MaineHealth Academic Affairs August 2023 Newsletter

 

Note from... Doug Sawyer, MD, PhD, Chief Academic Officer Dear all,    Wow - as usual there is a lot going on in academics at MaineHealth! Take a few minutes and browse through this newsletter - there is something for everyone, so much to celebrate.    And yet I am sure we are missing some important things we should be including. We started this newsletter during the pandemic as we recognized that the social distancing was negatively impacting our communication of important events, recognitions, program developments…. While our approach has evolved, we are looking for more selective pressure that will help to evolve further.     As we head into the new academic year, here is the ask: read this month’s newsletter, and email me and Julianna Myers (the keeper of the newsletter) with something we can do to make this more useful, something we missed.    Be well, Doug

IN THIS ISSUE

Upcoming Events & Opportunities Medical Education Library & Knowledge Services 

Research Innovation

Upcoming Events & Opportunities

Request for Pilot Project Applications for the Acute Care COBRE

The Center of Biomedical Research Excellence in Acute Care Research and Rural Disparities (AC-COBRE) is inviting one page Letters of Intent for new pilot projects for Year 4 (beginning Feb. 1, 2024). The Acute Care COBRE strives to foster a multidisciplinary breadth of research focusing on all areas of acute care concerns and related health disparities across our rural communities. Pilot projects are one year grants, with a $50,000 direct cost budget limit. The plan is to fund two awards in Year 4. Pilot Project Leaders must have a doctoral degree (e.g., MD, DO, PhD) and a faculty-level appointment. For more information and instructions for completing the Letter of Intent, please email Tom Gridley. Letters of Intent are due September 11, 2023.

Future of HealthCare Founder Residency Venture Showcase September 11 | 4 - 7:30 pm | Portland Designed in partnership with Northern Light Health and MaineHealth, the Roux Institute’s Future of Healthcare Founder Residency is a first-of-its-kind program in northern New England. The residency’s first cohort of nine healthcare technology startups received a $50,000 investment and direct access to top clinicians and healthcare experts, mentors, and growth-accelerating programming.  This event will bring together entrepreneurs, investors, government officials, students, industry partners, and the public to hear pitches from the nine groundbreaking healthcare technology companies participating in the residency.  Register

Long Covid: A Long Way to Go Sept. 14 | 2:30 - 3:30 pm |Orono The UMaine Institute of Medicine invites you to the Second Annual Distinguished Science Lecture, where Cliff Rosen, MD will be the featured speaker. This is a free in-person event. Learn More   Save the Date: TUFTS CTSI Translational Science Day October 16 | Tufts Learn More & Register

Are you an engaged care team member, aspiring founder, curious about startups, or interested in developing a solution to a pressing healthcare challenge? Join the upcoming Healthcare Innovation Start Summit on September 29th & 30th! This event is a collaborative effort brought to you by the Roux Institute, the University of New England, the Maine Center for Entrepreneurs, and MaineHealth. At this interactive event, participants will develop a new product or service aimed at addressing this challenge: How might we support older Mainers in remaining in their homes or communities as they age? This fun and fast-paced innovation challenge kicks off on Friday, September 29th, with a networking event that will include a panel discussion and a presentation on the topic of aging in place, with perspectives from patients, providers, and others. On day two, participants will be randomly placed in teams and take part in workshops and mentorship as they develop their ideas. The event culminates in a final pitch competition, where teams have the chance to win a $2,000 or $1,000 cash prize! This event is free and open to the public. Registration is required. Learn More & Register

Medical Education

Simulation

Welcome! On August 8th, Dana Legawiec (pronounced Lah-GAHV-yetz) joined the Simulation team as a Simulation Training Specialist. An experienced performer, director, producer and educator, Dana started as a Standardized Patient (SP) in 2019.  Before beginning her new role training SPs, Dana was a consultant at the Maine Alliance for Arts Education, first as a teaching artist, advancing to Consulting Executive Director. We look forward to leveraging Dana’s acting expertise as we train SPs on some exciting new scenarios, such as de-escalating the agitated patient. The additional resource will enable our team to fully launch summative OSCEs for medical school students during their Core Clerkship year.

