Ellen Engelhardt, PhD
Editor
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Aisha Langford, PhD
Deputy Editor
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by Ellen Engelhardt, PhD; The Netherlands
It feels like I’ve just barely blinked, and the end of the year is already here, and it’s time for the final newsletter of 2021. In my corner of the world, we do not observe thanksgiving, but it is Thanksgiving Day as I sit staring at a blank document on my laptop, thinking about what to write in my final editor’s note for this year. The theme of giving thanks resonates with me. It can be hard to step back and recognize all the small and big blessings in our lives, perhaps more so after two years of COVID-19 related chaos. But there are still moments of sunshine in all our lives. I’m very honored and grateful for the opportunity to serve as a trustee on SMDM’s Board and I’m looking forward to being able to contribute to the Society in this new role. Congratulations to all the newly elected Officers and Trustees! On a personal note, thinking about what I’m grateful for, my great-aunt comes to mind. She passed away over the summer at the grand old age of 94. She was the most caring soul and greatest cheerleader a little girl with big dreams could wish for. I’m so thankful I was fortunate enough to have had such a strong female role model in my life. Not only for her unwavering support, but also for instilling in me the belief that no matter what your circumstances are, no dream is too big if you’re willing to put in the work and to never let fear hold you back, because even when you fail, it’s an opportunity to grow and do better moving forward. Such strong mentorship at home but also professionally has been pivotal for me in achieving many goals, and I hope I’m able to pay it forward.
Staying with the theme of mentorship, take a look at Aisha Langford’s (Deputy Editor) Hot Topic column, in which she touches on the importance of structured networking, funding and mentorship opportunities to help enhance the careers of early-career investigators and minoritized groups in science. In her Hot Topic column, Aisha also reports the results of last issue’s poll on your preferred format for future conferences and the reasons you value conferences in general. Thank you to everyone who participated! And speaking of conferences, I hope you were able to join SMDM’s 2021 virtual conference. If you were unable to attend or want to take another look, go to the SMDM news section for information on how you can still access the meeting content and all the information about the upcoming meetings in Berlin and Seattle.
As we near the end of a second year marked by the COVID-19 pandemic, I’m sure, that much like me, some of you have had days you wished there was a rewind or perhaps rather a fast forward button for real life. In this issue’s MDM poll, we want to hear what the impact has been on you personally and professionally. Please take 3-5 minutes to fill in the poll. In this issue’s though provoking SMDM Fellows Column, Kyu Eun Lee talks about the need to carefully assess the impact of reversing the changes brought about by COVID-19 as the world gets ready for going back to normal.
I would like to end by echoing SMDM President Olga Kostopoulou and Past President Natasha Stout’s call to consider volunteering. Read their columns and be inspired! There are many opportunities to contribute to the Society. From my own experience, I can highly recommend volunteering.
I hope you enjoy this newsletter. If you have any ideas, suggestions, please get in touch.
Whatever is beautiful. Whatever is meaningful. Whatever brings you joy. May it be yours this holiday season and throughout the coming year.
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Olga Kostopoulou, PhD
SMDM President
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by Olga Kostopoulou, PhD; United Kingdom
Happy Autumn! (or Spring, for those in the southern hemisphere)
Halloween has just happened, the leaves are turning, and I am landing on the SMDM office of President, having taken the steer from the formidable Natasha Stout.
Our 43rd annual meeting
What a meeting have we just had! We are still receiving your responses to the meeting evaluation form – if you have not sent yours yet, please do. We will provide a synopsis in a future newsletter. I would like to congratulate the Chairs and everyone who was involved in the organisation, not only for the high quality of the content, but also because the meeting achieved its aim to foster discussion and networking in a virtual environment. The timings were sometimes difficult for some of us outside North America, but I truly missed it when it was finished. I missed the stimulating presentations and the evening chats with colleagues - but I did not miss the jetlag! If you were at the Business meeting, you will know that I am a big proponent of hybrid meetings. They increase access and promote equity. They enable researchers with limited funds and people who are – for whatever reason – unable to travel, to participate. They reduce our carbon footprint. They can however be costly, and we will need to find a balance between live streaming and pre-recording, while ensuring that networking opportunities are maintained. I am now looking forward to our next meetings in Berlin and in Seattle. Things are still uncertain, and we do not know in what form we will be meeting in 2022 but rest assured that we will endeavor to put together a high-quality, varied, and engaging programme, like we always do at SMDM.
Collaboration between disciplines
Something that makes SMDM stand out among scientific societies is that it encompasses multiple and quite disparate disciplines working towards a common goal: to improve decision making for patients, providers, policy makers and healthcare systems. We need to capitalize on this uniqueness by enhancing collaboration between our different disciplines both within the society and with the world outside. Multidisciplinary research is more likely to attract funding than research from a single discipline and can move scientific discoveries forward at a faster pace. Several of you who responded to the recent members’ survey, commented that you would like to have more opportunities for collaboration. As a Society, we need to develop structures and means to facilitate collaboration – this also fits with one of the goals of our strategic plan for the next 3-5 years.
We should highlight and celebrate collaboration by having e.g., special sessions at annual meetings or a special section about collaborative research in our journals. In the future, we will be using our website to advertise opportunities/requests for collaboration.
Another way of enhancing collaboration is to promote our expertise and experts by e.g., having a searchable database on our website, featured interviews with experts in the newsletter and the website, and public seminar series by SMDM members under the auspices of SMDM. Please send us any related ideas that you may have to info@SMDM.org.
Get involved!
It is the best way to network, meet the SMDM leaders you always wanted to meet, understand the workings of the society, promote your ideas about how the Society should be run and what it could do for you, and enrich your CV! We are currently looking for SMDM members to join our new Diversity, Anti-racism, & Transformation Team (DART), and a Chair to the Publications Committee. If you are interested in these opportunities or to join any of our committees, please contact info@SMDM.org. Negin Hajizadeh has kindly volunteered to be the new Chair to the Membership Committee. We thank the outgoing Chair, Ellen Lipstein, and the committee members for their work on the member survey that helped guide our strategic planning, as well as their other contributions over the past few years.
