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Learn more about our IDEAS investigators.

Investigator Title Focus Areas
Bouldin, Erin Associate Professor, Internal Medicine, University of Utah Epidemiology, Observational Data, Population-Level Health Experiences, Determinants of Function, Program Evaluation, Rural Health, Quantitative Data Analyses, Survey Design, Qualitative Methods, Caregivers, Chronic Wound Healing, Diabetes, Chronic Pain, Alzheimer’s Disease / Dementia, 
Brooke, Benjamin Vascular Surgeon, VA Salt Lake City; Associate Professor, Surgery, University of Utah; Adjunct Assistant Professor, Biomedical Informatics, University of Utah; Adjunct Associate Professor, Population Health Sciences, University of Utah Surgical Outcomes and Quality
Burningham, Zachary Research Assistant Professor, Internal Medicine, University of Utah; Adjunct Assistant Professor, Nursing, University of Utah Informatics Tools, Health Care Delivery, Patient Outcomes, Quality Improvement, Clinical Decision Support, Health Informatics, Clinical Dashboards, Query Tools, Medication Safety and Adherence, Geriatric Medicine, Database Analytics, Measurement Science, Data Science, User Experience Design, Pharmacoepidemiology, Comparative Effectiveness Research
Butler, Jorie  Research Associate Professor, Internal Medicine, University of Utah; Research Associate Professor, Biomedical Informatics, University of Utah; Adjunct Assistant Professor, Psychology, University of Utah Decision Support Systems, Survey Methodology, Qualitative Research, User-Computer Interface, Aging
Cochran, Gerald (Jerry) Research Director, Program on Addiction Research, Clinical Care, Knowledge, and Advocacy, Division of Epidemiology, University of Utah; Associate Professor, Internal Medicine, University of Utah; Adjunct Associate Professor, Psychiatry, University of Utah Health Care and Health Services, Behavioral Health, Substance Abuse, Program Evaluation, Evidence-Based Practice
Drews, Frank  Associate Professor, Psychology, University of Utah; Adjunct Assistant Professor, Anesthesiology, University of Utah; Adjunct Associate Professor, Biomedical Informatics, University of Utah; Adjunct Professor, Internal Medicine, University of Utah Cognition in Context, Medical Decision Making, Human Error in Medicine, Human Factors, Visualization, and Visual Attention
Fagerlin, Angie  Chair & Professor, Department of Population Health Sciences, University of Utah  Perception of Risks, Testing Methods for Improving Risk Communication, Developing and Testing of Decision Aids in Clinical Contexts, Patient Decision Making, Patient-Physician Communication, Numeracy Skills, End of Life
Gawron, Andrew  Associate Director, National VA Gastroenterology and Hepatology Program; Associate Division Chief & Associate Professor, Division of Gastroenterology, University of Utah Esophageal Disease, Digestive Disease, Quality Initiatives
Gawron, Lori  Clinical Associate Professor, Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Utah; Gynecology Section Chief, VA Salt Lake City Biomedical Informatics, Reproductive Planning and Pregnancy, Contraceptive Methods, Contraceptive Services, Veteran Women’s Health
Gordon, Adam  Professor of Medicine and Psychiatry, University of Utah; Section Chief of Addiction Medicine, VA Salt Lake City Pain, Opioid-Related Disorders, Alcohol/Alcoholism, Addiction
Halwani, Ahmad  Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Hematology and Hematologic Malignancies, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Utah  Hemataology, Oncology, Clinical Trial Design, Compartive Effectiveness Research, Lymphoid Malignancies, Lymphoma and Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL)
Jones, Audrey Co-Director, Evaluation for the Vulnerable Veteran Innovative Patient Aligned Care Team (VIP) Initiative; Assistant Professor, Internal Medicine, University of Utah School Mental Health Services, Health Care for Vulnerable Veterans, Medical
Informatics, Primary Care and Mental Health / Substance Use Disorder (MHSUD), Health Care Delivery, Homelessness
Jones, Barbara  Assistant Professor, Internal Medicine, University of Utah Decision-Making in Pneumonia, Population Analytics, Qualitative Inquiry of Cognitive Behavior, Clinical Decision Support 
Jones, Makoto  Co-Director, Medical Informatics Fellowship, VA Salt Lake City, Associate Professor, Internal Medicine, University of Utah Medical Informatics, Biosurveillance, Epidemiology/Nosocomial Infections, Mathematical Modeling, Infection Control, Antimicrobial Stewardship, Antibiotic-Resistant Pathogens, Machine Learning, Health Services Research