Simulation Summer Party Regional Director Jeff Holmes and his family welcomed the simulation team to celebrate summer in Maine at their lake house for a Saturday full of tubing and good company - photos below!

Full Day Nursing Sim Instructor Course On August 23, the simulation center hosted 12 simulation nurse educators and a simulation specialist from SMCC and MH Workforce Development for a one day simulation instructor course to support our new partnerships with undergraduate nurse training programs.   Scholarly Activity Our Standardized Patient Simulation Team (Christine Mallar, Bethany Rocheleau, Beth Gray, and Karissa Hannifan) in collaboration with Brandy Brown (The BBCH Gender Clinic) and Vicki Hayes (Dept of Family Medicine) worked to advance DEI in our system, creating cases to promote inclusion , specifically for our LGBTQ+ patients. Rachel Kupferman, one of our TUSM MaineTrack students (M23) was also integral to the project and first authored one of two published Innovation Reports that can be accessed in JMMC this month.

Brown, Brandy; Kupferman, Rachel; Rocheleau, Bethany; Mallar, Christine; Hannifan, Karissa; Gray, Beth; Hayes, Victoria; and Mallory, Leah (2023) "Optimizing Psychological Safety: Using a Focus Group to Acquire Perspectives from Standardized Patients Who Identify as LGBTQ+," Journal of Maine Medical Center: Vol. 5 : Iss. 2, Article 10. Read more  Kupferman, Rachel; Gray, Beth; Rocheleau, Bethany; Mallar, Christine; Hannifan, Karissa; Hayes, Victoria; Mallory, Leah; and Brown, Brandy (2023) "Improving Inclusive Communication: Pilot Results from a Simulation-Based Learning Opportunity to Practice Taking a Sexual Health History," Journal of Maine Medical Center: Vol. 5 : Iss. 2 , Article 9. Read more

Undergraduate Medical Education

Welcome, Maine Track Class of 2026 The M2 students have arrived to Maine! They started their second year didactic, organ based and longitudinal learning courses on Monday August 7th. They completed the Dermatology course, under the directorship of Malcolm Creighton Smith, MD (MMP- Dermatology), on 8/28 and will be starting Neurosciences (Psychiatry, Addiction Medicine, and Neurology) next. They also completed their first two days at the CAP (Competency-based Apprenticeship in Primary Care) sites. This is an exciting time for the students, as it is their first, longitudinal active patient care opportunity. Thank you to all our CAP preceptors around the state for hosting students!

Seeking the Maine Track Class of 2028 The Admissions season officially begins next month! Tufts University School of Medicine recently announced the new Dean of Admissions, Amy Lee, MD, FAAFP. Dr. Lee is an Associate Professor of Family Medicine at TUSM, where she attended medical school as well as residency. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians, a member and Tufts chapter councilor of the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society, and a member of the Gold Humanism Honor Society. She has won multiple prestigious teaching awards, co-authored the mission and vision of TUSM, and served as chair of the Curriculum Committee this past year. We couldn’t be more pleased to work with her.

Awards & Presentations This year’s Competency-based Apprenticeship in Primary Care (CAP) Teaching Award is presented to Robert Rovner, MD, Department of Family Medicine. This award recognizes a faculty preceptor within the CAP course who has demonstrated exemplary commitment to engaging and teaching students in the primary care setting.  Congratulations to Lorraine McElwain, MD, Department of Pediatrics, for earning the Mark Aisner, MD, Award for Excellence in Teaching Physical Diagnosis. This award recognizes outstanding physician educators that enhance the teaching of physical diagnosis at Tufts University School of Medicine and its affiliated hospitals as exemplified by Dr. Mark Aisner, who served as the course director in Physical Diagnosis from 1946 to 1977, throughout his illustrious 65 years in medicine.