Our new Patient Advisory Council is now complete and has started meeting. The patient representatives attended our annual meeting and have provided positive feedback. We are looking forward to incorporating the Council’s work into our activities.
One of the pledges in my election statement was to attract more clinicians to the Society. SMDM was founded by physicians and the membership consisted predominantly of physicians at the outset. Over the years, there has been a progressive shift towards PhD scientists, and we have been losing clinician members. We would like to know how our clinicians can be served better and what they would like to get out of their SMDM membership. Please e-mail me personally (o.kostopoulou@imperial.ac.uk).
Make suggestions!
I would love to know how many of you read the newsletter, and what information you find useful, but we will not burden you with yet another poll. The best way to increase readership is to write about things that people want to read. Do let us know what information you would like this Newsletter to contain by emailing info@SMDM.org.
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The opinions stated in the following commentaries are solely those of the authors and do not reflect the opinions of the Society for Medical Decision Making or the author's institution. |
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Natasha Stout, PhD
SMDM Past President
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Past President's Column
by Natasha Stout, PhD; United States
Dear All,
It has been a true honor to work with so many of you to move forward the mission and vision of our Society together over the past year. These past few years have been challenging but I witnessed how hard the SMDM community worked to care for each other, SMDM, and the world around us. I am truly proud of our members and all that we have accomplished in the face of these challenges. Milestones this year include the creation of the Diversity, Anti-Racism and Transformation (DART) Team. DART will help SMDM promote these values throughout all activities as well as help SMDM lead the way in the inclusion of these considerations in the methods we use. We heard this call to action by the keynote speaker, Dr. Monica McLemore, at the 2021 Virtual Meeting a few weeks ago (in case you missed it, the keynote and all scientific content are available through January 2022). This year also included the continuation of the COVID-19 Decision Modeling work, the new Patient Advisory Council, the creation of new virtual events including the European Spring Event and virtual short courses and of course, the development of the new 2022-2024 Strategic Plan!
I want to take a moment to briefly recap our 2022-2024 Strategic Plan and plant the seeds for your involvement in its future growth and success. The SMDM Board and leadership developed this three-year plan to allow SMDM to be resilient and evolve to meet the ever-changing demands of the COVID-19 shaped environment around us. There was a desire for the plan to focus on those activities that could have the highest return and were most aligned with member career goals and our mission.
The three main goals shown in the center of the figure are to:
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Create more opportunities for collaboration both within and outside the many disciplines, backgrounds, and application areas in which SMDM members and stakeholders work.
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Expand access and touchpoints to SMDM beyond the scientific meetings.
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Strengthen SMDM’s brand and reputation as methods experts including being a catalyst for methods development and innovation as well as for teaching and communicating these methods in accessible ways.
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Figure: SMDM’s 2022-2024 Strategic Plan Goals and Activities
The Board identified 7 main activities to enable SMDM to achieve these goals (shown in the surrounding circle in the figure).
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Building matchmaking programs and platforms that help connect members within and across disciplines and work environments. Ideas include new directories of expertise, idea labs, matchmaking sessions and more.
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Enhancing our member to member communications. This includes revisiting the listserve, website and member portal.
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Expanding short courses offerings including more virtual options and advanced certification programs.
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Rethinking scientific meeting structures. Options include new formats (in-person, virtual, hybrid), timing, locations and tracks.
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Hosting educational activities for effective communication, translation and dissemination of research to different audiences.
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Developing new webinars to facilitate collaboration and/or methods development.
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Sponsoring a series of scientific consensus or guidance papers on methods or practice of medical decision making.
The activities which range in size, scope and resources required, were selected to be actionable and feasible within the plan timeframe. In addition, each activity has the potential to move SMDM forward on at least 2 if not all 3 goals.
To facilitate implementation, these activities will be supported by other investments including infrastructure like redesigning our website and our member communication portal. In addition, underpinning all activities are the principles of diversity, equity and inclusion. The expertise and guidance of the DART Team will be integral. Further, activities will be integrated into other existing SMDM structures and committees wherever possible. Board liaisons will be designated for each activity to ensure progress and adequate infrastructure. And lastly and most importantly, we hope these activities resonate with you as members! We hope you will get involved to lead and participate in these activities. More communications will be coming about implementation but in the interim, please drop me an email if you are interested in joining our efforts (natasha_stout@hms.harvard.edu)!
Before I close, I want to express my gratitude again to SMDM leadership, committee chairs, meeting planning committee, members and staff for their countless hours of work during this challenging but productive year. I learned so much from each and every one of you. Your dedication and commitment are inspiring and a constant reminder of how special our SMDM community is.
With your hard work, the strong leadership of the new President, Olga Kostopoulou, and the 2022-2024 strategic plan in place to guide SMDM, I know we can continue to embrace the uncertainties around us to grow SMDM and our mark in the world.
It has been a true privilege and honor to serve as President this year and I thank you again for this opportunity. I look forward to seeing all of you in person again soon!
Best wishes,
Tasha
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Aisha Langford, PhD
Deputy Editor
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Hot Topics: Supporting Careers in Decision Science Through Networking and Mentorship at SMDM |
By Aisha Langford, PhD; United States
If you Google “how to build a successful career in research”, you may yield articles like this one. Such articles offer sage advice such as identify your skills, be persistent, and understand your talent. Other tips may include finding a mentor for every stage of your career and to be intentional about networking. Although these tips are true for everyone, they may be particularly salient for groups underrepresented in medicine, who have historically had smaller professional networks and less access to strong mentorship.
The topic of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) has gained a lot of attention recently for various reasons, but notably the “pandemic penalty” on women in academia and the death of George Floyd. While these issues are hard to unpack, there is good news. Academic institutions and societies like SMDM are providing practical resources to address DEI. Examples of such resources include funding to attend conferences, anti-racism trainings, and faculty development programs. Other efforts include structured networking opportunities, sponsorship, and mentorship. If sustained, these efforts can help enhance the careers of early career investigators, minoritized groups, and women.
While not the only way, attending conferences is one way to find potential collaborators and build professional networks. Earlier this year, we polled SMDM members about their preferred format for future conferences and the reasons they found conferences valuable in general. A total of 89 members participated in the poll. Here’s what you said.
