Gary H. Gibbons, MD, is director of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute at the National Institutes of Health. He is an alumnus of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Harold Amos Medical Faculty Development Program. This is part of a series of posts looking at diversity in the health care workforce.

Growing up in a predominantly African American neighborhood in Philadelphia, high blood pressure, strokes, and heart attacks were common. When I got to medical school, I asked one of my professors why the African American community tended to have a higher prevalence of these medical conditions. He introduced me to biomedical science for the first time and challenged me to pursue that question on my own. I've continued to look for the answer to that provocative question ever since.

Similar to that early experience, mentorship has been a determining factor in my career trajectory. I might not have pursued a research career at all if it hadn't been for Harvard Medical School professor A. Clifford Barger who inspired me to ask and answer difficult research questions. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Harold Amos Program pushed me further with their emphasis on mentorship, which gave me a sense of community with the many scholars interested in the same research problems. It was my experience with a National Institutes of Health T32 training grant when I was starting out as an investigator that inspired me to give back to a younger set of minority researchers by becoming a K Award mentor and leading a T32 program at Morehouse School of Medicine.

Around the country, print, broadcast and online media outlets are covering the groundbreaking work of Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) leaders, scholars, fellows, alumni and grantees. Some recent examples:

RWJF/U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Physician Faculty Scholars alumnus Amal Trivedi, MD, MPH, is co-author of a study that finds older patients are routinely prescribed potentially harmful drugs, particularly in the South. Although the specific reasons for the regional differences are unknown, the researchers hypothesize factors like education, socioeconomic status, and access to quality medical care might be to blame, the New York Times Well Blog reports. NPR and Nurse.com are among the other outlets to report on the findings.

Fierce Healthcare reports on a study led by RWJF/U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Clinical Scholar Kelly Doran, MD, that finds frequent use of the emergency department at Veterans Health Administration facilities is often due to “severely compromised life circumstances,” rather than poor access to outpatient health care. The study raises questions about the degree to which increasing access to outpatient care, as the Affordable Care Act aims to do, will reduce emergency department use.

Manish K. Sethi, MD, a health policy associate at the RWJF Center for Health Policy at Meharry Medical College, spoke to the Leaf Chronicle about a program he started at Cameron College Prep Middle School in Nashville to teach teens conflict resolution strategies in an effort to reduce violence in the Nashville area. Read a Q&A with Sethi about the program.

Around the country, print, broadcast and online media outlets are covering the groundbreaking work of Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) leaders, scholars, fellows and grantees. Some recent examples:

Susan B. Hassmiller, PhD, RN, FAAN, RWJF senior adviser for nursing, spoke this month at the Oregon Center for Nursing conference on the future of nursing leadership, according to The Lund Report. “We need to be keeping more data, recording our expertise and speaking up for ourselves so when people say quality of care, they will also say, quality of nursing,” she said.

Alicia I. Arbaje, MD, MPH, an alumna of the RWJF Harold Amos Medical Faculty Development Program and the RWJF Clinical Scholars program, was a guest on NBC Nightly News discussing the need for older adults to live in “dynamic environments” like college towns, where they can stay physically active and socially engaged. See the clips here and here.

A white paper co-authored by RWJF Investigator Award in Health Policy Research recipient Kathleen Sutcliffe, PhD, “breaks down the behaviors of managers who are the best at anticipating, containing, and repairing catastrophes,” Business Insider reports. Among those behaviors: they overcome cognitive biases and update their beliefs, and they don't ignore small problems until they snowball into larger ones.

Science Magazine reports on research by RWJF Scholars in Health Policy Research alumnus Rashawn Ray, PhD, that finds women of color often encounter an unwelcoming environment in graduate school, and have a particularly hard time finding primary mentors who share their experiences and can provide guidance.

The following are among the many honors received recently by Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) leaders, scholars, fellows and grantees.

Lindsay Chase-Lansdale, PhD, a member of the RWJF Health & Society Scholars program National Advisory Committee, was elected to the National Academy of Education.

RWJF Clinical Scholars alumnus David J. Shulkin, MD, has been named chair of the board of the New Jersey Council of Teaching Hospitals. Shulkin is president of Morristown Medical Center and vice president of Atlantic Health System.

Flavia Peréa, PhD, an alumna of the RWJF New Connections program, was recognized by Diverse: Issues in Higher Education as a “2013 Emerging Scholar.”

Health & Society Scholars alumna Janxin Leu, PhD, joined HopeLab as Director of Product Innovation, where she will direct the Lab’s “new initiative to promote human resilience and inner values through social-tech innovation.”