Robert Trowbridge, MD, Department of Medicine was awarded the Milton O., M30, and Natalie V. Zucker Clinical Teaching Prize for Accomplishment. This prize is to promote and honor excellence in clinical teaching. Two prizes, one for Innovation and one for Accomplishment, are awarded annually to clinical teaching faculty for the purposes of rewarding and recognizing specific faculty for outstanding innovation, accomplishment, and ability to motivate students.   See the complete Teaching Citation Awardees list here

Drs. Brendan Prast, Shelley Cohen Konrad, Leah Mallory and Jennifer Hayman will be presenting at the Nexus Summit in September in an abstract session entitled: “Practice-Education Partnerships Advancing Care With People and Communities”. This is an extension of the collaborative work between Maine Health’s Department of Medical Education and the University of New England’s Center for Excellence in Collaborative Education. The groups continues to explore, study, and employ best practices in interprofesisonal education and is excited to share their work in the Nexus Summit, which has a keystone theme of “Building the IPE Case Through Information, Evidence, and Outcomes”.

Graduate Medical Education Kalli Varaklis, MD, MSEd - Designated Institutional Official Click here for a Graduate Medical Education (GME) update.

Maine Medical Center Institute for Teaching Excellence (MITE)

Save the Date: the first Healthcare Professions Educators Conference, September 27, 2023, Dana Center. Check out the 2023-24 MITE Scholars group here.  We have many useful online resources, check out MITE’s newest pages: Diversity Equity and Inclusion Toolkit Canvas Public Course Index Curriculum Development Guide Mentoring Guide

Continuing Interprofessional Development (CIPD) Our application has changed, please make sure you are looking to CloudCME for the most updated planning template and do not copy previous applications. Also check out the Department of Medical Education SharePoint Site for upcoming Grand Rounds!

Check out the Department of Medical Education SharePoint Site!

Library & Knowledge Services

Library  Welcome New Residents and Fellows: The Library staff has been busy providing training to our newest trainees. We also featured titles from our book collection for residents and fellows including This is Going to Hurt (Kay), Letter to a Young Female Physician (Koven), and Heroes are Human (Delaney). Check them out! Environmental Health and Sustainability Guide and News Blog: The Library has partnered with the Sustainability Committee to provide resources and recent news and published articles on the impact of the environment on our health, and the impact of the healthcare industry on the environment. Visit the site here, subscribe to the news blog, and pass it on! Telehealth Project Update: The Rural Library Telehealth project is launched and on its way - learn more here! In August, the MaineHealth Library sponsored the Steep Falls Library Cornhole tournament and provided promotional materials for the telehealth station (photo right). Dana Center Dana 7 and Portable Smart Monitor: The Dana 7 classroom has been lacking one monitor for several months, and we now have a portable smart monitor in its place. Later this fall, we will install a permanent monitor in Dana 7, and the portable smart monitor will be available for use elsewhere. It functions as a monitor, smart board and interactive browser. Congratulations for a Successful TJC Visit! The Dana staff work very hard to prepare for the TJC visit, and thanks to their preparation, the visit went very smoothly. The surveyors and our regulatory team require multiple meeting spaces throughout the week which means a lot of communication, flexibility and creativity to make space for everyone. Congratulations Pam, Faith, Maegan and Ashley – you make it look easy – and it’s not!