The most common preference for future SMDM meetings was a mix of in-person and virtual sessions (45%, 40/89), followed by a preference for being completely in-person when it is safe to do so (38%, 34/89). With regard to in-person conferences, the 3 features that SMDM members valued most were networking with peers and/or mentors (92%, 82/89), meeting colleagues from across the country/world (76%, 68/89), and the opportunity to socialize with colleagues (71%, 63/89). With regard to virtual meetings, the 3 features that SMDM members valued the most were no need to travel (69%, 59/86), lower cost (65%, 56/86), and ability to view content at their convenience (56%, 48/86).
Approximately 38% of poll respondents were senior researchers (34/89), 21% early-stage researchers (19/89), 20% mid-career researchers (18/89), 16% PhD student/trainee (14/89) and 4% “other” (4/89). Most respondents were from the United States (70%, 60/86) and Canada (12%, 10/86).
Networking and mentoring are key focus areas in SMDM’s new strategic plan. Additionally, there is a newly formed SMDM committee called the Diversity, Anti-racism, & Transformation Team (DART). DART’s goal is to educate SMDM members about anti-racism, diversity and inclusion, and identify and engage in methods to address structural and interpersonal racism and exclusion within SMDM and society. If you would like to volunteer your time and talents on the DART committee, click here for more information.
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Eline Krijkamp,
PhD Student
SMDM Fellow
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Kyu Eun Lee, PhD
SMDM Fellow
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Ruth Ndjaboue Njike, PhD
SMDM Fellow
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Rachel Pozzar, PhD, RN
SMDM Fellow
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SMDM Fellows Column:
Getting ready for being back to normal
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By Kyu Eun Lee, PhD
Despite all the bad things that the COVID-19 outbreak brought, we can find some positive changes. For instance, as flights, ground transportations, and factories reduced their activities under COVID-19 containment measures, there was the largest short-term reduction in air pollution in modern history. Another upside of COVID-19 is that the number of respiratory diseases such as respiratory syncytial virus(RSV) and influenza has been unprecedentedly low in 2020 in response to preventative measures for COVID-19 transmission including social-distancing, school closure and mask-wearing. Although low viral activity resulted in fewer hospitalizations and deaths in 2020, what would happen in the subsequent season? Waning immunity and the missed opportunity for enhanced immunity raises concerns of resurgence of respiratory diseases in the following season when public health measures are lifted and viral transmission resumes.
In my recent study, we estimated a 20% increase in flu hospitalizations compared to the typical flu season if influenza activity resumes in 2021-22 following a year of low influenza activity in the United States. This increase corresponds to 100,000 additional flu hospitalizations. In the worst-case scenario where low flu vaccine uptake and a poor match between vaccine and circulating strains are assumed, the increase in flu hospitalizations can be as high as 400,000 hospitalizations. If along with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic other infectious diseases whose activity was suppressed under COVID-19 measures resurge simultaneously, this could overwhelm the capacity of the health care system. Preparedness for the potential resurgence of other respiratory diseases after COVID-19 measures are relaxed is important. For influenza, increased flu vaccination uptake can prevent a major outbreak this winter. In the US, about 50% of the population get the flu vaccine every year. To avert the expected increase in flu hospitalizations, flu vaccine uptake should increase up to 75%, according to the model-based projection.
COVID-19 containment measures are starting to be relaxed around the world and we are getting ready to go back to normal life. The COVID-19 pandemic brought changes to aspects of our life in a complicated way. We need to carefully assess the impact of reversing those changes on the burden of other diseases besides COVID-19.
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Negin Hajizadeh, MD, MPH
2021 Annual Meeting Co-Chair
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Victoria Shaffer, PhD
2021 Annual Meeting Co-Chair
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Missed the SMDM Annual Meeting? Register now to access the scientific sessions available on demand through 14 January 2022! |
2021 Annual Meeting Co-Chairs:
Negin Hajizadeh, MD, MPH; United States
Victoria Shaffer, PhD; United States
For those unable to attend the live sessions of the 2021 Annual Virtual Meeting we can now offer you the ability to access and view the recorded scientific sessions, including the keynote, Complex Considerations when Weighing Shared Decision Making in the Context of Health Equity by Dr. Monica McLemore, symposia, oral presentations and the posters which have audio descriptions! Register at these discounted fees for on-demand access, and you will be able to view these sessions through 14 January 2022!
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Beate Jahn, PhD
2022 European Meeting Co-Chair
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Tobias Kurth, MD, MSc, ScD
2022 European Meeting Co-Chair
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Silke Siebert, MD
2022 European Meeting Co-Chair
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Uwe Siebert, MD, MPH, MSc, ScD
2022 European Meeting Co-Chair
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Mark your calendar for the 18th Biennial European Conference! |
2022 European Meeting Co-Chairs:
Beate Jahn, PhD; Austria
Tobias Kurth, MD, MSc, ScD; Germany
Silke Siebert, MD; Austria
Uwe Siebert, MD, MPH, MSc, ScD; Austria
May 2022 will be here before you know it. We are looking forward to hosting the 18th Biennial European SMDM Conference on 29-31 May 2022 at the Langenbeck-Virchow-Haus- in Berlin, Germany. This stunning, historic venue was built in 1913 to host medical conferences and educational events, and will be the perfect place to host our 2022 event with the theme “Linking Research to Evidence-Based Action for Patients, Providers and Policy Decision Makers”.
The call for symposia, abstracts and short courses are now open. We encourage you to make a submission! We are looking forward to hosting this in-person European Conference again, and hope to see you in 2022 in Berlin.
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Sarah Munro, PhD
2022 Annual Meeting Co-Chair
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Davene Wright, PhD
2022 Annual Meeting Co-Chair
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SMDM 44th Annual Meeting
Save the Date!
