Learning Sessions

Upcoming

To obtain more information and to register for the events listed, please email hrec@hsc.utah.edu.

If you are interested in leading a learning session, please email hrec@hsc.utah.edu.

Past

Skill Building Seminar Series

"Recruitment and Retention Strategies for Populations Facing Health Disparities" discussion with panelists: Erin Bouldin, PhD, MPH, Priscilla Blosser, RN, BSN, SCRC, Grace Humiston, BS, CCRC, and Kathryn Szczotka, MPH, CCRC from the University of Utah School of Medicine

Dr. Bouldin is trained as an epidemiologist and health services researcher. Her research focuses on factors that influence disability and function and ways to improve health and participation. She is particularly interested in the experiences and home- and community-based service needs of: people living with disabilities, injuries, and cognitive impairment; family caregivers; people living in rural areas; and military service members and Veterans.

Priscilla Blosser, RN, BSN, SCRC, is born to the Diné (Navajo) Nation. She is Honágháahnii, One-Walks-Around clan, born to the Korean race on her Father’s side. Kinłichíi’nii, the Red House People, on her maternal Grandfather’s clan. The bilagáana, white people, is her paternal Grandfather’s clan. She made the transition from clinical nursing to clinical research nursing in 2019 and started with Huntsman Cancer Institute’s Clinical Trials Office coordinating Phase I, II, and III Hematology clinical trials where she was able to use her nursing skills and apply this to the research. She has since been working with the Program for Addiction Research, Clinical Care, Knowledge, and Advocacy (PARCKA).

Grace Humiston, BS, SCRC, began working in behavioral research in 2014 and has since moved into clinical research and investigational drug trials including Phase 1-3 trials at Huntsman Cancer Institute. She has been with PARCKA since 2021 where she is the Sr. Clinical Research Coordinator helping to oversee multiple trials for pregnant and postpartum individuals with substance use disorder.

Kathryn Szczotka, MPH, SCRC, started working in research in 2013 quite by accident and fell in love with clinical research. From working in reproductive health, pediatric clinical trials, to high- risk OB research, and now substance use research, she has extensive experience in recruiting populations for a variety of research studies.

Date: May 15, 2025

Time: 12:00-1:00 pm

Please RSVP by May 12, 2025 to ensure that we have enough food for those attending in person.

"Health Policy" presented by Matt Slonaker, JD, MA

Matt Slonaker, JD, MA, became the Executive Director of the Utah Health Policy Project in September 2013, bringing with him a wealth of experience and a passion for making a difference. Matt Slonaker's commitment to improving healthcare extended to Utah, where he played a pivotal role as a founding organizer of the successful Proposition 3 campaign to expand Medicaid. Matt's contributions to this successful campaign galvanized his reputation as a knowledgeable and influential advocate for change. Together with his dedicated team and community partners, he continues to work tirelessly to develop innovative strategies that strengthen Utah's healthcare system, ensuring the well-being of its residents. Together with his dedicated team and community partners, he continues to work tirelessly to develop innovative strategies that strengthen Utah's healthcare system, ensuring the well-being of its residents.

Date: April 24, 2025

Time: 12:00-1:00 pm

“Community Engagement and Community-Based Participatory Research” presented by the West Side Community Review Board

The West Side Community Review Board (WSCRB) advises on, and reviews research done in west side Salt Lake County neighborhoods. The goal is to ensure that studies are carried out in collaboration with, and to the benefit of, west side communities. WSCRB's board is mostly composed of local residents who are trained in best practices for community-based research (CBR). This event will center on the history of the WSCRB, provide an overview of CBR principles, and open a dialogue on how to foster greater collaboration with our local communities.