Kean, Jacob Director of the Population Health Science - U Health Learning Health System; Associate Professor, Population Health Sciences, University of Utah; Adjunct Associate Professor, Biomedical Informatics, University of Utah Research Networks, Evaluation of Network Care Practices, Patient-Centered Outcomes, Pragmatic Research, Improvement Science, Patient-Centered and Health Service Methodologies
Keegan, Lindsey Research Assistant Professor, Internal Medicine, University of Utah Transmission Dynamics, Spatial Statistics, Mathematical Biology, Infectious Disease Dynamics, Epidemiology
Kelley, Taylor Primary Care Staff Physician, Vulnerable Veteran Innovative Patient-Aligned Care Team Initiative (VIP) Clinic, VA Salt Lake City; Assistant Professor, Internal Medicine, University of Utah School of Medicine Access to Care, Vulnerable Populations, Addiction Treatment, Opioid Use Disorder, Research Evaluation, Integrated Healthcare Delivery and Policy, Implementation Science
Khader, Karim  Research Assistant Professor, Internal Medicine, University of Utah Statistical Methodology, Mathematical Models, Computer Simulations, Healthcare-Associated Infections 
Knight, Sara Co-Director, HSR Fellowship, VA Salt Lake City; Professor, Division of Epidemiology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Utah Cancer, Prostate Cancer, Palliative Medicine, Genomics and Personalized Medicine, Quality of Life and Patient-Reported Outcomes, Medical Decision Making, Patient Values, Patient Preferences, Shared Decision Making, Patient and Clinician Education
Leecaster, Molly  Research Associate Professor, Internal Medicine, University of Utah Biostatistics, Statistical and Mathematical  Modeling, Epidemiology, Infection Prevention
Lewis, Julia Assistant Professor (Clinical), Internal Medicine, University of Utah Infectious Diseases, Infection Prevention
Mayer, Jeanmarie Hospital Epidemiologist, University of Utah Health Care Hospitals and Clinics Healthcare Epidemiology, Infectious Disease, Multidrug Resistant Organisms, Healthcare-Associated Infections, Surveillance, Outbreak Investigations, Quality Improvement Initiatives
Mohanty , April  Research Assistant Professor, Internal Medicine, University of Utah Cardiovascular Healthcare and Epidemiology,, Cardiovascular and Chronic Disease Prevention, Management, and Related Outcomes, Health Equity
Morgan Millar Research Assistant Professor, Internal Medicine, University of Utah Survey Methodology, Research Recruitment Methods, Social Disparities in Cancer, Health Disparities
Nelson, Richard  Associate Professor, Internal Medicine, University of Utah; Adjunct Assistant Professor, Pediatrics, University of Utah; Adjunct Associate Professor, Population Health Sciences, University of Utah Health Economics, Homelessness, Infectious Disease
Presson, Angela Director, University of Utah Study Design and Biostatistics Center (SDBC), Center for Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) Translational Research: Implementation, Analysis & Design (TRIAD); Research Professor, Internal Medicine, University of Utah; Adjunct Associate Professor, Family & Preventive Medicine, University of Utah; Adjunct Associate Professor, Orthopaedics, University of Utah; Adjunct Assistant Professor, Pediatrics, University of Utah; Adjunct Associate Professor, Population Health Sciences, University of Utah Statistical Genetics, Comparative Effectiveness and Patient Outcomes Research, Assessment of Patient Satisfaction
Pugh, Mary Jo Professor, Internal Medicine, University of Utah; Adjunct Professor, Population Health Sciences, University of Utah Phenotypes of Multimorbidity, Epidemiology Using Multimodal Biomarkers, Chronic Effects of Traumatic Brain Injury epidemiology and outcomes, Epilepsy Outcomes Research, Health-related Instrument and Survey Development
Redd, Andrew  Research Assistant Professor, Internal Medicine, University of Utah; Adjunct Assistant Professor, Family and Preventive Medicine, University of Utah; Adjunct Assistant Professor, Population Health Sciences, University of Utah Biostatistics, Data Interpretation, Statistical, Clinical Natural Language Processing, Big Data Analytics, Data Mining in Biomedical Informatics, Data Analysis, Information Extraction, Models, Statistical, Parametric and Nonparametric Inferential Statistics, Statistics
Rhoads, Jamie Assistant Professor (Clinical), Dermatology, University of Utah Immunobullous Diseases, Psoriasis
Rubin, Michael  Co-Director, HSR Fellowship, VA Salt Lake City; Associate Director, IDEAS COIN, VA Salt Lake City; Vice Chair for Faculty Affairs and Development, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Utah School of Medicine; Professor of Medicine, University of Utah; Chief, Section of Epidemiology, VA Salt Lake City  Infectious Disease, Infection Control, Infectious Disease Clinical Decision Support, Medical Informatics, Computer Simulation, Intervention Studies, Healthcare-Associated Infections, Infectious Disease Surveillance, Electronic Disease Surveillance
