ABOUT US
OUR TEAM
Amir A. Ghaferi, MD, MSc, MBA
Principal Investigator
Dr. Ghaferi is the Moses Gunn, M.D. Professor of Surgery, Vice Chair for Strategy and Finance in the Department of Surgery, and Professor of Surgery with Tenure. He is the Chief Clinical Officer of the University of Michigan Medical Group where he oversees clinical operations, quality, strategy, and finance for Michigan Medicine’s ambulatory enterprise. He is also the Director of the Michigan Bariatric Surgery Collaborative, a consortium of 40 hospitals and 80 surgeons focused on improving the safety and quality of bariatric surgery. He received his Bachelors degree from UCLA, his medical degree from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and completed his surgical training at the University of Michigan. Dr. Ghaferi also completed advanced training in health services research and obtained a Masters degree in Health and Healthcare Research from the University of Michigan.
Dr. Ghaferi's research focuses on understanding the relationship of organizational systems and design to quality and efficiency, with the ultimate goal of designing interventions to improve care locally, regionally, and nationally. Dr. Ghaferi receives research funding from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). His research has been published in prominent journals such as The New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, Medical Care, and Annals of Surgery.
STAFF
Amanda Stricklen, RN, MS
Project Manager
Amanda Stricklen is the Lead Senior Project Manager for the Michigan Bariatric Surgery Collaborative. Amanda received her Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing and a Master of Science degree in Community and Public Health Nursing from the University of Michigan. Since completing her education, she has worked on a post-surgical floor, which included urology, gastrointestinal and transplant patients, at University of Michigan hospital. As the Lead Senior Project Manager for MBSC, Amanda is currently involved in measuring and improving the quality of care for the Michigan Bariatric Surgery Collaborative, which is a statewide registry. Her responsibilities include reviewing the accuracy of submitted data, performing site audits and providing collaboration between the coordinating center and participating sites.
Aaron Bonham, MSc
Statistician
Aaron Bonham received his M.S. in Experimental Psychology from Ohio University and his B.S. in Psychology from Evangel University in Springfield, MO. Prior to his current position, he worked as a data analyst at the University of Waterloo in the Propel Centre for Population Health Impact. Currently, Aaron performs data analysis for the MBSC and other CHOP projects at the University of Michigan.
Rachel Ross, RN, MS
Project Manager
Rachel Ross is the Senior Project Manager for the Michigan Bariatric Surgery Collaborative. Rachel received her Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing and her Master of Science degree in Nursing Business and Health Systems from the University of Michigan. Since completing her education, Rachel has worked on a post-surgical floor, which includes gastrointestinal and transplant patients, at the University of Michigan hospital. As the Senior Project Manager for MBSC, she is currently involved in measuring and improving the quality of care for the Michigan Bariatric Surgery Collaborative. Her responsibilities include ensuring the accuracy of submitted data, performing site audits, providing collaboration between sites, and assisting the Lead Senior Project Manager.
C. Ann Vitous, MA, MPH
Qualitative Researcher
C. Ann Vitous is a Qualitative Researcher for MBSC and the Department of Surgery at Michigan Medicine. She received her M.A. in Biocultural Medical Anthropology and MPH in Global Health at the University of South Florida. In her current role, Ann focuses on a broad range of applied surgical and clinical qualitative research topics including an exploration of surgical culture, the role of bias in surgical decision-making, and broadening access to patient care. In addition to her work at the University of Michigan, Ann has also worked as a consultant for the Pacific Institute of Research and Evaluation, where she evaluated programs aimed at Reducing LGBTQ+ Adolescent Suicide and a comparative effectiveness trial to reduce child maltreatment, improve client outcomes and examine client burden in the state of New Mexico.
COLLABORATORS
Justin B. Dimick, MD, MPH
Co-Investigator
Justin is the George D. Zuidema Professor of Surgery, Chief of the Division of Minimally Invasive Surgery, Associate Chair for Strategy & Finance, Director of the Center for Healthcare Outcomes & Policy at the University of Michigan. Dr. Dimick’s clinical practice is primarily devoted to advanced laparoscopy, including treatment of morbid obesity, gastroesophageal reflux, paraesophageal hernias, abdominal wall hernias, and other benign and neoplastic diseases of the stomach, spleen, and foregut. Dr. Dimick's research focuses on quality measurement, policy evaluation, and large-scale, innovative quality improvement interventions.
Watch Dr. Dimick's profile video, HERE!
