Health Informatics and Implementation Science
Division Chief’s Message
Welcome to the Division of Health Informatics and Implementation Science in the Department of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Medical School!
We are committed to the Department’s mission: to advance science and improve population health. We pursue the discovery and dissemination of new knowledge in the fields of health informatics and implementation science. Our work focuses on clinical research informatics, consumer health informatics, public health informatics and the translation of evidence into practice. Our goal is to achieve sustained improvements in health outcomes.
Our research funding portfolio has included intramural grants and extramural grants from NIH, AHRQ, PCORI, VA QUERI, and others. Our faculty have affiliations with neighboring organizations, including the VA (Bedford and Central Western Mass), Worcester Polytechnic Institute, UMass Amherst School of Computer Science, and Boston University.
Division researchers have expertise in:
- Implementing and evaluating interventions that engage individuals, families, health organizations, and community stakeholders in promoting healthy behaviors --- ranging from pilot studies to randomized controlled trials.
- Recruiting and retaining diverse and underserved populations, utilizing community-based strategies and social media.
- Integrating and analyzing various data, such as from electronic health records, to answer questions in healthcare, improve clinical workflow, and influence policy.
- Utilizing state-of-the-art methods including machine learning (deep learning) and natural language processing.
- Investigating the use of mobile health technologies, including smartphone apps, text messaging, and wearable technologies.
We are also dedicated to training the next generation of research scientists. We value mentorship and collaboration across UMass Medical School to continually bring innovative ideas and novel directions to our work.
Ben Gerber, MD, MPH
Professor and Division Chief
FACULTY
Jeroan Allison, MD MS - Professor and Chair, Population and Quantitative Health Sciences
Daniel Amante, PhD, MPH - Assistant Professor
Sarah Cutrona, MD, MPH - Professor
Jamie Faro, PhD - Assistant Professor
Feifan Liu, PhD - Assistant Professor
Kristin M. Mattocks, PhD, MPH - Professor
Associate Chief of Staff for Research and Development, VA Central Western Massachusetts
Rajani Sadasivam, PhD - Professor
Adrian Zai, MD, PhD, MPH - Associate Professor
JOINT FACULTY
Adarsha Bajracharya, MD, MMSc - Assistant Professor, Medicine
Mayuko Ito Fukunaga, MD, FCCP - Assistant Professor, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine
ADJUNCT & VOLUNTARY FACULTY
Ekaterina (Katya) Anderson, PhD - Assistant Professor
Amanda Blok, PhD, MSN, PHCNS-BC - Assistant Professor
Jinying Chen, PhD - Assistant Professor
Laurel Copeland, PhD - Associate Professor
Timothy Hogan, PhD - Associate Professor
Implementation Research Coordinator, VA National eHealth Quality Enhancement Research Initiative (QUERI) Coordinating Center, and Research Health Scientist, VA Center for Health Quality, Outcomes and Economic Research (CHQOER), Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial VA Medical Center
Thomas Houston, MD MPH - Professor
Aimee Kroll-Desrosiers, PhD - Assistant Professor
Jomol Mathew, PhD - Assistant Professor
Lori Pelletier, PhD - Assistant Professor
Camilla Pimentel, MPH, PhD - Assistant Professor
Stephanie Shimada, PhD - Assistant Professor
Julie Volkman, PhD - Associate Professor
Norman Weissman, PhD - Professor
STAFF
Kavitha Balakrishnan - Senior Development Engineer
Yurima Guilarte-Walker, MS - Director, Research Informatics Operations
Ariana Kamberi, MBA - Research Project Director
Lisa Lombardini - Clinical Research Coordinator II
Carla McDonald - Administrative Assistant III
Stacey Wainaina - Clinical Research Assistant
Jessica Wijesundara, MPH, CHES - Program Director
Koon (Steven) Wong, BS - Director, Research Informatics Systems
STUDENTS
Catherine Nagawa, PhD
PHOTOS
AMIA 2021 Annual Symposium, November 2021
From left to right: Feifan Liu, Ben Gerber, Dan Amante
AMIA 2021 Annual Symposium, November 2021
Dan Amante
AMIA 2021 Annual Symposium, November 2021
Feifan Liu
SBM Conference, March 2019 iDAPT Team
Jamie Faro