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Family & Preventive Medicine Research

Many of the physicians in the Department of Family & Preventive Medicine are involved in innovative research and demonstration projects. Learn more about highlights from our current and recent research projects.

Transforming Clinical Practices Initiative

Rush University Medical Center is part of a network of Midwestern hospitals awarded $46.4 million in federal funds to help physicians accelerate the shift to healthcare delivery that improves outcomes and lowers costs. The Great Lakes Practice Transformation Network is one of 29 organizations to receive funding as part of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ $685 million Transforming Clinical Practices Initiative that provides clinicians technical assistance and peer-level support to collaborate on cost reduction and quality improvement strategies.

Principal investigator:

Michael A. Hanak, MD
Assistant Professor

The Multi-Clinic Action Trial to Control Hyperglycemia and Hypertension (MATCH2)

The MATCH2 study builds on the results of our earlier MATCH randomized controlled trial, which tested the impact of behavioral self-management coaching delivered in participants' homes by community health workers over a two-year period in a community setting. The MATCH trial demonstrated that this intervention could improve glycemic control over a two-year period among Mexican Americans.

The purpose of the MATCH2 study is to adapt and optimize the MATCH community health worker behavioral intervention for implementation in clinic settings. Funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), this study will first use qualitative methods to refine the MATCH intervention to work with multi-racial, multi-ethnic clinic populations and then test that refined intervention to determine effectiveness in simultaneously improving levels of both hemoglobin A1c and blood pressure when compared to an attention control. This community-engaged study will also seek to better understand the mechanisms of community health worker effectiveness, and to determine if benefits can be maintained over time in a general clinic population.

Principal investigator:

Steven K. Rothschild, MD
Associate Professor

BRIGHTEN-Heart trial

The BRIGHTEN-Heart trial is a randomized control trial testing whether a virtual interprofessional team can improve depression outcomes in older minority adults (African Americans and Latinos, age 60 and over) with comorbid metabolic syndrome and depression. Plans are currently underway to test the BRIGHTEN methodology for primary care patients with three or more chronic conditions.

Principal investigators:

Steven K. Rothschild, MD
Associate Professor

Erin E. Emery-Tiburcio, PhD
Assistant Professor

ELM Lifestyle Program

Beginning with a proof-of-concept study, the Eat better, Love better, Move more (ELM) Program is a lifestyle intervention for the remission of metabolic syndrome. A two-year planning grant then set the stage for further research, including a current national multi-site randomized controlled trial. Learn about current and past projects

Principal investigator:

Lynda Powell, PhD

Clinical Preventive Medicine Research

Our work in clinical preventive medicine research includes:

Community Health Research

The Section of Community Health partners with community members to develop and evaluate interventions to improve health equity. Research is driven by community needs and community partners are involved in all phases of the research. Learn more about current and past projects

Principal Investigator:

Beth Lynch, PhD
Associate Professor

Biostatistics & Epidemiology Research

The Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation (SWAN) was a multi-center, multi-ethnic longitudinal study designed to characterize the physiological and psychosocial changes that occur during the menopausal transition and to observe their effects on subsequent health and risk factors for age-related diseases. From that 1994 cohort study's rich resources arose the current Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation (SWAN): The Impact of Midlife and the Menopause Transition on Health and Functioning in Early Old Age. Learn more about these current and past projects