People and Programs on the Move at UA Health Sciences

UA’s Dr. Monica Kraft Elected Fellow of European Respiratory Society

Monica Kraft, MD, chair of the University of Arizona Department of Medicine, has been elected as a fellow of the prestigious European Respiratory Society. She is one of only 17 people (and two Americans) to receive the honor this year. The award recognizes a lifetime of excellence and contributions to research, education and clinical leadership in respiratory medicine and brings together members who have excelled in their field to form an elite advisory board that is called upon by the society to weigh in on various matters related to research and clinical challenges.

Dr. Kraft also is a professor of medicine in the UA College of Medicine – Tucson, deputy director of the UA Health Sciences Asthma and Airway Disease Research Center and the Robert and Irene Flinn Endowed Chair of Medicine.

Grant will Help UA Evaluate if Telemedicine Effective for Insomnia Patients

Sairam Parthasarathy, MD, director of the UA Health Sciences Center for Sleep and Circadian Sciences, has received a $250,000 grant from the American Sleep Medicine Foundation to evaluate how telemedicine can assist in the delivery of cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia.

He is among three recipients of the Strategic Research Awards, announced recently by ASMF. Dr. Parthasarathy and his research team will investigate if delivery of therapy for insomnia is effective and more convenient for patients through telemedicine visits rather than conventional in-person consultations. He and his research team seek to enroll 85 patients in a clinical study over the next few months.

Dr. Parthasarathy also is interim chief for the UA Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine and medical director of the Center for Sleep Disorders at Banner – University Medical Center Tucson.

UA  Geriatrician Receives   Award to Improve Health Outcomes of Seriously Ill Elders

UA Center on Aging member Monica Vandivort, MD, will use a $50,000 start-up grant from the Arizona Area Health Education Centers (AzAHEC) for a clinical research initiative to improve health outcomes of seriously ill elders in Sierra Vista.

Titled, “A Community Paramedicine-Primary Care Partnership in Rural Cochise County Pilot Project to Improve Health Outcomes of Seriously Ill Elders,” the grant involves a multidisciplinary, collaborative effort among multiple health-care organizations in Greater Sierra Vista, Ariz., including the Banner – University Medical Group Physician Offices, Banner University House Calls Program, Canyon Vista Medical Center and the Sierra Vista Fire Department’s Community Paramedicine C.A.R.E. Program.

Additional components of the project include interprofessional education for emergency medicine service providers and medical assistants in area primary care offices about chronic health issues, community resources and strategies to enhance integration of these care entities who all work with  this same group of highly complex elderly patients.