PhD, Health Services Research Student Profiles

Kelley Baker 

Bio

Kelley Baker is a Senior Research Scientist at the MedStar Health Research Institute, which is the research division of MedStar Health, a health system serving Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. Ms. Baker is a human factors engineer with significant experience in the application of human factors principles and methods such as task analysis, time-motion study, heuristic analysis, and usability analysis. Her work focuses on documenting social risk factors in the electronic health record; patient safety, including diagnostic error and patient engagement; and improving diabetes outcomes through the increased use and usability of diabetes self-management education and support services. Ms. Baker’s research spans both quantitative methods, including data extraction, data manipulation, and statistical analysis, and qualitative methods, including focus groups, interviews, and content analysis. 

Publications

Kitsantas P, Aljoudi SM, Baker KM, Peppard L, Oh, KM. Racial/ethnic differences in medication-assisted therapy for opioid use disorders among pregnant women in treatment facilities supported by state funds. J Subst Abuse Treatment; In press. 

Baker KM, Nassar CM, Baral N, Magee MF. The current diabetes education experience: Findings of a cross-sectional survey of adults with type 2 diabetes. Patient Educ Couns. 2023;108:107615. doi:10.1016/j.pec.2022.107615 

Magee MF, Baker KM, Bardsley JK, Wesley D, Smith KM. Diabetes to Go-Inpatient: Pragmatic lessons learned from implementation of technology-enabled diabetes survival skills education within nursing unit workflow in an urban, tertiary care hospital. Jt Comm J Qual Patient Saf. 2021;47(2):107-119. doi:10.1016/j.jcjq.2020.10.007 

Smith K, Baker K, Haskell H, Hill M, Tate J. Using patient experience surveys to assess diagnostic safety in urgent care. Health Serv Res. 2021;56(S2):53-54. doi:10.1111/1475-6773.13822 

Bardsley JK, Baker KM, Smith KM, Magee MF. Diabetes education for behavioral health inpatients: Challenges and opportunities. J Am Psychiatr Nurses Assoc. 2020;26(5):458-463. doi:10.1177/1078390319878781 

Baker KM, Magee MF, Smith KM. Understanding nursing workflow for inpatient education delivery: Time and motion study. JMIR Nurs. 2019;2(1):e15658. doi:10.2196/15658 

Smith KM, Baker KM, Bardsley JK, McCartney P, Magee M. Redesigning hospital diabetes education. J Nurs Care Qual. 2019;34(2):151-157. doi:10.1097/ncq.0000000000000349 

Magee MF, Baker KM, Fernandez SJ, Huang CC, Mete M, Montero AR, Nassar CM, Sack PA, Smith KM, Youssef G, Evans SR. Redesigning ambulatory care management for uncontrolled type 2 diabetes: A prospective cohort study of the impact of a boot camp model on outcomes. BMJ Open Diabetes Res Care. 2019;7:e000731. 

Bardsley J, Baker KM, Powers M. Diabetes self-management education and support algorithm of care: Tools for use and dissemination. AADE Pract. 2017;5(5):22-28. doi:10.1177/2325160317720184 

Parsons SE, Carter EA, Waterhouse LJ, Fritzeen J, Kelleher DC, O’Connell KJ, Sarcevic A, Baker KM, Nelson E, Werner NE, Boehm-Davis DA, Burd RS. Improving ATLS performance in simulated pediatric trauma resuscitation using a checklist. Ann Surg. 2014;259(4):807-813. doi:10.1097/SLA.0000000000000259 

Education

• Master of Arts, Psychology: Human Factors and Applied Cognition, 2010, George Mason University 
• Bachelor of Science, Chemical Engineering, 1986, Rice University 

Research Interests 

• Human factors
• Social risk factors
• Patient safety
• Diabetes education 

Kezia Edmonson 

Bio

Edmonson is a doctoral student in the Department of Health Administration and Policy at George Mason University. With 18 years of direct hospital experience, she has become an expert in health systems management and now focuses on policy improvement and development. As over half her experience was spent in overseas environments, she developed dual interests in furthering global health through humanitarian assistance initiatives and a community-specific goal of improving adolescent suicidality in those associated with the military forces. Seeing the urgent mental health crisis emerging in the last several years and developing firsthand interventions in austere environments, she chose the latter to focus her dissertation studies on. Working with an interdisciplinary team, she employs mixed methods techniques to examine institutional, community, and familial associations driving adolescent suicidality and analyzes moderating and mediating factors influencing these relationships.  