Christopher R. Friese, PhD, RN
Co-Investigator
Christopher Friese is an Assistant Professor with the University of Michigan School of Nursing. Dr. Friese was selected to the Scientific Program Committee for Health Services Research of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, and as a voting member of the technical advisory panel on cancer quality measures for the National Quality Forum. Dr. Friese holds advanced certification as an oncology nurse, and continues to practice clinically as a staff nurse in medical oncology, hematological malignancies and stem cell transplantation. His program of research is focused on the measurement and improvement of quality of care for patients with cancer.
Watch Dr. Friese's profile video, HERE!
Dina Hafez Griauzde, MD
Co-Investigator
Dina Hafez Griauzde MD is a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar (VA Scholar) at the University of Michigan. She completed a combined residency in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at the University of Michigan (U-M). During that time she worked with the National Kidney Foundation of Michigan to pilot the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) at her resident continuity clinic. She subsequently worked with U-M Adult Diabetes Education and other key stakeholders to expand the DPP throughout U-M primary care clinics.
Career Interests: She plans to pursue a career as a clinician-investigator, and will continue to care for both children and adults in the primary care setting.
Research Interests: diabetes prevention, primary obesity prevention, primary care-based innovation
George T. Blike, MD
Co-Investigator
George Blike, MD, is the Chief Quality and Value Officer at Dartmouth-Hitchcock. Dr. Blike is a Professor in the Departments of Anesthesiology and Community & Family Medicine. Dr. Blike's research and clinical practice career has been devoted to creating patient safety despite the complexity of modern health care and he has performed collaborative systems research to improve the safety of pediatric procedural sedation and reduce the risk of pain management in the hospital.
Donald Likosky PhD, MS
Co-Investigator
Dr. Likosky is an Associate Professor and head of the Section of Health Services Research and Quality in the Department of Cardiac Surgery with the University of Michigan. His areas of investigation are twofold: understanding the sources and impact of variation in cardiac surgical practices, a theme he has explored primarily within the context of quality improvement organizations, and describing and understanding the role of technology and innovation in cardiac surgical care. Dr. Likosky serves as the director of the National Cardiac Surgery Quality IMPROVEment Network (IMPROVE), the registry director for the PERForm Registry (which collects data on the practice of Cardiopulmonary Bypass), and is the Michigan Society of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgeons Quality Collaborative's evaluative clinical scientist.
Christopher G. Myers, PhD
Co-Investigator
Christopher G. Myers, PhD is an Assistant Professor in the management and organization discipline at the Johns Hopkins University Carey Business School, and Core Faculty at the Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality in the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. His research and teaching focus on individual learning, leadership development, and innovation, with particular attention to how people learn vicariously and share knowledge in healthcare organizations and other knowledge-intensive work environments.
Sarah L. Krein, PhD, RN
Co-Investigator
Sarah Krein is a research investigator at the Ann Arbor VA HSR&D Center of Excellence, a research associate professor of internal medicine at the University of Michigan, and co-director of the VA's Diabetes Quality Enhancement Research Coordinating Center. Dr. Krein's research interests include: understanding and improving management of patients with chronic health conditions, specifically those with complex or multiple chronic health conditions including diabetes and chronic pain; and organizational behavior and implementation research with a particular focus on enhancing patient safety by preventing health care-associated complications.
Watch Dr. Krein's profile video, HERE!
Mousumi Banerjee, PhD
Co-Investigator
Mousumi Banerjee is Research Professor in the Department of Biostatistics and Director of Biostatistics at the Center for Healthcare Outcomes and Policy (CHOP). She is also a member of the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center. Her methodological research focuses on tree-structured regression and ensemble methods, multilevel models, longitudinal analyses, survival analyses, and competing risks; with applications to cancer epidemiology and health services research.
Kathleen M. Sutcliffe, PhD
Co-Investigator
Kathleen M. Sutcliffe, PhD is the Bloomberg Distinguished Professor of Business and Medicine at Johns Hopkins University. Her research is on how organizations and their members cope with uncertainty and unexpected surprises, and how organizations can be designed to be more reliable and resilient. She is currently investigating these issues in healthcare as well as in wild-land firefighting, oil and gas exploration, and other dynamic high-risk industries.
Gay L. Landstrom, PhD, RN
Co-Investigator
Gay Landstrom is the Chief Nursing Officer for St. John Providence. Most recently she served as executive vice president and chief nursing officer for Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health System in New Hampshire, including a recent interim appointment as CEO for one of its five hospitals. She was a part of the Trinity Health nursing leadership team for 20 years, including the role of chief nursing officer for Trinity Health Division. Gay has been a Magnet Appraiser for 10 years with the American Nurses Credentialing Center/Magnet Recognition Program. Landstrom earned her bachelor’s degree from Rush University in Chicago and her master’s degree in Nursing Administration from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She has her doctoral degree in nursing from the University of Michigan.
