A team that includes several CHIBE members has won an R01 from the National Institute of Mental Health to test strategies to increase implementation of a universal safe firearm storage program in pediatric primary care. While the American Academy of Pediatrics and the National Academy of Medicine recommend interventions to promote universal safe firearm storage, there is a need for implementation research to determine how to embed evidence-based practices in routine clinical practice. Read our Q&A with Rinad Beidas, PhD, a CHIBE-affiliated faculty member, who will serve as the PI, to learn more about this work.

Penn has launched a new initiative called “Bold Solutions: Dismantle Racism. Advance Health,” which aims to fight racism within the health care system. Those leading this effort are:

“It is incumbent upon us to do what we can to improve health by focusing on populations that have been subject to systemic racism,” Dr. Volpp said. “This initiative provides a mechanism to expand our efforts to have more impact.” Learn more about the Bold Solutions group here on LDI’s site or view the group's one-pager here.

CHIBE is assisting the Pennsylvania Department of Health (DOH) with COVID Alert PA, a free app designed to help reduce the spread of COVID-19. “The app uses Bluetooth to exchange anonymous IDs between phones in close proximity,” said CHIBE’s Erica Dixon, PhD. “If a person with the app tests positive for COVID, they can put in a code from PA DOH to alert those who were in close contact with them.”

The app boosts traditional contact tracing efforts, casting a wider net beyond the people that an individual knows they spent time with. It can help notify people who may have been nearby a person with the virus while standing in line at the supermarket, waiting for a bus, or in some other public area. If a user has been near a person who has tested positive for COVID-19, they will receive a push notification that will contain information on what to do next. Read more about the app here.

CHIBE Associate Director Harsha Thirumurthy and Guy Grossman (Political Science, School of Arts & Sciences) have launched the Penn Development Research Initiative (PDRI), an interdisciplinary community of scholars at the University of Pennsylvania whose research seeks to identify solutions to the challenges facing developing countries. PDRI bridges 7 schools at Penn and brings together faculty and students with interests in various aspects of international development including education, health, governance, environment, gender, urbanization and migration, labor markets, poverty, and economic growth. PDRI’s affiliates and fellows work with governments, multilateral organizations, non-governmental organizations, and researchers in many low- and middle-income countries around the world. PDRI seeks to strengthen the connections between development researchers at Penn and also expand its collaborations with development practitioners outside Penn.

Get to know Kristin Linn, PhD, MStat, Assistant Professor of Biostatistics at the University of Pennsylvania. Read the full Q&A here.

In my dissertation, I developed statistical methods for optimally tailoring interventions to individuals. Recently, I’ve been applying these methods to data from the STEP UP randomized trial (joint work with Mitesh Patel and Amol Navathe). Our goal is to develop a personalized decision rule that uses demographic, social support, and/or personality traits to assign participants to one of three interventions in a way that maximally increases individuals’ physical activity levels. I’m particularly excited about the potential for impactful methodological advances based on this type of data. For example, developing new statistical methods for precision medicine that appropriately handle missing data could lead to better insights and more effective intervention strategies in the future.

I’m also working with Amol Navathe to evaluate the effects of a new primary care payment system on cost and quality measures, and in a separate project we are investigating whether there is any empirical evidence of racial unfairness in a risk score used by the Veteran’s Association (joint with Ravi Parikh and Helen Yan). I have ongoing work with Atheen Venkataramani, Kevin Volpp, Kristen Underhill, Erica Dixon, Will Ferrell, and Lizzie Bair related to a Section 1115 Medicaid demonstration waiver that was planned but not implemented by the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Outside of CHIBE, I am an Associate Director of PennSIVE, a biomedical imaging group at Penn. A few of my imaging projects include: addressing confounding in high-dimensional data; harmonizing images from multiple scanners; fusing information from multiple imaging modalities; and personalizing transcranial magnetic stimulation treatments for depression and anxiety.

Power calculations…kidding! One of the most satisfying feelings is when you find a bug in your code or otherwise identify an error in an analysis and the results suddenly make way more sense after you fix it. But the best part of my job is interacting with and learning from others. One reason why I enjoy working with CHIBE investigators is that they are incredibly skilled at communicating technical, scientific work to audiences with different backgrounds. I experienced this first-hand as a new faculty member when I traveled with a team of CHIBE investigators to meet with policy makers in Kentucky. I was inspired by the conversations where Kevin, Atheen, and Kristen beautifully sold the value of randomization, ensuring our team’s evaluation of the state’s new Medicaid program would be rigorous and impactful.

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Remote recruitment is possible, so if you live outside Philadelphia you can still participate. If you are interested in participating or want to receive more information, please call Emily at 215-898-4897 or email pushstudy@waytohealth.org.

CHIBE has launched a website showcasing all of the ways in which CHIBE faculty are involved in the response to COVID-19. Read about their research projects and activities, find media coverage, and resources. If you have a project to share with us, email us here.

The Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics (CHIBE) at the University of Pennsylvania conducts behavioral economics research aimed at reducing the disease burden from major U.S. public health problems. Originally founded within the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, our mission is to inform health policy, improve health care delivery, and increase healthy behavior.