MedStar Health Research Institute Awards Funding to Five New Investigators

Hyattsville, Md. (July 6, 2016) — The MedStar Health Research Institute recently awarded five new MedStar Health physician-investigators funding for their medical research projects. The awards were made possible from donations designated to the Research Institute as part of the 2015 MedStar Health Associate Giving Campaign. The grants provide up to $25,000 in direct cost funding for one year and are intended to support scientific research by a new MedStar Health investigator (associates who are at the faculty/attending level and have joined MedStar in the last five years), to advance health for patients in the communities we serve, and to provide seed money that may lead to external grant funding.

The following MedStar Health physician-investigators were awarded funding for their medical research projects:

• Shimae Fitzgibbons, MD, MEd, FACS
  “Team Familiarity in the Operating Room: Understanding How Team Familiarity Relates to Patient Safety”
• Jessica Galarraga, MD, MPH
  “An Evaluation of a Payment Reform Experiment: The Effects of Global Budgets on Emergency Department Admissions and Associated Health Care Costs”
• Kathryn Kellogg, MD
  “Development of a Novel Tool for Interruption Management”
• Alexander Kroemer, MD, PhD
  “The Role of Nuclear Oligomerization Binding Domain-2 in Driving Th17-mediated Allograft Rejection in Intestinal Transplant Recipients”
• Patricia Wehner, MD
  “Evaluation of the Suitability of Sodium Fluorescein-Guided Resection Under the Yellow 560nm Surgical Microscope Filter in Early Stage Breast Cancer”

“When the Research Institute leadership identified new investigators as a laudable cause to designate associate gifts, I could not have predicted the response we received,” said Neil Weissman, MD, president of MedStar Health Research Institute. “MedStar associates from across the system, board members, and even non-MedStar community members made donations and pledges to help fund the work of these new investigators.”

Donations to the “New Investigator ‐ Associate Giving Grant Fund” can be made throughout the year online, by selecting “New Investigator Research Fund” from the drop down.

About MedStar Health Research Institute

The MedStar Health Research Institute is the research arm of MedStar Health, the largest healthcare provider in Maryland and the Washington, D.C., region. MHRI provides scientific, administrative and regulatory support for research programs throughout the MedStar Health system. MHRI’s expertise includes translational research into disease prevention, diagnosis and treatment. These programs complement the key clinical services and teaching programs in the 10 MedStar hospitals and other MedStar entities. Visit us at www.medstarresearch.org. 

About MedStar Health

MedStar Health is a not-for-profit health system dedicated to caring for people in Maryland and the Washington, D.C., region, while advancing the practice of medicine through education, innovation and research. MedStar’s 30,000 associates, 6,000 affiliated physicians, 10 hospitals, ambulatory care and urgent care centers, and the MedStar Health Research Institute are recognized regionally and nationally for excellence in medical care. As the medical education and clinical partner of Georgetown University, MedStar trains more than 1,100 medical residents annually. MedStar Health’s patient-first philosophy combines care, compassion and clinical excellence with an emphasis on customer service. For more information, visit MedStarHealth.org.