Darrell A. Campbell, Jr.
Co-Investigator
Darrell A. Campbell, Jr. is the Chief Medical Officer at Michigan Medicine, Project Director for the Michigan Surgical Quality Collaborative, and is also the Henry King Ransom Professor of Surgery in the Department of Surgery. He has specialized in solid organ transplantation, particularly kidney, liver, and pancreas. Dr. Campbell's research interests are in outcomes research and physician health, patient safety and quality of care.
Milisa Manojlovich, PhD, RN
Co-Investigator
Milisa Manojlovich, PhD, RN is Associate Professor in the School of Nursing at the University of Michigan. She focuses her research on identifying how effective communication (i.e., shared understanding) develops between physicians and nurses, the influence of health information and communication technology on communication between nurses and physicians, and finding ways to measure shared understanding and establish the relationship of shared understanding between nurses and physicians to improve patient outcomes.
Jennifer Ervin, PhD
Co-Investigator
Jennifer Ervin is a Research Investigator in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at the University of Michigan, and a K12 scholar in the NHLBI-funded Training to Advance Care Through Implementation Science in Cardiac and Lung Illnesses (TACTICAL) program. She specializes in group decision-making, influence, and information sharing. Her research focuses on the development, implementation, and evaluation of strategies to improve outcomes of critically ill patient patients through communication practices that are evidence-based, efficient, equitable, and patient- and family-centered.
RESIDENTS
Sarah Shubeck, MD, MS
Sarah Ward, MD
Sarah Shubeck, MD is a current general surgery resident at the University of Michigan. She completed her undergraduate education at the University of Notre Dame and her medical degree from the University of Michigan Medical School. While at U of M, she began her health services research career with initial focus in clinical care guidelines, patient education, and reducing overuse of surgery. She remains at U of M for her general surgery training where she will participate in the National Clinician Scholars Program during her Academic Development Time.
Career Interest: Dr. Shubeck is planning a career in academic surgery as a health services researcher in order to guide improvement in health care delivery for populations.
Research Interest: Dr. Shubeck's research interests include improving quality, broadening access, and increasing efficiency of surgical care.
Sarah Ward, MD is a cardiac surgery resident at the University of Michigan. She completed her undergraduate education at Loyola University in Chicago and her medical degree from Northwestern University. She is currently obtaining a Masters degree in Health and Healthcare Research at the University of Michigan and her focus is improving surgical outcomes. Specifically, she is interested in improving disparate outcomes in vulnerable populations.
Career Interest: Dr. Ward is planning a career in academic cardiac surgery as a health services researcher.
Research Interest: Dr. Ward’s research interests include improving surgical quality and outcomes, particularly for vulnerable populations.
DOCTORAL CANDIDATES
Michael G. Roth, MSc
Michael Roth is a doctoral student and researcher in the University of Michigan’s Department of Learning Health Sciences. His research focuses on implementation of ultra-large-scale healthcare and technology systems, human factors in clinical medicine, patient safety in hospitals, inter-organizational collaboration infrastructures, and commercialization of health technology. Before returning to pursue his PhD from Michigan Medicine, Michael spent 22 years as a healthcare information technology leader and entrepreneur. In addition to his research Michael is a Managing Partner at a healthcare crisis and strategy consulting firm.
Elizabeth Umberfield, BSN, RN
Elizabeth Umberfield, BSN, RN is a PhD student in the University of Michigan School of Nursing and a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Future of Nursing Scholar. Ms. Umberfield practices within the Neurosurgery Intensive Care Unit at Michigan Medicine, where she developed an interest in the communication practices of healthcare teams. This prompted her program of research which focuses on identifying how communication failures among patients’ care team members affect patient outcomes.
MEDICAL STUDENTS
Alex Kelsall
Alex Kelsall is a medical student at the University of Michigan Medical School. After graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Stanford University, he worked for a consulting firm specializing in Medicare and Medicaid policy analysis and later performed research under Arnold Milstein at Stanford University’s Clinical Excellence Research Center. Alex’s current research interests include surgical cost variation and quality improvement in bariatric and orthopaedic surgery. More broadly, he is passionate about technologies, delivery methods, and payment models that significantly increase the societal value of US health care.
Jeannie Kochkodan
Jeannie Kochkodan is a medical student at the University of Michigan Medical School. Prior to starting medical school, Jeannie graduated with a B.S. in Neuroscience and Biochemistry from the University of Michigan. During her undergraduate experience and for a year prior to medical school, she worked with the Montgomery Research Group in organometallic chemistry studying novel biochemical reactions with transition metal catalysts. Jeannie's current research interests include examining surgical outcomes, disparities, and analyzing gender differences among bariatric surgery patients. Broadly, Jeannie is interested in health care outcomes and policy.
