The Center's long-standing seminar series has changed its name—to Health Research Colloquium—and will begin its Spring 2007 series on January 30th. All seminars are held in 415 Warren Hall [note room change!] from 12:30 to 2:00 p.m.
The Center for Health Research wishes to acknowledge its partnership with the Center for Health and Public Policy Studies, the Petris Center for the Study of Health Markets and Consumer Welfare, the Division of Health Policy and Management of the School of Public Health, and the Institute of Business and Economics Research, all at the University of California, Berkeley.
Use the form to the right to receive email notices of future Colloquia and other events of interest.
Opportunities for Collaboration in Health Care and Policy Research at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation Research Institute, Palo Alto
Haya R. Rubin, MD, PhD, Director; Palo Alto Medical Foundation Research Institute (PAMFRI)
The Palo Alto Medical Foundation (PAMF) is a multi-specialty group medical practice with over 1100 physicians and offices around the Peninsula and the East Bay and a state-of-the-art electronic health record system. Its clinicians and administrative leadership are very interested in collaborating with Berkeley faculty and students on health care quality improvement research.
The PAMF Research Institute (PAMFRI)-through its Health Care and Policy Research, Health Services Research, and Clinical Research Departments-offers additional collaborative opportunities for students and faculty interested in epidemiology or health care research. Possible thematic areas may include quality improvement; cardiovascular disease prevention; obesity prevention and treatment; diabetes health care and self-management; coordination of chronic illness care; patient participation in the health care process; and physician payment mechanisms to improve health care quality and cost-effectiveness. Dr. Rubin will discuss specific project opportunities within the Department of Health Care and Policy Research.
Silent Strangers: Disease and Nativism in a New Era of Migration
Alan Kraut, PhD; Professor of History; American University; Washington, D.C.
NOTE: Room change today ONLY — 182 Dwinelle. We apologize for any inconvenience.
Past opponents of immigration often cast their opposition to newcomers as resistance to a public health menace. The U.S. is again in the midst of an immigration wave, and again there is controversy. New appreciation of the country's ethnic pluralism has lessened the medicalized prejudices of the past, while health care institutions seek to care for patients in a culturally sensitive environment.
Dr. Kraut's visit is co-sponsored by the Institute for the Study of Social Change, the Jewish Studies Program, and the Health and Immigration Consortium.
The Effects of Leadership and Governance Processes on Member Participation in Community Health Coalitions
Jeffrey A. Alexander, PhD; Richard Carl Jelinek Professor of Health Management and Policy; Professor, Organizational Behavior and Human Resources; University of Michigan
The effects of health partnership leadership and governance on member participation in voluntary community health partnerships are examined. In a study group of 25 community health partnerships and 840 partnership members, he tested the thesis that the effects of partnership governance and leadership would be indirect, working through their effects on participants' perceived influence over partnership decision-making and consensus around the partnership vision.
Physical Activity Monitoring for Assisted Living at Home
Ruzena Bajcsy, PhD; Professor of Engineering; UC Berkeley
« Funded by a 2005 CHR-CITRIS Health Information Technology Small Research Grant »
Dr. Bajcsy's team has developed a methodology to distinguish the occurrence of falls from among other common human movements, which they hope will allow seniors and others to continue to safely live at home. The results—collected by wearable, mobile platforms, with the objective of enhanced accuracy of movement recognition—exhibited an average of 85% accuracy in movement tracking. Dr. Bajcsy hopes to use these findings to develop assisted living and remote health care monitoring that could potentially improve the quality of life for elderly and other citizens.
Data-Driven Discovery: Uncovering the Hidden Value of Longitudinal Patient Data
Michael Haft, PhD; Co-founder; Panoratio Database Images, Inc., San Francisco
The explosion in the volume of healthcare data is presenting a wonderful opportunity in evidence-based medicine to those with the right tools. To maximize their efforts, health care payers and providers are bolstering their current business information reporting and analysis methods with "discovery tools" that enable unbiased analyses of all data (patient, provider, lab, pharma, and demographic combined)—no matter the size or complexity. These tools are helping organizations unlock the hidden value of their data, and revealing findings that lead to improved quality of care, increased efficiencies, and reduced costs. Dr. Haft will demonstrate a number of "longitudinal patient analysis" tools and discuss their technological capabilities.
The Built Environment and Colorectal Cancer Survival
William Satariano, PhD, MPH; Professor of Epidemiology and Community Health; UC Berkeley
« Funded by a 2004 CHR Small Research Grant »
Differences in survival for colorectal cancer patients have been associated with a variety of factors, including health behaviors, demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, and characteristics of the tumor itself (e.g., site, stage, and grade). Although there is a growing body of research indicating that characteristics of the built environment are associated with health behaviors (e.g., physical activity) and different health outcomes, it was unknown whether these characteristics are associated with differences in survival. Dr. Satariano reports on his investigation into the availability and accessibility of community-level data to characterize the neighborhood environment of six Bay Area Counties and whether selected measures of the built environment-including measures of social capital-explain differences in survival among colorectal cancer patients diagnosed between 1995-2000.
The Health Effect of Hazardous Waste Sites
Enrico Moretti, PhD; Associate Professor of Economics; UC Berkeley
« Funded by a 2006 CHR Small Research Grant »
The United States Superfund program has spent more than $30 billion to clean up hazardous waste sites. Dr. Moretti reports on new statistical evidence of the relationship between exposure to pollution from hazardous waste sites and infant health. He has identified the specific chemicals and pathways that are most deleterious to the health of infants and has quantified the benefits of the Superfund program in terms of its effects on infant health.
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