In addition to her studies, Edmonson is also the co-chair of the department’s PhD Colloquium series–a series of academic conferences and panels for the benefit of the faculty and student body, is part of a group developing the department’s first student mentorship program, and assists in sponsoring incoming students each year. 

Education

• Master’s, Health Administration and Policy, 2013, Uniformed Services University 

Research Interests

• Adolescent & Veteran mental health and suicidality 

Nouran Ghanem 

Bio

Nouran Ghanem is a health policy consultant with the MITRE Corporation, which operates the nation’s Health Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC) in the public interest, serving U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services (HHS) agencies on special research projects spanning health policy, public health, health security, and health delivery system needs. She currently serves in leadership roles leading teams on complex research deliverables with compressed timelines. Prior to joining MITRE, Nouran served in a research capacity across multiple health policy settings in the D.C. area, including with the George Mason University Health Administration and Policy (HAP) Department.  

She has received numerous accolades for exemplary project outcomes and leadership with her current organization and is the recipient of the Graduate Award for Excellence in Health Policy, awarded for her performance in the Health Policy Master’s program. In college, she participated in policy debate and consistently received a number of awards for her performance at competitive tournaments.  

Nouran is pursuing her third social science degree with GMU and is currently in the post-coursework phase of the Health Services Research PhD program.  

Publications

Gimm, G., Goldberg, D., Ghanem, N., Haghighat, S., Want, J., Hough, D., & Nichols, L. (2019). Provider Experiences with a Payer-Based PCMH Program. Journal Of General Internal Medicine, 34(10), 2047-2053. doi: 10.1007/s11606-019-05005-7  

Ghanem, N. (2021). The Effect of Violence in Childhood on School Success Factors in US children. Child Abuse & Neglect, 120, 105217. doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2021.105217 

Sweet, H., Campion, F., Bixler, M., Sylvester, P., & Ghanem, N. (2022). Rural Tele-Mental Health use During the Pandemic for Adjustment Disorders, Anxiety, and Depression. Journal Of Rural Mental Health. doi: 10.1037/rmh0000209 

Education

• Bachelor of Science, Psychology (2016) 
• Master of Science, Health Policy (2018) 

Research Interests

• Structural racism
• Health equity
• US medical education
• Primary care  

Dustin A. Gress 

Bio

Dustin Gress earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Gress then worked as a diagnostic medical physicist for over seven years at Upstate Medical Physics, where he also served as Associate Director of the first CAMPEP-accredited private practice residency program in imaging physics. Gress then spent six-and-a-half years in the Department of Imaging Physics at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, supporting clinics providing patient services in nuclear medicine, PET, interventional radiology, mammography, and CT. Gress also served as a Clinical Coordinator in MD Anderson’s Residency Program in Imaging Physics, and as an Instructor in its Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences’ Medical Physics Program. Since May of 2018 he has been Senior Advisor for Medical Physics at the American College of Radiology, providing internal medical physics expertise across ACR departments and projects, including government relations, public relations, registries, accreditation, guidance, and others. Gress is board certified in Diagnostic Radiologic Physics by the American Board of Radiology, and in Nuclear Medicine Physics and Instrumentation by the American Board of Science in Nuclear Medicine. 

Publications

Jones AK, Wunderle KA, Gress DA, et al. A diagnostic medical physicist’s guide to the American College of Radiology Fluoroscopy Dose Index Registry. J Appl Clin Med Phys. 2021;22(4):8–14. doi: 10.1002/acm2.13227. 

Kanal KM, Butler PF, Chatfield MB, et al. U.S. Diagnostic Reference Levels and Achievable Doses for 10 Pediatric CT Examinations. Radiology. 2022;302(1):164–174. doi: 10.1148/radiol.2021211241. 

Amurao M, Gress DA, Keenan MA, Halvorsen PH, Nye JA, Mahesh M. Quality management, quality assurance, and quality control in medical physics. J Appl Clin Med Phys. 2023;e13885. doi: 10.1002/acm2.13885. 