Research

Grant Awards

NIH Research Grant to Study Long-term Associations of PFAS  Abby Fleisch, MD, Faculty Scientist at the MaineHealth Institute for Research (MHIR), Associate Professor of Pediatrics, and MMC Attending Physician in Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes, continues her work researching the effects of PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances). She is an MPI with contact PI Emily Oken of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care on a five year R01 grant from NIH’s National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. This study will investigate the impact of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) exposure across midlife and older age on (1) musculoskeletal health and (2) cardiovascular disease in older adults, and (3) the potential for lifestyle behaviors to mitigate these health impacts. The findings will inform PFAS legislation and health guidance for exposed individuals, with implications for musculoskeletal and cardiovascular risk reduction.     NESS Scholars Foundation Research Grant  The New England Surgical Society (NESS) Scholars Foundation Research Grant to advance innovative surgical research has been awarded to Elizabeth Turner, MD, Assistant Clinical Professor of Surgery, for 2023. Dr. Turner will evaluate the potential effects of tranexamic acid (TXA) administration on the functional recovery of young adult and geriatric traumatic brain injury patients.    MMC Hospital Elder Life Program (HELP) Enrollment Site on Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) Grant  The Maine Medical Center HELP site, established in 2002, will serve as an enrollment site in the PCORI-funded Hospital Elder Life Program (HELP) vs Family-Augmented HELP (FAM-HELP) for Prevention of Delirium led by the Marcus Institute for Aging Research at Hebrew Rehabilitation Center (HRC). Emily Carter, MD, MMC Geriatrics, will serve as the MMC site leader and provide direct input into the design and implementation of the clinical trial. The five year study seeks to determine whether involving family caregivers in HELP (FAM-HELP) is more effective than HELP alone in preventing delirium.    Cancer Moonshot Biobank Engagement Phase III Funded  The Maine Cancer Genetics/Genomics Education Core (ME-CGEC) has been awarded funding for their Phase III Community Engagement project which will continue work done in Phases I and II. The team is using community-engaged research to develop and implement locally informed interventions to increase enrollment in the Cancer Moonshot Biobank among members of communities within the MaineHealth Cancer Care Network (MHCCN). PIs Sue Miesfeldt, MD, Clinician Investigator, Associate Professor of Medicine, and MMC Attending Physician, and Neil Korsen, MD, MHIR Physician Scientist, will lead the efforts.    $2.75M Grant Awarded to MHIR to Accelerate Development of Critical Data Science Capabilities The grant, a supplement to the Northern New England Clinical and Translational Research Network parent grant led by MaineHealth and the University of Vermont, will be directed by Susan Santangelo, ScD, Director, MHIR Center for Clinical and Translational Science, with colleagues from UVM, and will enable the team to expand data science capabilities related to the use of electronic health record data for clinical and translational research and the study of population health.  National Covid Cohort Collaborative (N3C) Continued Funding The National Covid Cohort Collaborative (N3C), a partnership among 75 institutions that was created by NIH’s National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), and the National Center for Data to Health (Cd2H), have created a centralized national database and analytic platform for scientists to use to study COVID-19 and identify potential treatments. Collaborators have thus far contributed data on nearly 6 million COVID-19 positive patients, as well as several million control patients who tested negative for COVID-19, and use the clinical data on these patients to answer critical research questions to address the pandemic and accelerate development of effective treatments. MaineHealth’s Clinical and Translational Research Network (NNE-CTR) is a part of the collaborative and recently received funding for continued collaboration. The NNE-CTR’s work will be led by Susan Santangelo, ScD, Director, MHIR Center for Clinical and Translational Science (photo above right).   MDI Biological Laboratory-MH Institute for Research Team Science Award Arturo Hernandez, PhD, MHIR Faculty Scientist and Associate Professor of Medicine, is part of a collaboration that received funding under a Team Science supplement to the MDI Biological Laboratory Center of Biomedical Research Excellence parent grant that studies tissue repair, regeneration, and aging. Dr. Hernandez and his MDIBL colleagues will study the effect of thyroid hormone-induced metamorphosis in axolotl and mouse using next-generation methodologies in order to gain insight into the pathophysiology of skin upon abnormal thyroid hormone signaling.