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2022 Annual Meeting Co-Chairs:
Sarah Munro, PhD; Canada
Davene Wright, PhD; United States
We hope you enjoyed the recently successful virtual meeting. We are looking forward to being live in 2022 at the 44th SMDM Annual North American Meeting, which will be held at the Hyatt Regency Seattle in Seattle, Washington. The meeting theme is Better for Whom? Advancing Equity in Medical Decision Making. Look for information in the New Year about the call for symposia, abstracts and short courses.
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2021 - 2022 Officers and Trustees
Congratulations to the newly elected Officers and Trustees of the Society for Medical Decision Making!
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Pictured above: Top row from left to right:
President-Elect: Beate Sander, RN, MBA, MEcDev, PhD, University Health Network and University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
Vice President-Elect: Victoria Shaffer, PhD, University of Missouri, Missouri, USA
Pictured above: Bottom row from left to right:
Trustees:
Aisha Langford, PhD, MPH, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, USA
Ellen Engelhardt, PhD, Netherlands Cancer Institute, The Netherlands
Emily Burger, PhD, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
Thank you to everyone who voted and especially to those who were willing to serve. Your contributions make the Society stronger! Please feel free to reach out to our new slate of Officers and Trustees to welcome them and become more involved in the Society's activities.
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2021 SMDM Awards
SMDM is pleased to announce the winners of its 2021 Awards:
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The Career Achievement Award recognizes distinguished senior investigators who have made significant contributions to the field of medical decision making. The 2021 recipient is Doug Coyle, MA, MSc, PhD.
The SMDM Award for Distinguished Service recognizes service to SMDM in terms of leadership, role in the operations of the Society, and contributions to the scientific and educational activities of the Society. The 2021 recipients are Angie Fagerlin, PhD, and Robert Hamm, PhD.
The John M. Eisenberg Award for Practical Application of Medical Decision Making Research recognizes an individual or organization that has demonstrated sustained leadership in translating medical decision making research into practice, and that has taken exceptional steps to communicate the principles and/or substantive findings of medical decision making research to policy makers, to clinical decision makers, and to the general public. The 2021 recipient is Daniel Singer, MD.
The Outstanding Paper by a Young Investigator Award is presented annually for the best paper published by a trainee or junior faculty member. Barry Dewitt, PhD is the 2021 recipient for his article "Incorporating Mortality in Health Utility Measures".
Bruce Schackman, PhD, is the 2021 recipient of the Lee B. Lusted sub-award in Health Services, Outcomes, and Policy Research (HSOP), and will have the sub-award named after him for five years for the period 2021 - 2026.
These individuals and organizations were honored at the Annual meeting in October. Please join us in congratulating all of the winners and thanking the Awards Committee for its work.
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Join or Renew Your Membership for 2022 |
As we approach 2022, we hope you will become a member or renew your membership to take advantage of the benefits of membership such as a subscription to the MDM and MDM P&P journals, access to SMDM's online resources and networking center, and discounts on SMDM educational sessions and meetings. In 2021 we expanded our virtual events and offerings, several at no cost to members, and we plan to expand on the member benefit webinars and virtual short courses in 2022, and hopefully going back to in-person events as well.
To ensure SMDM membership is as accessible as possible, membership dues will remain the same as they have since 2020. Thank you for your support.
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Consider Making a Donation to SMDM |
THANK YOU to those who have given to the 2021 Annual Fund. Today it is more important than ever to support the Society’s mission and strategic plan to improve the quality, patient-centeredness, and value of health decisions during these challenging times.
Please consider making a donation to SMDM. There are several donation options to consider, and you can also donate in memory of a loved one. Options include donating to the SMDM General Fund or you can ensure that your gift will support one or more of these specific programs:
- LMIC/Trainee Scholarships
- The Lee B. Lusted Student Prize Fund
- Dedicated Donations
- Dependent Care Fund
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Thank you to everyone who finds a way to help support the SMDM through the years. Your membership, contributions of time and expertise, and your donations are the basis for which the society can continue providing support to our global community while remaining fiscally sound. |
Medical Decision Making (MDM) October Issue - IPDAS
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The October 2021 issue of Medical Decision Making (Volume 41, Issue 7) is a special issue that consists of a set of papers commissioned by the International Patient Decision Aids Standards (IPDAS) Collaboration reviewing and documenting the evidence base related to the design and implementation of patient decision aids. The IPDAS Update (2.0) papers are updates and expansions of the set of IPDAS background document chapters published in 2012 & related journal articles published in 2013.
The 2021 IPDAS special issue includes 13 scientific review articles providing the latest evidence on 11 core IPDAS domains: development process, providing balanced information, communicating probabilities of outcomes, clarifying values, using personal stories, guidance and decision coaching, disclosing conflicts of interest, health literacy, basing information on scientific evidence, measuring effectiveness, and implementation of patient decision aids. In addition, the issue includes 2 editorials providing context and history regarding the IPDAS collaboration and commenting on its future.
To encourage broader dissemination of this important information, many of the papers in this special issue are either published under Creative Commons license (freely shareable with attribution) or are free to download on the SAGE website.
View the Most Recent Open Access Articles
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SMDM Core Course Curriculum
Congratulations to the following individuals for completing the Core Course Curriculum in Medical Decision Making.