MacLellan CJ, Layman RR, Geiser W, Gress DA, Jones AK. Evaluation of an automated grid artifact detection system for quality control in digital mammography. Med Phys. 2019;46(8):3442–3450. doi: 10.1002/mp.13621. 

Clements JB, Baird CT, de Boer SF, et al. AAPM medical physics practice guideline 10.a.: Scope of practice for clinical medical physics. J Appl Clin Med Phys. 2018;19(6):11–25. doi: 10.1002/acm2.12469. 

Cody DD, Fisher TS, Gress DA, et al. AAPM medical physics practice guideline 1.a: CT protocol management and review practice guideline. J Appl Clin Med Phys. 2013;14(5):3–12. doi: 10.1120/jacmp.v14i5.4462. 

Gress DA, Dickinson RL, Erwin WD, et al. AAPM medical physics practice guideline 6.a.: Performance characteristics of radiation dose index monitoring systems. J Appl Clin Med Phys. 2017;18(4):12–22. doi: 10.1002/acm2.12089. 

Becker MD, Butler PF, Siam M, et al. U.S. PET/CT and Gamma Camera Diagnostic Reference Levels and Achievable Administered Activities for Noncardiac Nuclear Medicine Studies. Radiology. 2019;293(1):203–211. doi: 10.1148/radiol.2019190623. 

Siegelman JRQW, Gress DA. Radiology stewardship and quality improvement: the process and costs of implementing a CT radiation dose optimization committee in a medium-sized community hospital system. J Am Coll Radiol. 2013;10(6):416–422. doi: 10.1016/j.jacr.2012.12.008. 

Education

• Bachelor of Science in Engineering, Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 2003 
• Master of Science in Engineering, Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 2005 

Research Interests 

• Radiation dose
• Radiation safety
• Medical imaging
• Quality
• Medical Physics 

Elina Guralnik 

Bio

Elina Guralnik is a PhD student in Health Services Research with the concentration in Health Informatics at George Mason University. Her prior work as an applied epidemiologist has led her to the path of bridging three disciplines – epidemiology, data science, and health policy - to continue making an impact in our understanding of population health dynamics. She has worked in the areas of emerging and chronic disease surveillance (Zika, post-Zika birth defects, COVID-19), child and maternal health, and in public health consulting (global health non-profit, molecular diagnostics). She hopes that her work helps to influence policies that promote innovation and strengthening of the U.S. public health infrastructure. Her particular area of focus is EHR-based disease surveillance systems that apply machine learning and AI techniques.  

Elina is a founding member of a PhD student group, along with Kerry Goetz (PhD Candidate), Mary Lou Pomeroy, Ph.D. and Tammy Jones, Ph.D., who came together and organized, with the support of HAP faculty, a PhD Student Colloquium Series in Spring of 2021.  She continues to be actively involved in this effort of building a community within the department and across the College of Public Health, raise awareness of ongoing research across departments and among graduate students as well as engage with HAP alumni.

Publications

Guralnik E. Utilization of Electronic Health Records for Chronic Disease Surveillance: A Systematic Literature Review. Review. Cureus. 2023. doi: 10.7759/cureus.37975

Alemi F, Vang J, Guralnik E, Roess A. Modeling the Probability of COVID-19 Based on Symptom Screening and Prevalence of Influenza and Influenza-Like Illnesses. Quality Management in Health Care: April/June 2022 - Volume 31 - Issue 2 - p 85-91. doi: 10.1097/QMH.0000000000000339 

Alemi F, Vang J, Wojtusiak J, Guralnik E, Peterson R, Roess A, Jain P. (2022) Differential diagnosis of COVID-19 and influenza. PLOS Global Public Health 2(7): e0000221. 

