted by substance misuse and social vulnerabilities during early childhood. She uses approaches in research, the Dartmouth-Microsystems quality improvement process, systems theory, and strength-based and trauma informed care. Holly is continuing to expand this work in collaboration with many national stakeholders with the design of a practice toolkit, expansion of provider education, and several other system initiatives that impact care delivery.
Hasna Hakim MPH'19Hasna's MPH qualitative research project, "Initial User Testing of Option Grid Decision Aids for Multiple Sclerosis Disease Modifying Therapy," was recently published in the Journal of Neuroscience Nursing.
Beth Hoffman MPH’19 Beth has started a new role as a global patient safety advocate with the Cardiac Rhythm Management/Heart Failure division at Medtronic, an international leader in medical technology, services, and solutions. A cardiovascular physician assistant, Beth says her new role “perfectly combines my clinical background with my MPH.” She also recently completed a health policy internship at United States of Care, a nonpartisan think tank founded by Andy Slavitt, former Acting Administrator of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services under President Obama. Beth wrote a blog post for the organization sharing her reflections as a cardiovascular physician assistant during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Tarun Jella MPH'19
Prior to Dartmouth, Tarun wrote his senior capstone project on the public health impact of the Spanish flu of 1918 for his history major at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU). A feature story from CWRU's The Daily showcases how Tarun's work has proven useful in informing media coverage—and, in turn, public understanding—of the coronavirus pandemic. Tarun is currently a first-year student at Case Western Reserve’s School of Medicine. He also led a newly published study in The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery which finds that many older orthopaedic surgeons work in states with high COVID-19 burdens.
Arian Khoshgowari MPH'19In early fall as schools worked to re-open, Arian Khoshgowari MPH'19 teamed up with his mother to author and illustrate a children's book called "The Masked Heroes." Follow James, Ryan, and Lily as they learn the importance of hand washing, social distancing, and mask wearing to become heroes by helping to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
The book is available for free on themaskedheroesbook.com. It will soon be available in different languages and also on Amazon, with 100% of the proceeds to be donated to a non-profit that is helping children throughout the pandemic.
Briana Krewson MPH'19
A first-year medical student at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, Briana co-founded Medical Students for Masks to help address the shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) in Philadelphia's hospitals. They have provided more than 17,000 masks, 3,000 gowns, and 2,600 additional supplies (including plastic ear savers and goggles) directly to hospitals over the past few weeks. The team has raised over $60,000 through grassroots fundraising to get PPE distributed to the front line.
Fiona McEnany MPH'19A Dartmouth-Institute-led study, recently published in the journal Pediatrics, is a continuation of lead author's Fiona McEnany's MPH'19 capstone research project. The study offers new details about pediatric mental health boarding in emergency departments across the country, a problem that has steadily increased in the last 10 years and been made worse by a shortage of psychiatric resources.
Catherine Alexander, DNP, MPH '18, RN MPH alumna Catherine Alexander is the lead author of "Building a Reliable Health Care System:
A Lean Six Sigma Quality Improvement Initiative on Patient Handoff," recently published in the Journal of Nursing Care Quality. The article was co-authored by serveral colleagues from Dartmouth-Hitchcock, the Veterans Health Administration, and the White River Junction VA Medical Center, including Dartmouth Institute alumnus and Associate Professor Brant Oliver, PhD, MS, MPH, FNP-BC, PMHNP-BC.
Benjamin Cher MS'18Benjamin Cher, now a medical student at University of Michigan, is lead author on a new paper in JAMA Network Open which finds that current measures of social risk used by value-based purchasing programs may reflect clinical risk unmeasured by Medicare claims instead of social risk as intended.
Karen George MD, MPH'18Karen George is a co-author on a comprehensive study recently released by the Institute for Medicaid Innovation. The report provides information to support the development of a business case for the midwifery-led model of care in Medicaid and discusses the realities and challenges this model may face. Karen explains the report is getting much attention in the focus to get low-risk women out of the hospital and into birth centers to help achieve better birth outcomes.
Natasha Kurien MPH'18Natasha works at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center on health services and implementation science research at CATALYST. Her research focuses on reducing opioid overdose deaths by 40 percent in Ohio, Massachusetts, New York and Kentucky over the span of five years. Some other projects within her work include creating a measurement tool to measure patients' capacity to engage, a quality improvement project for implementing medication assisted treatment in their hospital, and understanding patient-reported outcomes for cancer treatments.