Rupper, Rand  Acting Director, Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center, VA Salt Lake City; Professor (Clinical) of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Utah Rural Health Care for Older Adults, Health Care Outcomes Associated with Different Patterns of Health Care Utilization,  Cost-Effectiveness of Different Home Care and Community Level Interventions targeting Functional Loss in Older Adults, Health Outcomes of Novel Policy Interventions and Clinical Innovations, Data Analysis to Longitudinally Support Decisions made by Vulnerable Community Dwelling Elders, Tele-Health Technology, Medicare Coverage, Caregiving
Samore, Matthew  Director, IDEAS COIN, VA Salt Lake City; Division Chief of Epidemiology, University of Utah; Professor of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Utah Clostridium Difficile, Measures of Clinical Performance, Antibiotic-Resistant Pathogens, Biomedical Informatics
Sauer, Brian  Co-Director, Medical Informatics Fellowship, VA Salt Lake City; Associate Professor, Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Utah; Adjunct Associate Professor, Family and Preventive Medicine (Public Health), University of Utah; Adjunct Associate Professor, Pharmacotherapy, College Pharmacy, University of Utah; Adjunct Associate Professor, Population Health Sciences (Biostatistics), School of Medicine, University of Utah; Adjunct Associate Professor, Biomedical Informatics, School of Medicine, University of Utah Pharmacoepidemiology, Medical Informatics, Health Care Quality and Patient Safety, Quality of Medication Use, Causal Inference
Shardool, Patel

Research Assistant Professor, Internal Medicine, University of Utah; Associate Chief Health Informatics Officer, VA Salt Lake City

Clinical Informatics, Database Research, Pharmacoepidemiology, Workflow Automation, Comprehensive Medication Management

Stevens, Vanessa  Research Associate Professor, Internal Medicine, University of Utah; Adjunct Assistant Professor, Pediatrics, University of Utah Infectious Diseases, Unintended Effects of Medication Use, Pharmacoepidemiologic and Comparative Effectiveness Research, Clostridium Difficile Infection, Vancomycin-Associated Nephrotoxicity
Taber, Peter Research Assistant Professor, Biomedical Informatics, University of Utah Anthropology, Ethnographic Methods, Information Infrastructures, Ethnographic Fieldwork, Qualitative Interviewing, Social Network Analysis, Qualitative Research, Quality improvement
Toth, Damon Assistant Professor, Division of Epidemiology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Utah; Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Mathematics, University of Utah Mathematical Modeling, Simulation of the Spread of Infectious Disease
Vanneman, Megan  Associate Professor, Division of Epidemiology, Department of Internal Medicine & Division of Health System Innovation and Research, Department of Population Health Sciences Health Policy, Access to Care, Health Equity, Behavioral Health, Value
Vega Yon, George Research Assistant Professor, Internal Medicine, University of Utah Novel Statistical Methods, Social Networks, Phylogenetics, High-Performance Computing, Bayesian Statistics
Visnovsky, Lindsay Research Assistant Professor, Internal Medicine, University of Utah
Infection Prevention, Hospital Epidemiology, Survey Design, Methodology, Qualitative Methods, Cognitive Science, Patient Safety Outcomes
Walsh, Jessica Associate Professor, Internal Medicine, University of Utah; Adjunct Associate Professor, Dermatology, University of Utah; Director, Spondyloarthritis Clinic; Co-Director, Combined Psoriatic Diseases Clinic Rheumatology, Psoriatic Diseases, Spondyloarthritis
Zickmund, Susan Associate Director, IDEAS COIN, VA Salt Lake City, Director; VA Health Services Research and Development (HSR&D) Centralized Transcription Services Program; Co-Director, Qualitative, Survey, and Measurement Core, Utah Center for Clinical and Translational Science & Professor of Epidemiology, Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Utah Understanding Reasons for Racial, Ethnic, and Gender Disparities in Satisfaction with VA Care, Determining the Barriers to Treatment for Veterans with Hepatitis C, Learning the Race-Specific Barriers Faced by African American Veterans Who Seek Treatment for Hepatitis C, Developing Mixed-Methods (Qualitative-Quantitative) Approaches to Integrating Data Analysis, Exploring Disparities in Racial and Ethnic Satisfaction with VA Health Care, Examining the Methodologic Overlaps Between Qualitative Data and Bioinformatics, Developing Novel Approaches to the Formative Evaluation of Implementation Research