Alemi F, Guralnik E, Vang J, Wojtusiak J, Peterson R, Roess A, Jain P. Guidelines for Triage of COVID-19 Patients Presenting with Multisystemic Symptoms. Special Issue: Diagnosis of COVID-19 in the Community, Quality Management in Healthcare: 2021-0195. doi: 10.1097/QMH.0000000000000398 

Wojtusiak J, Bagais W, Vang J, Guralnik E, Roess A, Alemi F. The Role of Symptom Clusters in Triage of COVID-19 patients. Special Issue: Diagnosis of COVID-19 in the Community, Quality Management in Healthcare: 2022-0017. doi: 10.1097/QMH.0000000000000399 

Alemi F, Vang J, Bagais W, Guralnik E, Wojtusiak J, Moeller F G, Schilling J, Peterson R, Roess A, Jain P. Combined Symptom Screening and At-Home Tests for COVID-19. Special Issue: Diagnosis of COVID-19 in the Community, Quality Management in Healthcare. 2022-0011. doi: 10.1097/QMH.0000000000000404

Education

• BA, Biological Sciences (1998) Rutgers -New Brunswick 
• MPH, Epidemiology (2017) George Mason University  

Research Interests 

• Applications of Machine Learning and AI methods in Public Health Surveillance 
• Natural Language Processing  

Sean Hyungwoo Kim 

Bio

Dr. Kim is a native of Seoul, South Korea. He received his B.A. in Public Health Studies from Johns Hopkins University in 2008 (Phi Beta Kappa) and Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.) from University of California San Diego Skaggs School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences in 2014. He received his S.M. (Master of Science) in Epidemiology with concentration in Pharmacoepidemiology from the T.H. Chan Harvard School of Public Health in 2015.  

Dr. Kim is currently an Associate Professor of Pharmacy Administration at the Bernard J. Dunn School of Pharmacy at Shenandoah University. Dr. Kim has a passion in merging public health discipline with pharmacy. Before he started his pharmacy school, he worked at the Baltimore County Department of Health as an H1N1 Public Health Investigator to plan and execute H1N1 mass vaccination clinics for Baltimore County residents. He also monitored influenza-like illness (ILI) and H1N1 outbreaks in K-12 Baltimore County Public Schools.  

During Dr. Kim’s pharmacy education, he gained additional public health pharmacy experience working as a Junior Commissioned Officer Student Training & Extern Program (JRCOSTEP) through the United States Public Health Service. Dr. Kim worked as a Commissioned Officer (Rank: Ensign, O-1) under the Navajo Reservation (Indian Health Service) site in Tsaile Health Center, near Four Corners area.  

Upon receiving his Pharm.D., Dr. Kim embarked another public health journey at the T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Dr. Kim learned pharmacoepidemiology methods from experts in secondary database management: Research methods utilizing administrative health data to conduct epidemiological studies, particularly in medication exposure, medication safety, and evidence-based pharmacy practice.  

Dr. Kim is pursuing PhD in Health Services Research at George Mason University under research guidance from Dr. Panagiota Kitsantas. He is conducting secondary database research projects in the realm of substance abuse, pharmaceutical health services research, and maternal health outcomes using national survey. He is particularly interested in polysubstance use (concurrent use of more than one substance) of various licit and illicit substances among women in reproductive age. 

Publications

*Corresponding author  

Green AM, Brackbill M, Harralson AF and Kim SH* Coding for an anticoagulant: systematic review of pharmacogenetics-guided warfarin therapy on the therapeutic and adverse clinical events on patients with atrial fibrillation, pulmonary embolism, and deep vein thrombosis. Int J Pharm Sci & Res 2023; 14(4): 1000-11. (accepted, in press) 

Scheinberg N, Andersen R, Gruver M, Kim SH Substance misuse training in pharmacy education: Results from a pilot study on the integration of an interprofessional experience. Heliyon. 2023 Jan 21;9(2):e13122.  

Kim AE, Choi DH, Chang J, Kim SH* Performance-Based Risk-Sharing Arrangements (PBRSA): Is it a solution to increase bang for the buck for pharmaceutical reimbursement strategy for our nation and around the world? Clin Drug Investig 2020;Dec;40(12):1107–1113. 

Alshahrani A, Shih H, Kim SH, Chang J Association Between Falls and Chronic Health Conditions Among Adults in Residential Care Facilities - Analysis of the National Survey of Residential Care Facilities (NSRCF) Data Biomedical Journal of Scientific & Technical Research 2020;Oct;30(5): 23763-23767. 

Riley E, Chang J, Park CH, Kim SH, Song, I Hypertension and Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL): Evidence from the US Hispanic Population Clin Drug Investig 2019;Sep;39(9):899-908.  