Go Blue!!
Alirio deMeireles
Alirio deMeireles is a medical student at the University of Michigan Medical School. Prior to medical school, Alirio attended Yale University, where he graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Evolutionary Biology and was a member of the varsity lacrosse team. While at Yale, he conducted basic science research pertaining to Ras biology and was subsequently nominated by the Sackler Institute for the AAAS/Science Magazine Program for Excellence in Science. Alirio’s current research interests include the cost and policy implications of Venous Thromboembolism (VTE) prophylaxis in bariatric surgery. Alirio is interested in pursuing a career at the intersection of medicine, policy, and economics.
Charles Katzman
Charlie Katzman is a medical student at the University of Michigan Medical School. As an undergraduate at the University of Michigan, Charlie wrote an honors thesis investigating promoter mechanisms in the genetic pathways of the developing Drosophila. After graduating with a degree in biology, Charlie spent a year volunteering for AmeriCorps at a community health center in upstate New York. Currently, Charlie is interested in developing a broader understanding of the process through which imperfect surgical practices can be improved upon without increasing the financial burden on the medical system. He is also passionate about healthcare disparities and ensuring that everyone in the United States, regardless of socioeconomic status, has access to excellent healthcare.
UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS
Hassaan Abdel Khalik
Hassaan Abdel Khalik graduated from the University of Michigan's School of Kinesiology in 2015 where he majored in Movement Science and minored in Biochemistry. A three-time All-American and a Canadian National Team swimmer, Hassaan was a member of U-M's Varsity Swimming and Diving team that won the 2013 NCAA National Championships. Throughout his youth as a Canadian immigrant, Hassaan witnessed how healthy living is inversely correlated to socioeconomic status. Motivated by this experience, Hassaan hopes to apply what he's learned as a varsity athlete and research assistant at CHOP towards creative ways of solving today's healthcare inequalities. Hassaan enjoys producing multimedia projects in his spare time.
PAST RESIDENTS AND STUDENTS
Bradley N. Reames, MD, MS
Brad Reames completed his undergraduate education in philosophy at the University of Michigan, received his medical degree from the University of Virginia, and will complete his general surgery residency at the University of Michigan in 2016. During his academic development time, Dr. Reames served as a health services research fellow at the Center for Healthcare Outcomes and Policy, and completed a Master's degree in Health and Healthcare Research at the University of Michigan Rackham Graduate School. His research focuses on cancer clinical practice guidelines, investigating regional variation in surgical utilization and strategies to reduce that variation, understanding variation in surgical outcomes, and surgical quality improvement. Following residency, Dr. Reames will complete a Complex General Surgical Oncology Fellowship at Johns Hopkins Hospital. He plans to pursue an academic career as a health services researcher and practicing surgical oncologist.
Terry Shih, MD, MS
Terry Shih graduated from Harvard University, received his medical degree from the University of Michigan, and will complete his general surgery residency at the University of Michigan in 2016. Dr. Shih completed a health services research fellowship at the University of Michigan Center for Healthcare Outcomes and Policy. During his fellowship, he also completed a Master’s Degree in Health and Healthcare Research through the Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program at the University of Michigan Rackham Graduate School. His research focuses on the measurement of hospital quality and the effect of healthcare policy decisions on outcomes and disparities in cardiac and general surgery. Following completion of his general surgery residency, Dr. Shih will continue his clinical training as a fellow in cardiothoracic surgery at the University of Michigan.
Andrew A. Gonzalez, MD, JD, MPH
Andrew Gonzalez competed a two year NIH-funded health services research fellowship at the University of Michigan Center for Healthcare Outcomes and Policy. His research interests are hospital quality and disparities in surgical outcomes for vulnerable populations. Dr. Gonzalez is currently continuing his clinical training as a 4th year resident in general surgery at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He will be pursuing a career in vascular surgery with a clinical focus on limb salvage and vascular trauma.
Robert W. Krell, MD, Capt, USAFR, MC
Robert Krell graduated from the Air Force Academy, received his medical degree from the University of Virginia, and will complete his general surgery residency at the University of Michigan in 2016. Dr. Krell completed a health services research fellowship at the University of Michigan Center for Healthcare Outcomes and Policy and obtained further training with the University of Michigan’s Healthcare Administration Scholar’s program. Dr. Krell’s research focuses on understanding and reducing variation in complex cancer treatment, improving hospital performance measurement and leveraging regional hospital collaboratives to improve cancer care efficiency.