Date: March 28, 2025

Time: 12:00-1:00 pm

“Engaging Community Health Systems Leaders in Heath Equity Research” with discussion panelists Andy Garrison, MD, FAAFP, from the Community Health Centers, Kevin Nguyen, MPH, CPH, from the Healthy West Valley City committee, and Peter Weir, MD, MPH, from the Intensive Outpatient Clinic

Dr. Garrison is a family medicine physician who has worked for over a decade with Community Health Centers, Inc., including 5 years as the Medical Director. He completed medical school at Duke University, followed by family medicine residency and obstetrics fellowship at the University of Utah, and then worked for 3 years at the Blackfeet Community Hospital on the Blackfeet Reservation in western Montana. Besides his clinical practice, he's also a core faculty member for the new Community Health Centers Family Medicine Residency, which will be the first Teaching Health Center residency in Utah.

Kevin Nguyen, MPH, CPH, is a first-generation high school and college graduate who grew up in West Valley City. Coming from a single-parent, immigrant household, he’s learned to navigate the intricacies of our social and educational systems which have molded him into a community advocate and experienced public health professional. He is the co-founder and Director of Partnerships and Community Engagement at Proxima Careers where he works to develop community led partnerships and strategies to support individuals into healthcare pathways. In addition to his role at Proxima, he serves as a Squad Leader on Salt Lake County’s Search and Rescue team and is part of several state and local commissions, boards, and coalitions. Through his service, he hopes to continue to bridge the strengths of the community to solve the challenges we face together.

Dr. Weir currently serves as the Chief Population Health Officer for the University of Utah. Dr. Weir trained as a Family Medicine physician and completed a Masters of Public Health which sparked his interest in population health. He has a decade of experience working in the employer setting leading an onsite clinic that focused on improving health outcomes and reducing healthcare costs. Currently, he is developing programs that align the U Health system to provide high value care. His responsibilities include creating and managing a high-risk clinic for Medicaid members, providing leadership for post-acute care, and creating a new curriculum for medical students to learn about healthcare systems. He is passionate about redefining how healthcare is delivered with a desire to make it affordable, accessible, and patient-centered.

Date: February 3, 2025

Time: 12:00-1:00 pm

“Race and Ethnicity Data Collection” presented by Diana Naranjo, PhD, MPH, and Jacob Kean, PhD

Dr. Naranjo is a Research Assistant Professor in the Division of Epidemiology at the Department of Internal Medicine within the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine, University of Utah (UU), and an early-career Investigator at the VA Salt Lake City Health Care System, Informatics, Decision- Enhancement and Analytic Sciences (IDEAS) Center of Innovation (COIN). She has been at the University of Utah and the VA Salt Lake City since September 2021. Prior to joining UU, she completed her PhD in Health Services Research (Health Systems Science Concentration) at the University of Washington, after serving as a Health Policy Analyst at the RAND Corporation. She is experienced in both qualitative and quantitative methods, and the application of Dissemination and Implementation (D&I) Science theories and frameworks in conjunction with Systems Science. She uses mixed methodology in her scientific investigations and evaluations as a tool to understand drivers of change in health care systems, specifically decision-making as it pertains to adopting practices and policies that improve care and reduce health inequities. She is also a first-generation scholar with intersecting identities and lived experiences that provide important and unique perspectives to inform research activities seeking to improve health equity.

Dr. Kean is an Associate Professor in Health System Innovation and Research, Department of Population Health Sciences, University of Utah, and Research Scientist, VA Informatics and Computing Infrastructure (VINCI) Salt Lake City VA Health Care System. His work has focused on the creation, implementation and operation of research networks and learning health systems (LHS) to improve patient-centered outcomes. This includes the development, validation and implementation of outcome measures in primary care and other clinical settings, the development and implementation of statewide electronic health record (EHR) registries, the implementation of EHR-based comparative effectiveness (i.e., practice-to-data and data-to-knowledge) paradigms, and the implementation of serial measurement and feedback paradigms to reduce unwarranted clinical practice variation (i.e., knowledge-to-practice). He serves on the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) Subcommittee on Equitable Data, helping to outline a strategy for measuring equity and ensuring the equitable delivery of health care and programs across the federal government.