Helen Chan (China)
Olivier Kpegba (United States)
Samuel Miller (United States)
Dorinka Nel (South Africa)
Tai-Tak Wan (Australia)
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The SMDM Core Course Curriculum is an initiative of the Society with the goal of having a set of introductory level Core Courses in foundational aspects of medical decision making. This effort serves the core mission of the Society to educate its members in key content areas. |
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SMDM Volunteers: Thank you for all that you do! |
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The SMDM Officers and Board (outgoing)
- Natasha Stout, PhD, President (United States)
- Olga Kostopoulou, PhD, MSc, President-Elect (United Kingdom)
- Lisa Prosser, PhD, Past President (United States)
- Beate Jahn, PhD, Vice President (Austria)
- Marieke de Vries , Vice President Elect (Netherlands)
- Ava John-Baptiste, PhD, Secretary-Treasurer (Canada)
- Jeremy Goldhaber-Fiebert, PhD, Secretary-Treasurer Elect (United States)
- J. Robert Beck, MD, Historian (United States)
- Fernando Alarid-Escudero, PhD, Trustee (Mexico)
- Jesse Jansen, PhD, Trustee (The Netherlands)
- Hester Lingsma, PhD, Trustee (Netherlands)
- Negin Hajizadeh, MD, MPH, Trustee (United States)
- Tara Lavelle, PhD, Trustee (United States)
- Ankur Pandya, PhD, Trustee (United States)
- Victoria Shaffer, PhD, Trustee (United States)
- Torbjørn Wisløff, PhD, Trustee (Norway)
- Davene Wright, PhD, Trustee (United States)
- Brian Zikmund-Fisher, PhD, Newsletter Editor, ex-officio (United States)
- Ellen Engelhardt, PhD, Editor newsletter ex-officio (Netherlands)
SMDM Officers and Board (incoming)
- Olga Kostopoulou, PhD, MSc, President (United Kingdom)
- Beate Sander, PhD, President Elect (Canada)
- Natasha Stout, PhD, Past President (United States)
- Marieke de Vries, Vice President (Netherlands)
- Victoria Shaffer, PhD, Vice President Elect (United States)
- Jeremy Goldhaber-Fiebert, PhD, Secretary-Treasurer (United States)
- J. Robert Beck, MD, Historian (United States)
- Emily Burger, PhD, Trustee (Norway)
- Ellen Englehardt, PhD, Trustee (Netherlands)
- Jesse Jansen, PhD, Trustee (The Netherlands)
- Aisha Langford, PhD, Trustee (United States)
- Tara Lavelle, PhD, Trustee (United States)
- Hester Lingsma, PhD, Trustee (The Netherlands)
- Negin Hajizadeh, MD, MPH, Trustee (United States)
- Ankur Pandya, PhD, Trustee (United States)
- Davene Wright, PhD, Trustee (United States)
- Brian Zikmund-Fisher, PhD, Editor Journal, ex-officio (United States)
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Ellen Engelhardt, PhD, Editor newsletter ex-officio (Netherlands)
Committees:
Anti-racism Special Task Force
- Ahmed Bayoumi (Canada)
- Beate Jahn, PhD (Austria)
- Lori Grover (United States)
- Negin Hajizadeh, MD, MPH (United States)
- Brittany Johnson (United States)
- Heather Taffet Gold, PhD (United States)
- Torbjorn Wisloff (Norway)
Awards
- Jeffrey Hoch, PhD (United States)
- Mark Boundthavong (United States)
- Aubri Hoffman, PhD (United States)
- Ashley Housten (United States)
- Michael Kattan (United States)
- Anahita Khojando, PhD (United States)
- Aisha Langford, PhD, (United States)
- Janine van Til (The Netherlands)
- Torbjørn Wisløff, PhD (Norway)
Career Development
- Tara Lavelle, PhD (United States)
- Channing Tate, PhD (United States)
Digital Communications
- Davene Wright, PhD (United States)
- Natlia Kunst (United States)
- David Chartash (United States)
- Betty Chen (United States)
- Stavroula Chrysanthopoulou (United States)
- Joey Mattingly (United States)
Education
- Petros Pechlivanoglou, M.Sc., PhD (Canada)
- Melissa Basile (United States)
- Stavroula Chrysanthopoulou (United States)
- Marieke de Vries (Netherlands)
- Olivier Drouin (Canada)
- Anna Heath (Canada)
- Jeffrey Hoch, PhD (United States)
- Beate Jahn, PhD (Austria)
- Mohammad Jalali (United States)
- Ashley Leach (United States)
- Andrew Scott LaJoie (United States)
- Holly Peay (United States)
- Uwe Siebert (Austria)
- Glen Taksler (United States)
- Margo Wheatley (United States)
- Janine van Til (The Netherlands)
External Net Funding
- Joel Tsvet (United States)
- John Wong (United States)
Finance
- Heather Taffet Gold, PhD (United States)
- Ava John-Baptiste, PhD (Canada)
- Jeremy Goldhaber-Fiebert, PhD (United States)
- David Kim (United States)
- Olga Kostopoulou, PhD, MSc (United Kingdom)
- Natasha Stout, PhD (United States)
Issues
- Marilyn Schapira, MD, MPH (United States)
- Bruce Schackman (United States)
- Ivar Sønbø Kristiansen, MD, MPH, PhD (Norway)
Membership and Credentials
- Ellen Lipstein, MD, MPH (United States)
- Scott B. Cantor (United States)
- Ellen Kim DeLuca (United States)
- Ashish Deshmukh (United States)
- Michael Kattan (United States)
- Phuc Le (United States)
- Ying Lin (United States)
- Van Nghiem (United States)
- James Stahl, MD, MPH (United States)
- Bin Wu (China)
Nominating
- Lisa Prosser, PhD, Past President (United States)
- Elisabeth Fenwick (United Kingdom)
- Natalia Kunst (United States)
- Heather Taffet Gold, PhD (United States)
- Torbjorn Wisloff (Norway)
Publications Publications
- Elisabeth Fenwick (United Kingdom)
- Ava John-Baptiste, PhD (Canada)
- Tanya Bentley, PhD (United States)
- Dominick Frosch, PhD (United States)
- Jeremy Goldhaber-Fiebert, PhD (United States)
- Robert Hamm (United States)
- Jesse Jansen, PhD (The Netherlands)