Andrew M. Ibrahim, MD, MSc
Andrew M. Ibrahim MD is a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar at the University of Michigan and a house staff surgeon in general surgery. He completed his undergraduate and medical degrees from Case Western Reserve University. During that time he obtained health policy training as a Crile Fellow at Princeton University and as a Doris Duke Fellow at Johns Hopkins Hospital. His current research evaluates policy and payment strategies intended to improve surgical quality. He also serves on the Design and Health board for the American Institute of Architects and supports the Editorial Board at TEDMED as an Entrepreneurship and Innovation Scholar.
Career Interests: He plans to leverage his training in surgery, health services research, and public policy to improve healthcare delivery working across academic, public and private sectors.
Research Interests: Novel payment strategies and incentives, statewide quality collaboratives, surgical coaching interventions, evidence-based design, public planning
Kyle H. Sheetz, MD
Kyle Sheetz is a general surgery resident at the University of Michigan. He graduated from Denison University with a degree in biochemistry and received his medical degree from the University of Michigan Medical School. During medical school, he completed a 1 year NIH funded masters degree in clinical research designs and statistics at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. His research interests center around patient safety, defining value-based surgical care, and comparative effectiveness studies for new surgical techniques.
Ryan Macht, MD
Ryan Macht is currently in his 2nd year of academic development time during his General Surgery residency at Boston Medical Center. He previously attended the University of Pennsylvania where he majored in the Biological Basis of Behavior and then the New York University School of Medicine. He is also currently pursuing a Master's in Health Services Research at the Boston University School of Public Health. Ryan's academic interests include quality improvement, bariatric surgery outcomes and utilization, and healthcare disparities. As a Surgical Outcomes Club Michael Zinner Health Services Research Fellow, Ryan has had the opportunity to work with Dr. Amir Ghaferi on several projects through the Michigan Bariatric Surgery Collaborative. Following residency, he is interested in a fellowship in Minimally Invasive and Bariatric Surgery.
Margaret Smith, MD, MS
Margaret (Meg) Smith MD is a current general surgery resident at the University of Michigan. She completed her undergraduate education at Ohio Wesleyan University. Following her undergraduate studies, she served as a 2008 Teach for America Corps Member in Chicago, IL and taught high school science. She then obtained her medical degree from the University of Michigan Medical School. She is currently a research fellow at the University of Michigan’s Center for Healthcare Outcomes & Policy and pursuing a Masters in Science in Health and Healthcare Research through the Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation and the Rackham Graduate School.
Career Interests: Dr. Smith plans to pursue a career in academic surgery as a health services research in order to improve overall delivery of care.
Research Interests: Dr. Smith’s research interests including improving quality and efficiency of surgical care, understanding variation in surgical utilization and reducing overuse of surgical care, and investigating the impact that improving organizational culture has on surgical quality and patient outcomes.
OUR UNIQUE FACILITY
Improving Surgery is housed within the Institute for Healthcare Policy & Innovation (IHPI). IHPI is one of the nation’s leading academic institutes devoted to improving the quality, safety, and affordability of health care. IHPI’s priorities include: evaluating the impact of health care reform, promoting greater value in health care, improving the health of communities, and innovating in health care information technology and care delivery. The Institute represents a convergence of intellectual energy and passion for improving public health and wellbeing, and offers a unique environment for generating ideas leading to innovations in thinking,
practice, and policy. IHPI is a campus-wide institute approved by the University of Michigan regents. It brings together more than 460 health services researchers to solve some of the most challenging issues in healthcare. IHPI’s members span the entire U-M Ann Arbor campus as well as the Flint and Dearborn campuses and hail from 17 schools, colleges and institutes and five local partner organizations.
IHPI members represent the following disciplines: medicine, public health, engineering, public policy, business, nursing, law, social work, economics, dentistry, pharmacy and kinesiology.IHPI members lead multiple state-wide quality collaboratives. These collaboratives seek to address some of the most common, complex, and costly areas of surgical and medical care, including kidney and heart disease, surgical and nursing care, children’s health, mental health, and healthcare cost, quality and access issues. IHPI also helps to accelerate the work of over 30 research clusters within the university. Finally, IHPI leads several signature initiatives involving IHPI members.
IHPI’s home at the University of Michigan’s North Campus Research Complex provides over 87,000 square feet of physical space that offers cutting-edge information-sharing technologies and informal and formal meeting and working space to support critical multidisciplinary interaction.
To learn more about IHPI, visit: http://ihpi.umich.edu/