Date: January 16, 2025

Time: 12:00-1:00 pm

“Measuring and Mitigating Disparity of Decision-Making Tools” presented by Ben Brintz, PhD

Dr. Brintz is a statistician and a Research Assistant Professor from the Division of Epidemiology at the University of Utah. Through his Postdoctoral Fellowship in clinical prediction, he gained expertise in the development of decision making tools and their algorithms and, as faculty, mentors others through their development. Through a consultation with a start-up interested in the exploration of fairness of decision making tools, he has learned about measuring fairness of decision making tools as well as mitigating disparity resulting from the output of these tools.

Brintz, Ben J., et al. "A modular approach to integrating multiple data sources into real-time clinical prediction for pediatric diarrhea." Elife 10 (2021): e63009.
Brintz, Ben J., et al. "Clinical predictors for etiology of acute diarrhea in children in resource-limited settings." PLoS neglected tropical diseases 14.10 (2020): e0008677.

Date: November 13, 2024

Time: 1:30-2:30 pm

“Mechanics of Cultural Adaptation” presented by Craig A. Field, PhD, MPH

Dr. Craig Field is Professor of Psychology at the University of Texas at El Paso and Director of the Latino Alcohol & Health Disparities Research and Training Center. He has been recognized by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities as a Health Disparities scholar for his research on alcohol-related health disparities among Hispanics. He is currently funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism to evaluate the potential benefits of a culturally informed brief motivational intervention to reduce heavy drinking among Hispanics admitted to the emergency department for medical treatment of a traumatic injury. Throughout his career his research and dissemination efforts have also been funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Centers for Disease Control & Prevention and the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute.

Field, C., Juarez, P., Oviedo Ramirez, S., Robles, E., & Castro, Y. (2019). The Process of developing a culturally informed brief motivational intervention. Addictive Behavior, 95(1), 129-137
Field, C. & Reingle,-Gonzalez, J. (2022) Focusing on protective factors, resilience and thriving to reduce health disparities and treatment inequities. American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, 48(1):120-124.
Alvarez, M. J., Frietze, G., Ramos, C., Field, C., & Zárate, M. A. (2017). A Quantitative Analysis of Latino Acculturation and Alcohol Use: Myth Versus Reality. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. 41(7), 1246-1256.

Date: October 25, 2024

Time: 12:00-1:00 pm

“Skills of Engagement of Diverse Populations” presented by Sara Knight, PhD

Dr. Knight is a Professor in the Division of Epidemiology within the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Utah, where she directs the Program for Health Services Research in Genomic Medicine. She is Associate Director of Engagement Science Innovation and Translation at the University of Utah Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI). She teaches a course entitled “Engaging Patients, Communities, and Other Partnerships in Health Research” in the Master of Science in Clinical Investigation (MSCI) Program at the University of Utah. Dr. Knight is a VA Investigator with over 25 years of research service and leadership. She is the Co-Director of the VA Advanced Fellowship in Health Systems Research in the VA Salt Lake City Health System.

Dr. Knight trained as a clinical health psychologist and health services researcher, and she directed her research to improve the conceptualization and measurement of patient values, goals, and preferences for care and engagement in research. Her work has sought to understand social and structural health determinants and advance health equity. She has extensive knowledge and experience in community and health system engagement, and she has conducted research using innovative interventions and survey and interview approaches. She has served as the Principal Investigator or Co-Investigator on multiple large projects with over 25 years of funding from the Veterans Administration, National Cancer Institute, American Cancer Society, National Institute on Aging, National Human Genome Research Institute, and Department of Defense. She uses mixed methods in her research, where qualitative and quantitative approaches are used to develop conceptual frameworks, interventions, measures, and to disseminate and implement evidence-based health care delivery models.

Date: September 27, 2024

Time: 12:00-1:00 pm

Presentations

"Addressing Racial and Ethnic Disparities through Enhancement of Data Quality"

An oral presentation with Cochran G, Vanneman M, Gulbransen S, Ransco M, Curtis R, Killam K, and Rohm, T. at the Vizient Connections Summit in Las Vegas, NV which was held from September 18-21, 2023.