- Olga Kostopoulou, PhD (United States)
- Marilyn Schapira, MD, MPH (United States)
- Harold Sox, MD (United States)
- Brian Zikmund-Fisher, PhD, Journal Editor, ex-officio (United States)
Regulations
- Alan Schwartz, PhD (United States)
- Betty Chen (United States)
- Steve Kymes (United States)
- Claudia (Zhe) Li (Canada)
Meeting Chairs and Planning Committee Members
43rd Annual North American Meeting (Virtual)
- Negin Hajizadeh, MD, MPH (United States)
- Victoria Shaffer, PhD (United States)
- Aubri Hoffman, PhD (United States)
- Ashley J. Housten, OTD, MSCI (United States)
- Hawre Jalal, PhD, MD (United States)
- Pete Wegier, PhD (Canada)
- Melissa Basile (United States)
- Saadia Sediqzadah (Canada)
- Natalia Kunst (United States)
- Jenny Spencer (United States)
18th Biennial European Conference
- Beate Jahn, PhD (Austria)
- Tobias Kurth, MD, MSc, ScD (Germany)
- Silke Siebert, MD (Austria)
- Uwe Siebert, MD, MPH, MSc, ScD (Austria)
- Hilary Bekker, PhD (United Kingdom)
- Felicitas Kühne, MSc (Austria)
- Jef van den Ende, MD, PhD (Belgium)
- Liz Fenwick, PhD (United Kingdom)
- Dan Greenberg, PhD (Israel)
- László Gulácsi, MD, MSc, PhD (Hungary)
- Peder Halvorsen, MD, PhD (Norway)
- Evi Hatziandreou, PhD (Greece)
- Lisa Hess, PhD (United States)
- Myriam Hunink, MD, PhD (The Netherlands)
- Jesse Jansen, PhD (The Netherlands)
- Kathryn McDonald, PhD, MM (United States)
- Javier Mar Medina, MD, PhD (Spain)
- Beate Sander, PhD (Canada)
- Marieke de Vries, PhD (The Netherlands)
- Torbjørn Wisløff, PhD (Norway)
- Janine van Til, PhD (The Netherlands)
- Gaby Sroczynski, MPH, Dr. PH (Austria)
- Elske van den Akker-van Marle, PhD (The Netherlands)
- Ivar Sønbø Kristiansen, MD, MPH, PhD (Norway)
- Olga Kostopoulou, PhD (England)
- Davene Wright, PhD (United States)
- Sibylle Puntscher, PhD (Austria)
Interest Group Chairs
- John Friend, PhD (United States)
- Fernando Alarid-Escudero, PhD (Mexico)
- Tanya Bentley, PhD (United States)
- Muge Capan, PhD (United States)
- Eva Enns, PhD (United States)
- Luciana Garbayo, MD, PhD (United States)
- Randy Grout, MD, MS, FAAP (United States)
- Myriam Hunink, MD, PhD (The Netherlands)
- Kyu Eun Lee (United States)
- Ashley Leech, PhD (United States)
- Jody Lin, MD (United States)
- Sarah Munro, PhD (Canada)
- Mike Paulden, PhD (Canada)
- Roy Poses, MD (United States)
- James Stahl, MD (United States)
- Torbjørn Wisløff, PhD (Norway)
- William Wong, PhD (Canada)
- Davene Wright, PhD (United States)
Special Committee Chairs and Members
- Heather Taffet Gold, PhD (United States)
Lusted Awards Judges
- Fernando Alarid-Escudero, PhD (Mexico)
- Ahmed Bayoumi (Canada)
- Elena Elkin (United States)
- Ellen Engelhardt (The Netherlands)
- Jeremy Goldhaber-Fiebert, PhD (United States)
- Christine Gunn (United States)
- Ann Harada (United States)
- Kelly Harris (United States)
- Ava John-Baptiste, PhD (Canada)
- Tara Lavelle, PhD (United States)
- Laura Scherer (United States)
- Bruce Schackman (United States)
- Alan Schwartz, PhD (United States)
- Heather Taffet Gold, PhD (United States)
- Joel Tsevat, MD, MPH (United States)
- Pete Wegier, PhD (Canada)
- Holly Witteman, PhD (Canada)
- Torbjørn Wisløff, PhD (Norway)
- John Wong (United States)
Volunteer Mentors
- Fernando Alarid-Escudero, PhD (Mexico)
- Anirban Basu, PhD (United States)
- Tanya Bentley, MS, PhD (United States)
- Margaret Byrne, PhD (United States)
- Scott B. Cantor, PhD (United States)
- Su-Hsin Chang (United States)
- Jag Chhatwal, PhD (United States)
- Ashish Deshmukh, PhD, MPH (United States)
- Elamin Elbasha, PhD, MA (United States)
- Elena Elkin (United States)
- Angie Fagerlin, PhD (United States)
- Bart Ferket (United States)
- Kevin Frick, PhD (United States)
- Victor Granados-Garcia (Mexico)
- John Graves, PhD (United States)
- Negin Hajizadeh, MD, MPH (United States)
- Janel Hanmer, MD, PhD (United States)
- Sarah Hawley, PhD, MPH (United States)
- Ashley J. Housten, OTD, MSCI (United States)
- Myriam Hunink, MD, PhD (The Netherlands)
- Jesse Jansen, PhD (The Netherlands)
- Ava John-Baptiste, PhD (Canada)
- David Kim, PhD (United States)
- Olga Kostopoulou, MSc, PhD (England)
- Karen Kuntz (United States)
- Steve Kymes, PhD, MA (United States)
- Hester Lingsma, PhD (The Netherlands)
- Ellen Lipstein, MD, MPH (United States)
- Jennifer Lobo, PhD (United States)
- Javier Mar, MD, PhD (Spain)
- Dan Matlock, MD, MPH (United States)
- Laurent Metz, MD (United States)
- Sarah Munro, PhD (United States)
- Peter Neumann (United States)
- Tom Newman, MD, MPH (United States)
- Bohdan Nosyk, PhD (Canada)
- Ankur Pandya, PhD (United States)
- Katherine Payne, PhD, MSc, BPharm, FRPharmS (United Kingdom)
- Adam Perzynski, PhD (United States)
- Ellen Peters, PhD (United States)
- Michael Pignone (United States)
- Joseph Pliskin (Israel)
- Mary Politi, PhD (United States)
- Lisa Prosser, PhD (United States)
- Michael Rothberg, MD, MPH (United States)
- Carolyn Rutter, PhD (United States)
- Talya Salz (United States)
- Beate Sander, RN, MBA, MEcDev, PhD (Canada)
- Bruce Schackman, PhD (United States)
- Aaron Scherer, PhD (United States)
- Alan Schwartz, PhD (United States)
- Karen Sepucha, PhD (United States)
- Victoria Shaffer, PhD (United States)
- Kenneth Smith, MD (United States)
- James Stahl, MD, CM, MPH (United States)
- Jamie Studts, PhD (United States)
- Heather Taffet Gold, PhD (United States)
- Joel Tsevat, MD, MPH (United States)