The University of North Carolina Board of Governors has approved the UNC School of Nursing’s proposal to add the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree to its graduate clinical offerings. Two RWJF Executive Nurse Fellows alumnae were instrumental in ensuring the proposal’s approval: School of Nursing Dean Kristen M. Swanson, PhD, RN, FAAN, and newly-appointed DNP program director Debra J. Barksdale, PhD, RN, CFNP, CANP.

Kevin B. Johnson, MD, MS, the Cornelius Vanderbilt Professor, chair of Biomedical Informatics, and a professor of pediatrics at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, has joined the RWJF Harold Amos Medical Faculty Development Program National Advisory Committee.

This is part of a series introducing programs in the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Human Capital Portfolio.

The Harold Amos Medical Faculty Development Program
is on the verge of a milestone: it will observe its 30th anniversary this year.  In 2012, the program achieved another notable distinction, as a third alumnus was selected to lead an institute at the National Institutes of Health: Gary Gibbons, MD, (’88) is now director of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). He joined Griffin Rogers, MD, MACP, (’83) Director of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases; and Roderic Pettigrew, MD, PhD, (’83) Director of the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering.

Formerly known as the Minority Medical Faculty Development Program, the Harold Amos Medical Faculty Development Program (AFMDP) was created to increase the number of faculty from historically disadvantaged backgrounds who can achieve senior rank in academic medicine or dentistry, and who will encourage and foster the development of succeeding classes of such physicians and dentists. AFMDP offers four-year postdoctoral research awards to historically disadvantaged physicians and dentists who are committed to developing careers in academic medicine and to serving as role models for students and faculty of similar background.

Around the country, print, broadcast and online media outlets are covering the groundbreaking work of Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) leaders, scholars, fellows and grantees. Some recent examples:

The Baltimore Times reports on the Tour for Diversity in Medicine, founded in part by RWJF Summer Medical and Dental Education Program (SMDEP) alumnus Alden Landry, MD, MPH. Several weeks each year, the Tour visits college campuses across the country to promote careers in the health professions to students from groups underrepresented in higher education. Read more about the Tour for Diversity here and here.

Jason Karlawish, MD, recipient of an RWJF Investigator Award in Health Policy Research, spoke to the Philadelphia Inquirer about tests for Alzheimer’s disease. Read posts Karlawish wrote for the RWJF Human Capital Blog about the disease and the challenges associated with early diagnosis.

Pharmacy Times reports on a perspective piece in the New England Journal of Medicine, co-authored by Investigator Award recipient Aaron Kesselheim, MD, JD, MPH. It addresses concerns about a proposal to increase liability for generic drug manufacturers for adverse reactions. Read a post Kesselheim wrote for the RWJF Human Capital Blog about pharmaceutical industry marketing to medical students.

Around the country, print, broadcast and online media outlets are covering the groundbreaking work of Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) leaders, scholars, fellows and grantees. Some recent examples:

A study by Deidra Crews, MD, ScM, FASN, an alumna of the RWJF Harold Amos Medical Faculty Development Program, finds that poor nutrition is strongly associated with kidney disease in low-income individuals. Health Day, Science Daily and Medical XPress are among the outlets to report on the findings.

WHYY interviewed RWJF Health & Society Scholars alumna Carolyn Cannuscio, ScD, ScM, about the “built environment” and its impact on health, as well as her personal connection to the field.

The Afro-American Newspapers wrote about the Tour for Diversity in Medicine, run in part by RWJF Summer Medical and Dental Education Program alumnus Alden Landry, MD, MPH. The Tour travels with mentors to college campuses around the country to promote health professions to underrepresented students. Read more about the Tour for Diversity here and here.

Julie Fairman, PhD, FAAN, RN, gave comments to Nurse.com for an article on the history of the nursing profession. Fairman says that nursing education evolved “very haphazardly.” She is the recipient of an RWJF Investigator Award in Health Policy Research.

Nurse.com also spoke with RWJF Executive Nurse Fellows alumnae Jane Kirschling, DNS, RN, FAAN, and Susan Bakewell-Sachs, RN, PhD, PNP-BC, about initiatives across the country to recruit and retain nurse faculty. Bakewell-Sachs is also program director of the New Jersey Nursing Initiative, a program of RWJF and the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce Foundation.