Clinical Trials Office News

Systems/Applications Updates The debut of Florence is fast approaching and only about a month away! Florence, the electronic document storage solution for regulatory and other research related documents, will be implemented across the MaineHealth research enterprise over the next several months. The timeline for the transition of studies into Florence will be finalized over the next several weeks and shared with teams soon thereafter. Rest assured that there will be plenty of training opportunities for end-users both before and after the transition. For the last 5 months, key stakeholders within the Clinical Trials Office (CTO) met weekly to discuss and design how the system will be used at the institution. There are several benefits of a system like Florence, including standardized and secure document storage, electronic signature capabilities and controlled access to study files for external monitors and auditors. More information about when you will have access to the system will be shared in the coming weeks. If you have any questions about Florence or how it could impact your workflow, please contact Karen Wilson, Regulatory and Quality Affairs Manager in the CTO. The application for MyChart and use in research will be showcased soon and is part of MHIR’s Strategic Initiative to effectively and efficiently communicate about research opportunities with the patients of MaineHealth! Providing information about research options directly to patients encourages independent decision making about participation, promotes research as an essential component of care, and demonstrates MaineHealth’s commitment to improving the treatment and understanding of a wide spectrum of health conditions.

Important News from the Office of Research Ethics & Compliance

Reminder! Please close all completed Exempt studies by submitting a Study Closure/Final Report package from within your project in IRBNet. This not only helps stop reminders and clears our queue, but is also necessary in preparation for launching Cayuse, our new online submission system. Update for external IRB new study applications - Local Form: New Application for Human Subjects Research will be required only for Advarra overseen studies or studies where the IRB application approved by the external IRB is not available. For all other external IRB new study applications, the MH IRB will request a copy of the IRB Application approved by the external IRB. Reminder! Principal Investigators, please sign packages submitted in IRBNet to the MH IRB as a way to show PI approval and acknowledgement of the submission. Link to instructions. Please reach out to mmc_irb@mainehealth.org if you have any questions.

Notables

Welcome to Dr. Cara Frakenfeld Dr. Frankenfeld joined MHIR’s Center for Interdisciplinary Population & Health Research this month. She comes to MHIR from the University of Puget Sound where she was an Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics and served as the Program Director for the inaugural Public Health Program. She holds a doctorate in Epidemiology and a master’s degree in Nutritional Science. She is an experienced epidemiologist and biostatistician with twenty years of work in the design and conduct of observational and clinical human health research studies, evidence synthesis, and scientific communication to diverse audiences. Her expertise is in research design and analysis of complex data, such as microbiome, metabolome, diet, and spatial factors. She has applied this expertise primarily to chronic health conditions, including cancer and cardiometabolic diseases. She has also provided biostatistical expertise to investigators working in geography and healthcare administration. Her work has been funded by the federal, academic, and private sources, and she is an Associate Editor for Annals of Epidemiology, and on the Editorial Board for the Journal of Nutrition. In the News Lucy Liaw, PhD, was featured in Mainebiz as a part of the coverage for the NIH $12.9M renewal of the Metabolic COBRE. Kinna Thakarar, MD, and Kristen Silvia, MD, spoke to The Maine Monitor about MaineHealth’s grant-funded harm reduction program Project DHARMA, as part of a story about Maine’s fight against the opioid epidemic. Dr. Thakarar is a MaineHealth infectious disease physician and physician scientist at MHIR. The collaboration to create a statewide chronic pain registry with the University of New England was featured on their website. This grant was made possible thanks to a grant from our Northern New England Clinical & Translational Research Network!