- Robert Volk, PhD (United States)
- Erika Waters, PhD, MPH (United States)
- Pete Wegier, PhD (Canada)
- William Wong, PhD (Canada)
- Davene Wright, PhD (United States)
- Reza Yaesoubi, PhD (United States)
- Jennifer Yeh (United States)
- Brian Zikmund-Fisher, PhD (United States)
- Yaara Zisman-ilani, PhD (United States)
Editors and Editorial Boards
- Brian Zikmund-Fisher, PhD (United States)
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Lauren E. Cipriano, PhD (Canada)
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Katherine Grandinetti, BS (United States)
- Stacy Wennstrom, MA (United States)
- Jessica Ancker (United States)
- Stefano Conti (United Kingdom)
- Neal Dawson (United States)
- Jeremy Goldhaber-Fiebert, PhD (United States)
- Joanna Hart, MD, MSHP (United States)
- Olga Kostopoulou, PhD, MSc (United Kingdom)
- Josephine (Jo) Mauskopf, PhD MHA (United States)
- Mary Politi, PhD (United States)
- Eleanor Pullenayegum, PhD (Canada)
- Donald Redelmeier, MD (Canada)
- Louise Russell, PhD (United States)
- Marilyn Schapira, MD, MPH (United States)
- Paul Scuffham, PhD (Australia)
- Victoria Shaffer, PhD (United States)
- Ken Smith, MD, MS (United States)
- Ivar Sønbø Kristiansen, MD, MPH, PhD (Norway)
- James Stahl, MD, MPH (United States)
- Ewout Steyerberg, PhD (The Netherlands)
- Mark Strong, MBChB, MPH, PhD (United Kingdom)
- Erika Waters, PhD, MPH (United States)
- Nicky Welton (United Kingdom)
- Feng Xie, PhD (Canada)
- Torbjørn Wisløff, PhD (Norway)
- Dana Alden, PhD, MBA (United States)
- Wändi Bruine de Bruin, PhD, MSc (United States)
- Jagpreet (Jag) Chhatwal, PhD (United States)
- Barry Dewitt (United States)
- Darryl Gray, MD, ScD, FACC, FAHA (United States)
- Janel Hanmer, MD, PhD (United States)
- Felicity Harper, PhD (United States)
- Robert (Bob) Jayes, MD (United States)
- Petros Pechlivanoglou, MSc, PhD (Canada)
- Donna Rowen, PhD, MSc (United Kingdom)
- Steffan Frosi-Stella, MD, PhD (Canada)
- Jamie Studts, PhD (United States)
- Joanne Wu, MD, MS (United States)
- Lazaros (Laz) Andronis, PhD (United Kingdom)
- Bonnie Armstrong, PhD, MA (Canada)
- Caroline Bascoul-Mollevi, PhD (France)
- Kerri Cavanaugh, MD, MHS (United States)
- Su-Hsin Chang, PhD, SM (United States)
- Elamin Elbasha, PhD (United States)
- Paul Han, MD, MA, MPH (United States)
- Masahito Jimbo, MD, PhD, MPH (United States)
- Quang Le, PharmD, PhD (United States)
- Nan Luo, PhD (Singapore)
- Daniel (Dan) Matlock, MD (United States)
- Eric Meadows, PhD (United States)
- Wendy Nelson, PhD (United States)
- A. Simon Pickard, PhD (United States)
- José Pinto Prades, PhD, MSc (Spain)
- Carolyn Rutter, PhD (United States)
- Aaron Scherer, MA, PhD (United States)
- Andrew Vickers, PhD (United States)
- Todd Wagner, PhD (United States)
- Jennifer (Jenny) Whitty BPharma, PhD (United Kingdom)
- Sarah Bates, MSc, PhD (England)
- Ben van Calster, PhD (Belgium)
- James Codella, MEng, PhD (United States)
- Felicitas Kuehne, MSc (Austria)
- Helen Colby, PhD (United States)
- Simon Eckermann, PhD (Australia)
- Tom Fahey, MD (Ireland)
- Sarah Goff, MD (United States)
- Negin Hajizadeh, MD, MPH (United States)
- Aubri Hoffman, PhD (United States)
- David Hutton, PhD (United States)
- Ellen Lipstein, MD, MPH (United States)
- Michelle McDowell, PhD (Germany)
- Mari Palta, PhD (United States)
- Ankur Pandya, MPH PhD (United States)
- Adam Perzynski, PhD (United States)
- Valeria Reyna, PhD (United States)
- Beate Sander, RN, PhD (Canada)
- Laura Scherer (United States)
- Karen Sepucha, PhD (United States)
- Richard Tawiah, PhD (Australia)
- Haitham Tuffaha, PhD (United States)
- Vera Vennedey, MSc (Germany)
- Reza Yaesoubi, PhD (United States)
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Ryan Suk, PhD, MS; The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Public Health
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Aaron Scherer, PhD; University of Iowa
Survey results from the Healthcare and Public Perceptions of Immunizations (HaPPI) Survey Collaborative have been presented at meetings of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) to help inform their recommendations regarding Adolescent COVID-19 Vaccination (May 12, 2021 meeting) and COVID-19 Booster Vaccines (Sept 23, 2001 meeting), and published in CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly (MMWR; July 16, 2021). The HaPPI Survey Collaborative is a group directed by SMDM member Aaron Scherer, PhD, that includes employees from CDC and researchers from the University of Iowa and the RAND Corporation who are tasked with conducting surveys with healthcare providers and patients about important vaccine-related topics.
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Jennifer Spencer, PhD; University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School
Stephanie Wheeler, PhD; Professor, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Jennifer Spencer published an article in the journal, Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers, and Prevention which used parallel simulation models representing composite high- and low-poverty US counties to project changes in poverty disparities in cervical cancer at current or recommended HPV vaccination coverage levels. The study showed that current disparities between high- and low- poverty counties will likely decrease, but not disappear, based on current HPV vaccination and cervical cancer screening practices.