Brent Quimby MPH'18, MBA'20Brent Quimby was recognized as one of this year’s Poets&Quants 100 Best & Brightest MBAs. Quimby, who recently graduated in the Class of 2020 at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, was praised as an “adaptable and resilient leader who emphasizes the importance of consistency and teamwork built on trust.” He is now working as a senior consultant at Deloitte Consulting LLP in Boston.
Chase Hendrickson, MD, MPH'16Chase Hendrickson is the host of a new journal-club podcast for the Endocrine Society. Chase practices general endocrinology at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where he is an associate program director for the endocrinology fellowship program.
Salman Hussain MPH'16Salman was recently elected to the Board of Directors of the National Alopecia Areata Foundation.
Cole Zanetti, DO, MPH'16
Cole was appointed as the senior advisor for the Veteran Health Administration’s Innovation Ecosystem. In this role, he will be helping the VA nationally in shaping the vision and strategic direction of the entire innovation arm of the VA. This position is an add-on to his current role as a primary care section chief in the Colorado VA so that he can continue to provide guidance from the perspective of an on-the-ground-clinician.
Brian Sites, MD, MS'14 Brian has been selected to serve as editor-in-chief (EIC) of the journal Regional Anesthesia & Pain Medicine.
Thom Walsh, PhD'12, MS'02During his time at Dartmouth, Thom worked to help develop the Master of Health Care Delivery Science (MHCDS) program as one of the original curriculum specialists from 2010-2013 and completed a post-doc period in the Preference Lab at The Dartmouth Institute in 2014.
Thom recently returned to the northeast, moving to Burlington, VT. Also, this year, he joined Safe & Reliable Healthcare as a Senior High Reliability Expert where he writes about, teaches people, and helps organizations implement principles and practices of high reliability in healthcare delivery. The principles and practices are adapted from aviation and nuclear power where even small mishaps can have devastating consequences. Thom is also an adjunct lecturer with the Institute where he teaches and mentors students in the hybrid MPH program. He is also a visiting professor at Boise State University.
Bianca Belcher, MPH'10, PA-C
Bianca Belcher was promoted to Vice President of Clinical Operations for Steward Health Care Network and now oversees the network's strategy and efforts in the transitions and post-acute care space. The clinical team, made up of over 150 nurses, community health workers, social workers, pharmacists, and behavioral health specialists aims to reduce total cost of care and improve quality outcomes for their ACO.
Tina Jackson MPH’10 Tina recently took time to reflect on the past 10 years since graduating from The Dartmouth Institute. Although her MPH education has afforded her many opportunities and accomplishments in hospital strategy and finance, the lifelong friendships she made with classmates have proven to be the most meaningful. Those classmates and role models include Denise Serrano-Eanelli, Mabel Balduf, Grace Nicksa, and Claire Manneh, all class of 2010. And also, huge high-five to her sister and best friend, Lisa (Jackson) Lucas, for also getting her MPH from Dartmouth in 2014!
Shannon Sweeney MPH'09Shannon Sweeney and husband Tyson Seely (Tuck '13) welcomed their second daughter in July 2020, Nellie Kate Seely, who joins big sister Etta (2). Shannon has been working remotely as a research associate for Oregon Health & Science University on the AHRQ-funded EvidenceNOW evaluation called ESCALATES.
Jvawnna Bell MPH'08 Jvawnna recently started a new position at Boehringer Ingelheim as a Senior Associate Director, Health System Health Economics and Outcomes Research Liaison.
William Padula, PhD, MS'08 and Manish Mishra, MD, MPH'09In an op-ed for The Hill, William Padula and Manish Mishra propose that a voluntary draft of healthcare workers could relieve capacity burden on frontline staff, reduce unemployment, and protect health insurance for millions of Americans.
James Lynch, MD, MS'01For Dartmouth Institute alumnus James Lynch, MD, MS'01, brain health has become his passion. In a recent article for Thrive Global, he and his colleagues reflect on team-based care for treating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), highlighting a 'potentially game-changing treatment' that pairs a biological intervention called Stellate Ganglion Block (SGB) with high quality psychological care.
Over the past 10 years, James has been spearheading the advancement of SGB to treat post-traumatic stress symptoms. Find out more: www.drjameslynch.com/stellate-ganglion-block