Summer Students Wrap Up with Final Presentations MHIR summer students gave their final presentations on August 11 to a packed house! This year was a unique combined celebration with MaineHealth Non-Clinical and Research Interns. Best wishes and congratulations to this year’s Summer Undergraduate Research Program participants and thank you to our research education team for this summer student research program (pictured above, bottom right – L to R)  Dr. Lucy Liaw, Christine Ellis, Dr. Robert Koza, and Liz Bergst! QRIG Update   QRIG is an inter-professional group united by an interest in qualitative approaches to health research. We meet virtually on the fourth Thursday of each month from 4-5pm.   On September 28th, 4-5pm, the group will be joined by Joshua Ottow, EdD on Strategy Development (formerly OPEX), to discuss how qualitative approaches can be used to help MaineHealth meet strategic goals. Everyone is welcome!    If you would like to present a qualitative project, stay apprised of QRIG meeting topics, or receive QRIG emails, please contact Michael Kohut.

Check out MaineHealth Institute for Research's SharePoint Site!

Innovation

the connective tissue between research, education, and care

Last Call for Applications for the Innovation Cohort and Ignite Fund! Innovation Ignite Fund This internal funding mechanism of up to $20,000 is awarded to help innovators accelerate their project through understanding user pain points, building a prototype, or testing an assumption. Applications due October 1 at 10:00 A.M. Learn More & Apply Innovation Cohort This collaborative 8-week program helps MaineHealth care team members advance an early innovative "back of the envelope" idea that addresses an unmet care need by embedding themselves in innovation science, user discovery, prototyping, and intellectual property considerations. Applications due October 1 at 10:00 A.M. Learn More & Apply The Cohort will meet the following dates from 7:00-8:30 am: 10/25, 11/9, 11/30, 12/14. Want to learn more about what program may be best for your idea? Reach out to innovation_center@mainehealth.org to schedule a time to talk!

Transforming the Future of Healthcare: Join us at the Roux Institute’s Venture Showcase!

Don’t miss the Roux Institute's inaugural Future of Healthcare Founder Residency presents the "Venture Showcase" on Monday, September 11, from 4:00-7:30 pm at the Roux Institute (see details in the Upcoming Events & Opportunities section of this newsletter). Designed in partnership with Northern Light Health and MaineHealth, the Roux Institute’s Future of Healthcare Founder Residency is the first of its kind in northern New England. We look forward to welcoming you to an unforgettable experience that will inspire and empower you to embrace the potential of healthcare transformation. See you at the Venture Showcase! Register Here

Innovation Updates - Welcome Three New Innovation Cabinet Members! The MaineHealth Innovation Cabinet members advise and support MaineHealth Innovation and champion innovation across the MaineHealth system. Quarterly, the Innovation Cabinet meets to take part in roundtables. These are designed as a brainstorming session around one or two pressing questions regarding Innovation in the MaineHealth system.

Joel Botler, MD  Southern Region Interim President and Chief Medical Officer, MaineHealth

Trampas Hutches Mountain Region President, MaineHealth

·Chris Thomson, MD Chief Medical and Transformation Officer, MaineHealth

Celebrating Innovative Stories Across the System Tackling the Opioid Overdose Crisis: Post-Partum Patients Equipped with Naloxone First Aid Kits Naloxone (widely known by its brand name “Narcan”) is more available than ever, but most people don’t have it on hand or know how to use it. The staff at the LincolnHealth Birthing Unit decided to change that, one person at a time. They now offer Narcan to every post-partum patient at discharge. Staff include the naloxone and instructions for use in a family first aid kit given to all new parents. The distribution program has been very successful.  The naloxone kits were first piloted at Franklin Memorial Hospital’s birthing unit in 2021-22 by Nell Tharpe, CNM, and Dr. Jay Naliboff, members of the Perinatal Quality Collaborative for Maine (PQC4ME). PQC4ME is an initiative under the Maternal Child Health programs at the Maine Medical Association Center for Quality Improvement. Distributing the kits with naloxone at the bedside opens the door to talking about accidental poisoning or overdose from opioids, helps reduce stigma and makes the decision to bring naloxone home easier for parents. By raising awareness of the signs and symptoms of opioid overdose and equipping families to give naloxone more people are prepared to save a life. Read More