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Richard Brook, MS, MBA; Better Health Worldwide, Inc
The team at Better Health Worldwide has been working to highlight the variability in utilization, payments and durations for four absence benefits (sick Leave, short- and long-term disability, and workers' compensation) for US employees with various health conditions. Our work and recent publications also found that employees whose spouses or dependents have medical conditions (where we consider the employee a caregiver) also has significant variation. Using real-world data, we have shown that the use of a constant 'cost' or duration across all absence benefits, diseases, and years is is not appropriate.
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Yaara Zisman-Ilani, PhD, MA;
Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, College of Public Health, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA
I have recently published 3 important viewpoints articles pointing to current gaps and challenges related to the field of SDM in mental health. The first, published in JAMA Psychiatry, addresses challenges in implementing and using SDM in psychiatric care with a specific focus on the role of the psychiatrists/clinicians. The second, addresses the new 2021 SDM NICE guidelines. This article focuses on the inherent bias in the guidelines related to SDM in mental health. The third article addresses the need to reconceptualize SDM in serious mental illness (e.g., schizophrenia, major depression) as "shared risk taking". References to the three articles are below.
Zisman-Ilani, Y., Roth, R.M., & Mistler, L.A. (2021). Time to support extensive implementation of shared decision making in psychiatry. JAMA Psychiatry. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2021.2247
Zisman-Ilani, Y., Chmielowska, M., Dixon, L., & Ramon, S. (2021). NICE shared decision making guidelines and mental health: challenges for research, practice, and implementation. BJPsych Open, 7(5), E154. doi:10.1192/bjo.2021.987
Zisman-Ilani, Y., Lysaker, P, & Hasson-Ohayon, I. (2021). Shared risk-taking: shared decision making in serious mental illness. Psychiatric Services, 72(4), 461-463.
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François Sainfort, PhD, FACHE; Nova Southeastern University
François Sainfort, Ph.D., professor and Chair, H. Wayne Huizenga College of Business and Entrepreneurship (HCBE) and professor in the Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Allopathic Medicine (NSUMD) recently became a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives (FACHE®), the nation’s leading professional society for healthcare leaders.
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What Are You Working On?
Connect and collaborate with your fellow members on their latest projects:
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Ann Peralta, MPH, DrPH candidate; Boston University School of Public Health
I am finalizing a decision aid to support shared decision making conversations about if and when people with healthy term (39+ weeks) pregnancies want labor induction. I am using QI methods and qualitative interviews to pilot, assess, and revise the decision aid and implementation strategies with providers and patients at Boston Medical Center. So far the decision aid is being tested in three languages and is being very well received. This is my DrPH dissertation project and should be ready for dissemination this spring.
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Garima Dalal, MSc.; University of Manchester
Garima is currently working on the PrefCoRe study which is funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Research for Patient Benefit scheme. PrefCoRe is led by Andrew Renehan, Professor of Cancer Studies and Surgery and is a collaboration between the Manchester Cancer Research Centre (Professor Andrew Renehan, Lee Malcomson) and The University of Manchester (Professor Katherine Payne, Dr Stuart Wright, Garima Dalal). This study aims to quantify patient and public preferences for the treatment of high-risk rectal cancer and develop a decision aid to help patients make difficult decisions regarding their treatment. The study methods involve an online survey comprising a discrete choice experiment (DCE) to understand the key drivers of preferences for surgery versus watch-and-wait for patients who have achieved a clinical complete response after chemoradiotherapy for locally advanced rectal cancer. The results from this survey will be used to inform a patient decision aid designed to improve the quality of patient decisions by creating a bespoke decision support tool based on the DCE results. The decision aid will be preliminarily tested using a range of methods including eye tracking and System Usability Scale (SUS) in the clinical setting to evaluate user friendliness, content integration and its position in the clinical care pathway.
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Tom Newman, MD, MPH; UCSF
My old friend and colleague Warren Browner and I are leading the effort to write the 5th edition of Designing Clinical Research, a popular textbook that Stephen Hulley and Steven Cummings first wrote almost 35 years ago! We're joined by Steven Cummings, Deborah Grady, and (new to this text) Alison Huang, Alka Kanaya and Mark Pletcher. We're (finally) covering DAGS and many other new topics in what we hope will be a readable introduction. We're shooting for April, 2022 publication.
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Student News
Congratulations to our recent graduates!
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Margo Wheatley, PhD
Expected Graduation Date: June 2022
Area: Health Services Research - Decision Science
Advisor: Eva Enns
Dissertation Title: Leveraging Decision Analytic Models to Inform HIV Engagement and Retention in Care Policy in the United States
Position Seeking: Industry, Government
SMDM Interactions:
Abstract: 2020 - Cost-Effectiveness of HIV Engagement in Care in High-Income Countries: A Systematic Review
Short Courses Attended:
2020 - Advances in Health Outcomes Measurement: Promis and Propr
2020 - Quantifying and Valuing Health Inequality Impacts in Economic Evaluation
2019 - Hands-on Model Calibration in R
2019 - Survival Analysis and Decision Modeling Using R
SMDM Committee: SMDM Education Committee (2021 - current)
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Rachel Lenko, PhD
Expected Graduation Date: May 2022
Area: Advance care planning; palliative care
Advisor: Dr. Terri Voepel-Lewis
Dissertation Title: Achieving Goal-Concordant End-of-Life Care: The Roles of Race/Ethnicity and Advance Care Planning
Position Seeking: Any
SMDM Interactions:
Abstract: Gist-based Education Program Enhances Opioid Misuse Risk Perceptions but does not Impact Prescription Opioid Use or Misuse Among Youth; 2021
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Here are the most recent job opportunities since our last newsletter. SMDM members can stay current on the newest opportunities in the Resources Section of SMDM Connect.
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The SMDM Lifetime Contributors list acknowledges the SMDM members who have made contributions to the Annual Fund and acknowledges donations and in-kind donations, received from October 2005 - November 9, 2021. Our heartfelt appreciation goes out to everyone who has supported our Society!
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Editor-in-Chief
Netherlands Cancer Institute
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Deputy Editor
New York University Grossman School of Medicine
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