Makoto Jones, MD

Early Bio-threat Identification Using Health Data
Directorate of Science and Technology
U.S. Department of Homeland Security Chemical and Biological Division

11/17/2017 – 11/16/2019

Makoto Jones, MD (Principal Investigator) and Kelly Peterson, MS (Co-investigator) have received an award from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), through the DHS Science and Technology Directorate (S&T). DHS is committed to using and developing state-of-the-art technologies to make America safer. The University of Utah researchers, in collaboration with the Salt Lake City VHA are focused on developing innovative technology solutions and providing assessments, analyses and reports for the Homeland Security Enterprise. These new technologies will significantly improve upon current capabilities to respond to threats.

This team will develop and evaluate a system to detect both proven and potential threat events by developing a four-phase proof of concept by which machine learning techniques are applied to Electronic Health Record (EHR) data held at in Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) databases. Working with DHS National Biosurveillance Integration Center (NBIC), they will test the potential for integration of machine-learning approaches into existing VA and NBIC projects.

Peter Danzig, LCSW

Prevention for Positives – Targeted Testing with Linkage to Care, Reengagement to Care/HIV Health Education and Risk Reduction
Utah Department of Health

07/01/2017 – 06/30/2018

An HIV Early Intervention Services Grant was awarded to the HIV Medical Case Management Team at Clinic 1A under the guidance of Peter Danzig LCSW, the team’s clinical coordinator. The grant allows the Clinic 1A case management team to work more fully with individuals at risk of contracting HIV and expands services for reengagement of individuals who are no longer in care for HIV. This grant includes up to $237,000 annually to support increased staff and will allow the clinic to coordinate more seamlessly across interagency boundaries and provide clients better wrap around care including outreach, education, and prevention with friends, partners, and family, who are not HIV Positive but may be at risk. It will also allow the Clinic 1A case management team to provide significant support to the new University PrEP clinic scheduled to open in 2018.