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 - Assisant 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 - 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

Thomas English, PhD - Instructor

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

Ariana Kamberi, MBA - Research Project Director

Lisa Lombardini - Clinical Research Coordinator II

Carla McDonald - Administrative Assistant III

Jessica Wijesundara, MPH, CHES - Program Director

STUDENTS

Catherine Nagawa, PhD

PHOTOS

Society of Behavioral Medicine, 40th Annual Meeting and Scientific Sessions, March 2019.
From left to right: Annalise McDonald, Catherine Nagawa, Thomas Houston, Rajani Sadasivam, Jamie Faro