McKay C, Park C, Chang J, Brackbill M, Choi JY, Lee JH, Kim SH* Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Pharmacist-led Transitions of Care Services on the 30-day All-cause Readmissions Rate of Patients with Congestive Heart Failure Clin Drug Investig 2019;Aug;39(8):703-712.  

Cho SH, Choi Y, Kim SH, Kim SJ, Chang J Urinary Bisphenol A versus serum Bisphenol A concertation and ovarian reproductive outcomes among IVF patients: Which is a better biomarker of BPA exposure? Mol Cell Toxicol 2017;13:351-359 

Kim SH, Ryu YJ, Cho NE, Kim AE, Chang J Prescription Drug Price Paradox: Cost Analysis of Canadian Online Pharmacies versus US Medicare Beneficiaries for Top 100 Drugs Clin Drug Investig 2017;Oct;37(10): 957-963  

Park C, Sung M, Kim SH, Pinal D, Balkrishnan R, Chang J Healthcare Costs of Pediatric Acne in the Medicaid Population: A Retrospective Analysis British Journal of Pharmaceutical Research 2017;18(3): 1-8 

Kim SH, Lee G, Kim E, Jung H, Chang J Quetiapine Misuse and Abuse: Is it an Atypical Paradigm of Drug Seeking Behavior? Journal of Research in Pharmacy Practice 2017 Jan-Mar; 6(1):12-15 

Kim SH, Chung H, Huneidi D, Chang J Barriers of Medication Adherence and Health Outcomes. British Journal of Pharmaceutical Research 2015;8(5): 1-5  

Kim SH, Lee GY, Chang J Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) As HIV Prevention Strategy and Public Health Implications. Int. Res. J. Pharm. 2015;6(4):227-230  

Kim SH, Chang J Trend of Male Circumcision and HIV Prevention of Heterosexually Acquired HIV in A Special Population: South Korea. Adv Pharmacoepidemiol Drug Saf 2014;3: 171 

Education

• Bachelor of Arts in Public Health Studies, 2008, Johns Hopkins University (Graduated with Phi Beta Kappa) 
• Doctor of Pharmacy, 2014, Skaggs School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences University of California San Diego 
• Master of Science in Epidemiology, 2015, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health 

Research Interests 

• Substance Use Disorder
• Maternal Health
• Health Outcomes Research
• Pharmaceutical Health Services Research 

Desirae Leaphart

Bio

Desirae Leaphart is a mixed-methods researcher with experience in maternal and child health research, particularly concerning maternal health disparities. In addition to her PhD studies, Leaphart is a Research Scientist in the Health Sciences Department of NORC at the University of Chicago, where she conducts research focused on the social determinants of health and patient-centered outcomes.

Publications

Bayne, A., Isaacs, L., Fox, J., Singer, R., Ahn, R., Leaphart, D., Cerbone, F., & Liotta, M. (2022). An action plan for organizations serving older adults and their caregivers during public health emergencies. Innovation in Aging. 6. 318-318. 10.1093/geroni/igac059.1257.  

Education 

• Graduate Certificate in Health Informatics and Data Analytics, 2020, George Mason University 
• Master of Public Health, 2015, Drexel University 
• Master of Education, 2013, George Mason University 
• Bachelor of Arts in African American & African Studies and Psychology, 2011, University of Virginia 

Research Interests

• Maternal and child health
• Breast cancer research 

Huan-ju (Coco) Shih

Bio

My name is Huan-Ju Shih one of the Ph.D. candidates in Health Services Research Discovery Science and Health Informatics Concentration at George Mason University. While serving the department, I acquired formal training to become a certified Lean Six Sigma Green Belt, allowing me to use process improvement and operational skills to facilitate Kaizen events with INOVA-Fairfax. Alongside in the hospital, I have learned how to conduct strategic process improvement and risk management. I have also been working as a graduate research assistant with multiple professors, which allows me to build strong communication skills and interpret different datasets such as SEER-Medicare and SEER-MHOS.

Publications

Analyze the association Between Falls and Chronic Health Conditions Among Adults in Residential Care Facilities, 2020. ISSN: 2574 -1241

Education

Health Services Research, PhD, Discovery Science and Health, Informatics Concentration

Research Interests

• Cancer-late diagnosis, treatment delay
• Clinical Decision Support Systems (CDSS)
• Telemedicine and Telehealth