Around the country, print, broadcast and online media outlets are covering the groundbreaking work of Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) leaders, scholars, fellows and grantees. Some recent examples:

RWJF Clinical Scholars alumnus Eric Coleman, MD, is one of 23 MacArthur Fellows for 2012—the so-called "genius award," the MacArthur Foundation announced. Coleman is director of the Care Transitions Program, the New York Times reports, which has helped hundreds of hospitals and community agencies across the country improve communication among patients and health care providers to reduce the likelihood of readmissions.  Read more about his work and award.

Several years ago, RWJF Scholar in Health Policy Research alumnus Harold Pollack, PhD, and his wife “became custodians for his adult brother-in-law, who is intellectually disabled and has various medical problems. Harold has written about this experience before, movingly—and what it’s taught him about the value of programs like Medicaid,” The New Republic reports. “Now he’s decided to put his thoughts on a video.”

The New York Times spoke to Andrea Campbell, PhD, about a study she co-authored that looked at the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s health reform ruling. In upholding the Affordable Care Act, the Court simultaneously bolstered public support for the law and hurt its own reputation with the general public, Campbell found—a combination of outcomes she said put the decision in a "public opinion class by itself." Campbell is an alumna of the Scholars in Health Policy Research program and recipient of an RWJF Investigator Award in Health Policy Research.

Around the country, print, broadcast and online media outlets are covering the groundbreaking work of Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) leaders, scholars, fellows and grantees. Some recent examples:

Women who had attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) as girls are more likely to hurt themselves or attempt suicide, compared to those who did not have ADHD, according to a longitudinal study led by RWJF Investigator Award in Health Policy Research recipient Stephen P. Hinshaw, PhD. More than half of the girls, ages 6 to 12, who were tracked by the study were reported to have engaged in self-injurious behavior, and more than one-fifth had attempted suicide, United Press International reports. Among the other outlets to report on the findings: Health Day, MediLexicon, Health Canal, and Science Daily.

The New York Times interviewed RWJF Clinical Scholars alumna Comilla Sasson, MD, MS, and others who were working at the University of Colorado Hospital the night of the shootings at an Aurora movie theater. Sasson’s team treated 23 patients, and every patient who arrived at the hospital with a pulse survived. “We went into emergency medicine because we know it’s crazy—you never know what’s going to come through the door,” she said. “But the thing none of us have gotten over is, we made it through. We really, truly shined [that night].” Read a post Sasson wrote for the RWJF Human Capital Blog about the experience.

RWJF/U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Physician Faculty Scholar Rebecca Sudore, MD, continues to receive media coverage for a study she led that finds almost half of adults with type 2 diabetes experience acute and chronic pain. “Palliative care has already begun to be woven into the care provided to patients with cancer, heart failure and kidney failure,” Sudore told Health Day. “Our results highlight the need to expand diabetes management to also include the palliative care model.”

RWJF Executive Nurse Fellows alumna Cynda Hylton Rushton, PhD, RN, FAAN, spoke to NBC News about a study conducted by researchers in England that finds “some terminally ill children experience unnecessary treatment and prolonged suffering because their parents believe they will experience a ‘miracle cure.’” These situations occur rarely, Rushton says, and “it takes time to evolve and fully understand every perspective and rationale. The process should take seriously the implications of overruling parents’ deeply held religious viewpoints, and include sufficient safeguards that are fair and balanced.”

Around the country, print, broadcast and online media outlets are covering the groundbreaking work of Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) leaders, scholars, fellows and grantees. Some recent examples:

The Las Vegas Sun interviewed RWJF Executive Nurse Fellows alumna Debra Toney, PhD, MS, BSN, FAAN, who was chosen by the Coca-Cola Company to carry the Olympic torch in the relay leading up the opening ceremony on July 27. Read more about Toney’s experience in the latest issue of Sharing Nursing’s Knowledge.

RWJF Harold Amos Medical Faculty Development Program alumnus Levi Garraway, MD, PhD, is part of a team conducting research on genetic mutations and cancer. Health Canal reports on their findings, including which sun-damaged cells in a tumor contribute to melanoma.

A study led by RWJF Health & Society Scholars alumna Margaret Sheridan, PhD, finds that childhood adversity produces measurable changes in children’s brains, Science Daily reports.  It affects the amount of both the brain’s white matter (which is necessary for forming connections) and its gray matter, the research team found. For the study, they analyzed brain scans of Romanian children who had been moved from an orphanage to quality foster care homes.

An article from The Atlantic cites a working paper by Health & Society Scholar Jason Fletcher, PhD, that finds “adults who suffer from adolescent depression ultimately make about 20 percent less money than their peers and are somewhat less likely to be employed.”